Had him for 5 months. PLEASE HELP!! I love him soooo much
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I’ve had that problem before. Be very gentle and let him settle for a day or two. Put your hand in his cage and let him sniff you and get used to you. Don’t make any sudden movements. If he tries to bite you don’t move away too quickly, as it will feel threatened. After a few days of that put food in your hand and let him eat it. Once he gets used to that try to pet him while he eats the food. Make sure he is completely secure with you petting him before trying to pick him up. When you do pick him up, hold him securely and put him on your lap. Give him some food and pet him while he eats it. He should get used to you in no time. This definitely helped me, I hope it helps you!
Source(s): Having many rodents with these problems
It looks like he doesn’t trust you. Do you ever pick him up by the tail or have you ever dropped him? You should never pick a rat up by the tail.
The person saying rats carry diseases and everything – domesticated rats don’t carry diseases as long as they’ve never been around a wild rat, and any sensible rat owner would keep their pets out of danger.
domesticated rats can be lovable.
You need to spend more time with him so he can trust you again – Go over and talk to him while he’s in the cage so he knows your voice, don’t hold your hands too close to the cage incase he nips through the doors but stand close enough so he is familiar with your smell. NEVER freak out around him, it’ll make him extremely wary. Don’t be nervous around him. Eventually, leave the cage door open and let him sniff you and stuff – if you are worried, cover your hand with fabric that’s thick enough that his bite won’t go through, but something light enough that he can still smell your scent. Don’t try and pick him up when he’s obviously distressed, let him come to you.
I hope some of this helps.
Source(s): Previously owned 12 rats.
Two things.
One, it sounds as if he is alone. Solitary rats are proven to have more health and behavioral problems. Including aggression and trouble bonding with their humans. Rats NEED to be kept in pairs or groups in order for their social needs to be met. Don’t meet them, then you won’t have a happy, healthy, well adjusted rat.
There is no substitute for another rat. Period.
Two, he is just about reached full maturity. Sexual maturity can happen by six weeks of age, believe it or not, but physical maturity happens much later. He probably has a ton of hormones coursing through him right now, and that can cause or contribute to aggression. Not all male rats have issues at this stage, but some do – neutering can and does help with hormone based aggression.
Aggression is not common in properly handled, properly cared for, well bred pet rats. Period. Most rats, even intact males, are super squishy and love their people. My rats give kisses, not bites. However, just like with dogs and cats, you can get animals that simply aren’t well bred and/or don’t have that friendly drive – you can also CREATE aggression by depriving the animal of proper care (in this case social needs). And, there’s the hormones. Enough said there.
I think that you need to do some serious thinking. You claim to love your pet, but you’re depriving him of his social needs and that will cause any number of issues. There are a few things you CAN do to help him out, but you have to figure out if you WANT to do them.
The first step would be having him neutered. Then, while he is healing, find another male rat roughly the same size (or at the very least not too much smaller) and put that rat in quarantine. After the three week quarantine do a proper introduction (google search it). Between the neutering and the addition of a cage mate you SHOULD see a huge improvement.
If you’re not prepared to do this, you can always find a rescue willing to take him in and provide this for him.
Source(s): Pet Owner
from such a description, it’s hard to tell.
biting isn’t usual behaviour in rats, to the extent that having had them for over 20 years, I have never been bitten, even by rats that had some very uncomfortable surgery aftercare I had to do for them. it only tends to happen if they are in pain or afraid. so you need to try and work out if either of these could be the case, and if so, how you could change that.
first of all, if he is alone, that can really drastically affect their social skills.
no reputable source of information on rat care recommends keeping rats alone. they are highly social animals, and being alone can cause all manner of health, behavioural and psychological problems. it can affect their ability to bond with their human friends too, as they have less well developed social skills.
if he has a cagemate, you can disregard this.
second, does he have ruby or pink eyes? if so, are you startling him. light eyed rats have weaker eyesight, and may not see your hand approaching, and be startled when you touch them “out of nowhere” if they are an unusually nervous rat, this may result in a fear bite.
third, at around 5-6 months, rats reach social maturity. this is a bit like their bratty, hormonal phase. some rats are affected more drastically than others. most of them grow out of it again quite quickly
there are some rats, who due to poor genetics, may become hormonally aggressive, and this is often the age where this would become apparent. a neuter can lead to these rats living much more happy and fulfilled lives.
it’s great that you love him, because he may need a lot of work to get him back to his old self, if he has anxiety or hormonal issues.
I would first have him checked over by a vet to see if there’s an underlying medical issue making him short tempered from being in pain.
once you’ve ruled that out, if he doesn’t have one, consider a friend. but bearing in mind that this MAY be hormonal, with that being the case, you may need to neuter.
so I would start quarantine, and re-assess at intro stage. he may just accept the new friend normally, then become happy and relaxed again.
he may, if he IS hormonal, show abnormally territorial displays, in which case, a neuter could be the key to him having a happy life. it sounds drastic, but consider what it would be like to have PMT permanently. stressful, eh? much more drastic to live a whole life feeling that way than to have a relatively low risk operation that can get you back to your old self, having friends and being happy again.
best of luck getting over this. hopefully it’s nothing too tricky.
Does he have a cagemate??
If not, then this is the reason that he is biting you.
Rats need atleast one other rat in the cage with them. They are incredibly social animals and behaviour can change because they are alone.
Without cage mates, rats can become aggressive, depressed and also very shy and not wanting to be around people. You need to get him a cagemate (making sure you introduce them properly). When they have cage mates, their personalities really come through. My two rats love to play and are very curious, friendly little things. Both love me to bits and I love them.
My opinion on this situation, is that its your own fault that your rat is like this. You should never, ever, keep a rat alone, unless they do not get along with other rats at all. This is incredibly rare.
Where did you get him from? A good, reputable breeder would have only sold you a pair, unless you had another one of a similar age, to pair up with him.
Source(s): Owner of rats. 2.
it is understandable that he might occasionally lash out if in his tiny brain he feels provoked . If he bites again then he might have a health problem, is he eating as much as usual? anything different about his poops? put on some gardening gloves and take a closer look at him for any injuries/swellings he will protest and struggle like hell but you must check his teeth and gums. If everything is ok healthwise and he bites again then warn all other family and friends that he is a biter and now a rat version of a d ickhead and either live with it or release him and let him take his chances out in the wild.
There are a two things this could be from.
Do you pull away when this happens, or stay put and continue? If you pull back, he thinks he has one, and will continue to bite because he knows you will stop. Trust training is long and may not fix this behavior, I would consider trying Immersion training. Here’s a link on how it works: http://www.ratforum.com/showthread.php?67442-Immer…
Is he neutered? If not, then this might be from hormonal aggression, if that’s the case then all you need to do it get him neutered. The price of neutering varies, my vet charges around $1 to neuter a rat, but I’ve heard of other places that charge as low as $60.
Source(s): Rat owner.
Face facts. Rats bite. Your rat may be an interesting pet, but he’ll never be a cuddly one. He’s a full-grown adult rat now.
You’d be wise to never put yourself in danger from a rat bite. Rodents can carry many germs that don’t affect them but can make people sick.
Here’s an interesting article about rats. One of the things it mentions is that rats’ teeth continue to grow, so rats need to bite and gnaw on anything they can find.
He doesn’t love you back apparently. Try wearing thick leather gloves to handle him until he trusts you again. Even hand wash or perfume can frighten him.
Source(s): http://www.screwfix.com/p/mechanical-hazard-canadi…