# Aggresive Towards People



## CheshireLili (Mar 12, 2010)

I've had this little girl Lola, a blue rat, for almost 2 years now, I never wanted to give up on her but it seems no matter what I have done, nothing helps! She lunges at my hands to bite them even if I just go near the top of her cage, she's bitten my dad and a little boy who came to the house, she's always been a bit mean, but it's gotten worse and worse, no matter how hard I try to work with her. I don't want her to bite me (I've been bitten before and it HURTS, I bled all over) and I really love her, but I don't know what to do anymore. It's a task to clean out her cage, I can't just handle her, she has to be in her house or else she flips out. I know not to feed her treats through the bars of her cage, I did for a bit but I stopped as soon as I read it was a bad idea. I had to get her a cage with everything enclosed in plastic except for the top because she used to reach out through the bars and grab anything to bite. I want her to be happy and enjoy my company but it seems nothing works! What else can I do?


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## AvaAdoreSmashing (Dec 31, 2009)

Does she have a cage mate?


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## CheshireLili (Mar 12, 2010)

No she never has had one, honestly Im scared to put anyone in there with her.


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## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

No offense here, but I completely disagree with you on this one ema-leigh. If a rat has been that aggresive for so long without improvement and is already well into old age, it's not worth the risk of putting any rats with her.

I have many aggressive rats here and one bite in the wrong place can kill another rat (I have had that happen) so I speak from experience.

Yes, rats need company but many aggressive rats cannot have or will not accept another rat. Lack of company can make some rats aggressive, but once the aggression sets in for so long it can be irreversible even if you do try to give them friends.

What you need to do is work with her and if you cannot handle her find ways to improve her quality of life to something you can both manage for her remaining time with you.

Can you answer these questions;

How often do you handle her/have contact with her and how long for
Is she most aggressive inside or outside of the cage
Does she give any signs of aggression before she bites
Does she get any free-range times
Any other health issues
Can you rate her aggression according to this scale? http://www.bruxnboggle.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=726

I don't visit this forum often any more so I may miss your next post. If I do, please PM me to remind me to check.

I have a rat here who I cannot handle because of severe aggression but I have developed many tricks to get him out of the cage, give him free-range time and get him back in while minimising the risks of bites. I'd happily share them with you


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

The title of the thread is "aggressive towards people" in particular... OP doesn't even know if she is aggressive towards other rats. An introduction with other rats has not been attempted. Aggression towards humans and aggression towards other rats are very different. 

There are rats who are going to be extremely aggressive towards humans, but not other rats, and vice versa. Having her alone likely isn't helping the problem, but I wouldn't suggest getting another rat as a solution at this point. It should have been done long ago, and it possibly could have prevented this kind of behavior...

We need more information before we can start offering advice, though. Ration1802 asked some good questions.


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## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

Of course, some rats can be aggressive towards people and not other rats. BUT, a rat that is showing increasing levels of aggression and is coming on 2 years old having no company throughout their life - it's a huge risk to take. It's case specific, so my answer was answering in respect of this rat - not in general


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## CheshireLili (Mar 12, 2010)

Just an update:

I have found someone who is working with her to see what can be done IF anything to get her to chill out. He's very experienced with rats and is trying to help me see if she can be social with other rats and if she can actually enjoy even minimal handling from people. Hopefully this will yield some good results, and if not he's offered to keep her and take care of her, where I can still come visit her whenever I want to. I really would love for her to just be happy with me but we shall see... I'll let everyone know any updates on how she's coming along if she makes any real progress!


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## CheshireLili (Mar 12, 2010)

Thanks, so do I. I really love her to death and having had her for so long, even through all her nasty attitude issues, Im still not willing to just give up on her or give her up. I know now she is in good hands for the time being, hopefully it's a good outcome, I love the little witch even if thats what she is hahaha


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## Julia_Austen (Mar 4, 2010)

Do you have any idea why your rat
expresses agression?
Maybe somebody scared or hurt her,
she remembered and now is trying to
defence herself when you show up to pet her.
I never dealt with a severe stage of agression
coming from my rats, but once we had a little conflict because of
bathing.
I had to wash one of my rat's after
he stepped into his own poop.
Have you ever seen people who get so much mad at you
that turn away when you try to talk to them?
Well, it was our case.
He first tried to scare me showing his teeth and then kept turning away and
exposing his tail every time I approached him for
petting.
His anger disappered right after I offered a little
piece of cheese. He would make a politician! 
The other thing you can do is to show your rat who the boss is.
put her on her back and make her lay like this until
she calms.
I heard it helps.


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## CheshireLili (Mar 12, 2010)

I got her when she was 6 months old about so I really don't know. I have tried using food treats, she tried to grab my hand/fingers before even trying to go after the food. I know personally I never did anything to hurt her, I was very careful trying to handle her when I first got her and she hated it even then.


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## Julia_Austen (Mar 4, 2010)

Well, according to what you wrote, she
has always been like that. So, how have you been dealing with her this all time?
I tested hamster's teeth few times. Not fun at all.
Rats are sensitive to their surroundings.
Maybe you had a load music on nearby the cage.
Whatever made her act like that could have been
something insignificant for your perception.
Even though rats are very intelligent animals,
but there is still a big gap between them and us.
How is the girl doing with the person you left her with?
Any improvements?


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## CheshireLili (Mar 12, 2010)

She has but I've been very careful. Normally the way to get her out of the cage has been to wait till she's in her little house and take the house out with her in it....and leave it right near her so she feels safe. From there I tried numerous times to just pet her, let her explore and just get her used to her surroundings, however that never worked. I haven't talked to the person today but I know the change isn't going to be immediate, so Im TRYING to be patient and hope for the best.


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## Julia_Austen (Mar 4, 2010)

Did you let her have some fun outside the cage?
On a couch, for example?
I let my boys run and jump on the couch and bed for at least 2 hours a day.
It is also another reason for them to wait for my return.
Rat is not a dog and does not need to have regular street walks;
however, you still have to let her move outside the cage for a while.

Anyways, I wish you good luck! I hope
everything will work out for you and your pet!


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## CheshireLili (Mar 12, 2010)

Oh yeah when I took her out in her house she was able to run around my bed, however whenever I came near to her, even if I stooped down to her level, she would still lunge at me and try to bite. I have tried a lot of different things and nothing seemed to work, it sucks. I really wanted her to be happy with me, but who knows, in the future maybe she can be!


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## MuccRat (Mar 15, 2010)

Have you tried biting her ear?


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## MuccRat (Mar 15, 2010)

Heh, it was only in jest. I wish dominance was that easy, it took quite some time for my husky to accept me as his "superior". I feel like this rat will be the same way.


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

MuccRat said:


> Have you tried biting her ear?


Joking or not, someone may take that as a serious reply and try it - which could cause harm to person and rat.


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## CheshireLili (Mar 12, 2010)

I know I wouldn't bite some little ratty ear, I'd feel bad. I was told early on that flipping her on her back was a good idea. I (of course) had to use the super thick gloves. I did it over and over and over and over and over, etc. It never changed her outlook on things it seems.


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## MuccRat (Mar 15, 2010)

I imagine anything you do, as for all animals, you'd have to keep it up for a decent period of time. I'm pretty new to rats in terms of animals as a whole, but when I used to live on a farm we had quite a few of those problem children. I suppose my most recent one was my dog, he's probably the most stubborn animal you could ever run into. I had to keep up dominant behavior for about 3 months to get him to where he was at, and I've been having to keep it up. Whenever I leave him in my brothers care, he gets a bit lazy with him and I'll come back to him needing some work. Luckily, my rat has a lot more of an agreeable personality. 

I've read on techniques people have tried that included putting vanilla extract on a few rats and letting them interact with one another, but their situations seem a bit different than yours. Females are known to get a bit protective when pregnant. Hopefully there is some underlying reason for this, and your rat just isn't a jerk heh.


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## CheshireLili (Mar 12, 2010)

Hahaha sadly all signs point to her being a total jerk. I haven't had her around any males so I know shes not preggers at all, never has been. I really hope there is some underlying reason for her bad attitude, one that this person working with her can figure out for me, otherwise I know her being in my home is unsafe for kids and pets alike in the house, at the very least.


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## MuccRat (Mar 15, 2010)

Bahaha, animals just have different personalities, especially rats. In Peru, I used to have this one horse that would enjoy kicking doors. I'm not really sure why seeing as how she was great with people. She would be the one that we'd let children ride because she was always so collected, but the moment an unfortunate door crossed her path, it would be kicked off its hinges. While hilarious, it drove the farm hands nuts.


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