NicodemusRattus
Well-Known Member
well, it all started a little over a month ago when I brought home 2 new girls... anyone who's read my other post has read that these 2 girls both surprised me with babies shortly after I got them lol. The first one, Zuki, had her litter only a week after I brought them home, so I haven't had much time to work on socializing her to begin with. Her sister Aurora had her babies about 2 weeks after coming home, so I had a little more time to work with her, and she was warming up and seemed to be a very sweet girl.
Zuki was protective over her babies from the get-go, I frantically searched for a cage to put her sissy in while Zuki was having her (surprise) babies. At one point, Aurora went over to sniff her sister's babies, and Zuki responded by lunging at her sister with an aggressive screech. Luckily I found a cage, and removed Aurora. Anyway... Zuki's been relaxing around us little by little, but I still don't trust her when my hand is in the cage. She gave my boyfriend a nasty bite while protecting her babies that were a week old at the time. Before the babies, she was shy around us, but not aggressive.
And now for Aurora... I only had 2 weeks to work with her before she had her litter, but she was turning out to be a friendly little girl. She got over her shy-ness, and would actually come up to me and sniff me when I opened the door. She was fine with being handled and picked up. So then came her babies, and she became shy and skittish all over again. I felt like the progress I made with this rat had gone out the window. One day I went to clean the cage, when her litter was around 2 weeks old. I had to remove all the bedding, even the nest bedding, because it smelled. My boyfriend picked her up to move her, and she latched onto him. She gave him the nastiest rat bite I've seen in a while. Then the other day when I was feeding her, I opened the door to the cage, she ran right up and nipped me. It didn't break the skin, but I felt it.
Sooo... yea. I realize it's hormones and all, but at what point do mommy rats stop being so over-protective and go back to their normal selves? Aurora was turning into such a sweet little girl before she became a mommy. Will she ever go back to this? And I'm not even sure about Zuki. She wasn't aggressive when I brought her home, but she only had a week to get used to me before the babies, so I'm not really sure what she thinks of me LOL. Aurora's babies are now almost 3 weeks, and Zuki's are 4 weeks. I was thinking about keeping a couple of female babies, will I be able to keep them with their mothers? Or should I just remove all of them for a while after weaning so the parental hormones can relax lol.
Zuki was protective over her babies from the get-go, I frantically searched for a cage to put her sissy in while Zuki was having her (surprise) babies. At one point, Aurora went over to sniff her sister's babies, and Zuki responded by lunging at her sister with an aggressive screech. Luckily I found a cage, and removed Aurora. Anyway... Zuki's been relaxing around us little by little, but I still don't trust her when my hand is in the cage. She gave my boyfriend a nasty bite while protecting her babies that were a week old at the time. Before the babies, she was shy around us, but not aggressive.
And now for Aurora... I only had 2 weeks to work with her before she had her litter, but she was turning out to be a friendly little girl. She got over her shy-ness, and would actually come up to me and sniff me when I opened the door. She was fine with being handled and picked up. So then came her babies, and she became shy and skittish all over again. I felt like the progress I made with this rat had gone out the window. One day I went to clean the cage, when her litter was around 2 weeks old. I had to remove all the bedding, even the nest bedding, because it smelled. My boyfriend picked her up to move her, and she latched onto him. She gave him the nastiest rat bite I've seen in a while. Then the other day when I was feeding her, I opened the door to the cage, she ran right up and nipped me. It didn't break the skin, but I felt it.
Sooo... yea. I realize it's hormones and all, but at what point do mommy rats stop being so over-protective and go back to their normal selves? Aurora was turning into such a sweet little girl before she became a mommy. Will she ever go back to this? And I'm not even sure about Zuki. She wasn't aggressive when I brought her home, but she only had a week to get used to me before the babies, so I'm not really sure what she thinks of me LOL. Aurora's babies are now almost 3 weeks, and Zuki's are 4 weeks. I was thinking about keeping a couple of female babies, will I be able to keep them with their mothers? Or should I just remove all of them for a while after weaning so the parental hormones can relax lol.
