Comments on: My rat bites! http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/ The best place for pet rat info and collaboration Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:11:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.3 By: Aishah http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-4176 Aishah Sun, 09 Sep 2007 15:11:17 +0000 http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-4176 I have a pink-eyed white male rat. He kind of sheds his hair, everytime he walks past the bars of the cage there's always some hair leftover. And he bites. He almost bit my moms' nail off. And once I put my stuffed animal near the cage to see what he'll do and he sniffed it, and then bit it REALLY hard. I'm not sure what to do. Can you help me out? Please!! I have a pink-eyed white male rat. He kind of sheds his hair, everytime he walks past the bars of the cage there’s always some hair leftover. And he bites. He almost bit my moms’ nail off. And once I put my stuffed animal near the cage to see what he’ll do and he sniffed it, and then bit it REALLY hard. I’m not sure what to do. Can you help me out? Please!!

]]> By: judy http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-5603 judy Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:58:20 +0000 http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-5603 my boy bites because he is too close to the girls cage my boy bites because he is too close to the girls cage

]]> By: anna http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-5931 anna Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:38:04 +0000 http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-5931 I have just recently got 2 female rats. I have made several attempts to put my hand in their cage to pet them, and everytime I do they plung to bite me. One of them did manage to bite me the other day. I got these 2 from someone that has had them since they were babies. Even if I try to talk to them through the cage the one will just to plunge at me while I am talking to them. They are the worst tempered rats I have ever had. Is there any advice someone could give me. I have just recently got 2 female rats. I have made several attempts to put my hand in their cage to pet them, and everytime I do they plung to bite me. One of them did manage to bite me the other day. I got these 2 from someone that has had them since they were babies. Even if I try to talk to them through the cage the one will just to plunge at me while I am talking to them. They are the worst tempered rats I have ever had. Is there any advice someone could give me.

]]> By: Alison http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-5986 Alison Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:37:36 +0000 http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-5986 I have a similar problem to Anna's. I adopted four female rats from the Humane Society about a week ago who were already living together. Two are friendly and easy to handle. One runs away when I try to handle her - I'm just going to give her some time to adjust and approach her slowly. The fourth one worries me, though, because she runs to the door when I open it, but when I put my hand out to let her sniff it or to pet her, she immediately bites it. The only time she doesn't bite my hand is when I am giving her a treat. It seems (to me) that this is coming from pure aggression - but, although she is somewhat dominant, she isn't particularly aggressive toward her sisters. Do you have any suggestions for breaking her of the biting habit when it isn't (or doesn't seem to be) out of fear? I have a similar problem to Anna’s. I adopted four female rats from the Humane Society about a week ago who were already living together. Two are friendly and easy to handle. One runs away when I try to handle her - I’m just going to give her some time to adjust and approach her slowly. The fourth one worries me, though, because she runs to the door when I open it, but when I put my hand out to let her sniff it or to pet her, she immediately bites it. The only time she doesn’t bite my hand is when I am giving her a treat. It seems (to me) that this is coming from pure aggression - but, although she is somewhat dominant, she isn’t particularly aggressive toward her sisters. Do you have any suggestions for breaking her of the biting habit when it isn’t (or doesn’t seem to be) out of fear?

]]> By: Tashinky http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-6056 Tashinky Sat, 12 Apr 2008 22:52:35 +0000 http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-6056 Me and my fiance got two rats yesterday. Actually, first we only had one, but since she had bitten my fiance and seemed too afraid, we decided to go out and buy her a companion to ease her stresses. That seemed to work really well but today she keeps nipping at my fingers everytime I let her sniff my hand. The other rat seemed like she was more relaxed yesterday than she is today. Yesterday she let us approach her with little to no problems and she didn't bite which was good. Today, she keeps running away from us everytime we try to handle her. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Thanks! :) Me and my fiance got two rats yesterday. Actually, first we only had one, but since she had bitten my fiance and seemed too afraid, we decided to go out and buy her a companion to ease her stresses. That seemed to work really well but today she keeps nipping at my fingers everytime I let her sniff my hand. The other rat seemed like she was more relaxed yesterday than she is today. Yesterday she let us approach her with little to no problems and she didn’t bite which was good. Today, she keeps running away from us everytime we try to handle her.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Thanks! :)

]]> By: Tanya http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-6557 Tanya Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:26:55 +0000 http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-6557 A friend of mine gave me her rat about 3 months ago. The rat seemed tamed and social, at first, for about 2 1/2 months then one night when I saw her poking her nose out at me from her cage I decided to put my finger in the cage and let her sniff me. After 5 seconds of sniffing my finger she tried to latch onto it. I immediately countered, without true knowledge of how to handle the situation, by trying to reach in and let her climb on my arm. Bad mistake- her teeth left two really deep puncture marks on my sacred middle finger. I'll admit I didn't approach her again for about three days, I feared being bitten again. What puzzles me the most is that I've never been bitten by a seemingly friendly rat and this bite was pretty gruesome. How do I handle her now? Everytime I put my hand in the cage she nips or is ready to bite me. I fear that the answer is persistance- I don't want to risk my beautiful middle finger again or have a mauled hand by the time she warms up to me again. A friend of mine gave me her rat about 3 months ago. The rat seemed tamed and social, at first, for about 2 1/2 months then one night when I saw her poking her nose out at me from her cage I decided to put my finger in the cage and let her sniff me. After 5 seconds of sniffing my finger she tried to latch onto it. I immediately countered, without true knowledge of how to handle the situation, by trying to reach in and let her climb on my arm. Bad mistake- her teeth left two really deep puncture marks on my sacred middle finger. I’ll admit I didn’t approach her again for about three days, I feared being bitten again. What puzzles me the most is that I’ve never been bitten by a seemingly friendly rat and this bite was pretty gruesome. How do I handle her now? Everytime I put my hand in the cage she nips or is ready to bite me. I fear that the answer is persistance- I don’t want to risk my beautiful middle finger again or have a mauled hand by the time she warms up to me again.

]]> By: Sunbird http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-6568 Sunbird Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:03:32 +0000 http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-6568 My Boy was very badly treated at a pet store and all the staff are seemingly Ratphobioc, the guy that sold him to us litterally got as much bedding as he could between himself and the rat and THREW the rat in the box, no health check, no sex check, nothing. He's been skittish all the time we've had him, and after 5 weeks has shown the occasional step forward in trust, then giant leaps back into biting, boxing at the cage when you get close etc. We've got two young rats now too that we wanted to introduce to him, they are gorgeous and friendly and were hand;eable from the word go. I thought it might make him calmer all round seeing them being played with by me, but all he does is snort at them through his cage bars and sidle up to and kick the bars of his cage nearest to theirs. I've tried everything, he's in the best surroundings possible, quiet, safe, warm but not hot, he's well fed, he's given treats that he does take without biting, but make one move, make one sound, even if a bubble floats up in his water bottle, he jumps about a foot and runs for cover. There is nothing at all that works. There is NO WAY I'm having him put down as I know he could be amazing and he's fit as a fiddle. Rehoming centres tell me that they don't take animals in unless they're mistreated and due to his temerament I can't sell him. I can't introduce him to the other boys as I feel he'll rip them to bits. Any help would be appreciated. My Boy was very badly treated at a pet store and all the staff are seemingly Ratphobioc, the guy that sold him to us litterally got as much bedding as he could between himself and the rat and THREW the rat in the box, no health check, no sex check, nothing.

He’s been skittish all the time we’ve had him, and after 5 weeks has shown the occasional step forward in trust, then giant leaps back into biting, boxing at the cage when you get close etc.

We’ve got two young rats now too that we wanted to introduce to him, they are gorgeous and friendly and were hand;eable from the word go. I thought it might make him calmer all round seeing them being played with by me, but all he does is snort at them through his cage bars and sidle up to and kick the bars of his cage nearest to theirs.

I’ve tried everything, he’s in the best surroundings possible, quiet, safe, warm but not hot, he’s well fed, he’s given treats that he does take without biting, but make one move, make one sound, even if a bubble floats up in his water bottle, he jumps about a foot and runs for cover. There is nothing at all that works.

There is NO WAY I’m having him put down as I know he could be amazing and he’s fit as a fiddle. Rehoming centres tell me that they don’t take animals in unless they’re mistreated and due to his temerament I can’t sell him. I can’t introduce him to the other boys as I feel he’ll rip them to bits.

Any help would be appreciated.

]]> By: Gaia http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-6683 Gaia Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:16:43 +0000 http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-6683 Hiyo, Ive just got a pretty lil guy from a friend of mine. He dosent seem to be aggressive at all, but he apparently will nip and is is the reason their neighbor wanted someone to look after him. He is four months old at the mo and incredibly shy, as his former owner never handled him. I was just wondering about the best way to treat him, and get him used to being handled:) Hiyo, Ive just got a pretty lil guy from a friend of mine. He dosent seem to be aggressive at all, but he apparently will nip and is is the reason their neighbor wanted someone to look after him. He is four months old at the mo and incredibly shy, as his former owner never handled him. I was just wondering about the best way to treat him, and get him used to being handled:)

]]> By: Anthony http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-7007 Anthony Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:28:12 +0000 http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-7007 HI, Brought 2 male rats 10 days ago at a pet shop. Beautiful red eyed white with grey. Felt sorry for them in a very little glass cage. In the shop they said they were about 10 weeks old. They were both very nervous at the start but they calmed down pretty quick. The 1 comes downstairs with me and really enjoys being handled. The other 1 is still very nervous, will take a treat of me but when I try to pick him up he panics. When I put my hand in the cage so he can smell me he bites, he also bites when he is on my hand. Don’t know what I am doing wrong. I talk to them, they have a big cage and toys and they have plenty to eat. Can u give me a bit of advise. HI, Brought 2 male rats 10 days ago at a pet shop. Beautiful red eyed white with grey. Felt sorry for them in a very little glass cage. In the shop they said they were about 10 weeks old. They were both very nervous at the start but they calmed down pretty quick. The 1 comes downstairs with me and really enjoys being handled. The other 1 is still very nervous, will take a treat of me but when I try to pick him up he panics. When I put my hand in the cage so he can smell me he bites, he also bites when he is on my hand. Don’t know what I am doing wrong. I talk to them, they have a big cage and toys and they have plenty to eat. Can u give me a bit of advise.

]]> By: sarah http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-8297 sarah Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:26:27 +0000 http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-8297 my white, red eyed male rat also used to bite. he started off friendly but when he reached around 4 months he become aggressive, puffing up and biting for no reason, i heard it was because hormones so dicided to have him neutered. he never fully become welcoming to cuddles, but since that day has never showed any sign of wanting to bite me. my white, red eyed male rat also used to bite. he started off friendly but when he reached around 4 months he become aggressive, puffing up and biting for no reason, i heard it was because hormones so dicided to have him neutered. he never fully become welcoming to cuddles, but since that day has never showed any sign of wanting to bite me.

]]> By: jenesys http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-8347 jenesys Mon, 15 Sep 2008 04:12:18 +0000 http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-8347 the reason rats bite is because when you hold them to much they get awfully scared. they think that when you do something so much that scares them, they think that they have to scare you right back to get even. all the time males. i should know i have 11 rats the reason rats bite is because when you hold them to much they get awfully scared. they think that when you do something so much that scares them, they think that they have to scare you right back to get even. all the time males. i should know i have 11 rats

]]> By: Cathy http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-8728 Cathy Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:50:10 +0000 http://fatratcentral.com/2006/07/28/my-rat-bites/#comment-8728 Hi can anyone help me, I bought two male rats a month ago(2 brothers) but after two weeks I had to give one back to the petshop as he was having fits. Ever since I gave him back the other guy wont let me pick him up and anytime I go to even touch him he squeaks and lies flat down. He also bites when you try and put your hand into the cage. I need help because its so frustrating. Thanks Hi can anyone help me, I bought two male rats a month ago(2 brothers) but after two weeks I had to give one back to the petshop as he was having fits. Ever since I gave him back the other guy wont let me pick him up and anytime I go to even touch him he squeaks and lies flat down. He also bites when you try and put your hand into the cage. I need help because its so frustrating. Thanks

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