# UGH - new rat bit me & drew blood



## VetTech

Well, I got my two male rats today -- they're 5 months old and were a rescue litter. The breeder that I got them from has raised them since they were born, so they have had plenty of socialization and handling. I'm not sure why these two didn't have a forever home until they were 5 months old, but that's how it is.

So, I put them in their new cage and gave them a couple hours to explore and relax in it. I went in and out of the room a few times, and offered treats to them which they took. A couple hours later, I decided that I would go ahead and try to handle and hold them for a short time. I started out with Louie (my siamese capped) and the session went really well. He was kind of nervous at first but then he started to relax and would close his eyes when I was rubbing around his ears. I decided to end it on a high note, and put him back in the cage, and got his brother, Izzy (black & white broken hooded) out. That session went really well too. Izzy is a bit more active but after a little while, he stretched out on my arm and was relaxing. So after a little while of that, I put him back in the cage too. Right after he came back into the cage, Louie started acting pretty dominant. Izzy and Louie were in an igloo together and a scuffle broke out (with Louie being the instigator). Louie came out of the igloo but Izzy looked too afraid and stayed inside at the door. I reached my hand towards Izzy while talking to him to reassure him. Louie came forward and nipped at my finger. I said "eep!" and he drew back and then immediately came forward and really *chomped* on my finger. At that point, my finger was bleeding pretty badly so I shut the door and went to get it cleaned off. I figured I'd give them some time to cool down and chill out (and for me to nurse my wound).

I'm not really blaming this on Louie. I think I made a couple of mistakes. FIrst of all, I went into the cage shortly after a dominance scuffle where testosterone was probably still flowing pretty high. Secondly, I may be pushing the bonding a little too quickly and Louie was stressed out. So I'm thinking that I need to step back and regroup and start out a little more slowly. Like, start by sitting by their cage and talk to them... let them hear my voice and get used to my smell. Do that for awhile until they initiate approaching me when I open the cage door. I'll continue to offer them yummy little treats when I open the door, so that they can learn that I'm not a big bad ogre.

I just thought I'd throw that past you guys, who are more of a rat expert than me, and see what you thought. I guess I'm looking for some encouragement that just because I got bit this one time doesn't necessarily mean that its going to keep happening.

Thanks,
Deb


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## Forensic

Give him some time...

He may also be a little cage aggressive or just overly excited.


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## VetTech

Thanks, Forensic. I did go in there this morning to say "hello" and offered them both a little bit of baby food on the tip of my finger. At first, Louie seemed like he wanted to go to nip at my finger like it was part of the food. But I pulled away and said "lick" and then put it forward again. Every time he'd try to go to bite, I'd pull it away and do the same thing. He eventually got the idea to lick and took some off my finger. Unfortunately, I don't think he liked the taste cuz he got a really weird look on his face. LOL I offered him an unshelled peanut, and he took that from me. Izzy seemed to like the baby food a little better but wasn't interested in the peanut. He did take a small piece of provologne cheese from me though. 

Deb


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## ration1802

Ah, you have to love 'kill mode'. A couple of my boys are just like your fella just after a scuffle - they seem to go into kill mode and for a few moments afterwards (they're over excited, I'm sure of it) they just lunge for anything that moves. Maaaaany a rat bite has occured that way (will teach me not to put my hand in the way when they argue :lol:!)

It sounds as though it's just settling in behaviour though- I'd give them a few days to settle down (and realise fingers aren't food) and hopefully the dominance and aggression with calm down. All this dude needs to realise is that there's no reason to compete for things, no reason to be afraid and whenever he asks for something - you'll bow down to his every whim


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## VetTech

Unfortunately, the rescue people had to take Louie back. He bit me again today, very badly, and for no reason at all. I had just cleaned and replaced his litter box and was withdrawing my hand when he lunged forward and attacked it. When the girl from rescue came, he was acting like he wanted to bite her too, which she thought was very odd and concerning. She brought me another rat, a 2 yr old dumbo named Riff-Raff, who has been raised with my two rats. So I'm still keeping Izzy but Louie is going back with them. She is going to bring him to the vet to see if he's sick or just needs to be neutered. If that doesn't help, then she thinks he'll probably have to be put to sleep. My other 5 month old rat, Izzy, has been a real sweetheart and seems to be bonding with me. Riff-Raff is very much of a people-person and very sweet too. I let them both free-range in their bedroom for about an hour or so and they had a blast. Izzy figured out how to climb up the bar back up into his cage when he wants to go in. But he has to be helped back out again so he climbs on my arm, up my shoulder and then I let him down on the floor.

So, after a rocky start, I'm starting to really enjoy rat ownership again. 

Deb


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## ration1802

Put to sleep because he's aggressive in a new environment?????? I don't blame the guy for acting like he did - it's normal for them to be a little standoffish. I think putting him to sleep is complete overkill, IMHO


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## Eliza

Well, sorry about Louie. Hopefully they won't put him to sleep!  Wishing you better luck with Riff-Raff.


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## VetTech

A little stand-offish I can understand...but when he's attacking my hand and biting VERY hard without any provocation, to where the wound bleeds for over an hour before stopping. Well that's not something that I can deal with in a rat. I understand that he's in a new environment. And I'd been going very slowly with him. The rescue people are going to do everything they can to help bring him back to a more sweet, social behavior. They just don't feel that they can adopt him out when he's exhibiting this kind of very aggressive behavior.

Deb


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## junior_j

A lot of rats are like this at fist it takes patience and encouragement 

hope riff raff shows u a rat is a kind loving cool animal with lots of love
Jess x


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## BoyzRcrazy

Hi VetTech,

I have had my two rescue boys for about 10 weeks, and last night one bit me under very much the same circumstances yours did. That was 24 hours ago, and I'm still struggling to keep the wounds (5) from bleeding.

The quantity of my own blood I ended up mopping up was really scary, and I was home alone when it all happened. So I can understand first hand your decision.

I have the biter in a separate cage (as he has also attacked his cagemate), and I'm trying to figure out a way to at least get him food and toys and fresh water without a repeat performance.


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## ration1802

Is he still showing any signs of aggression at all? Do you know what provoked him in the first place? It seems very strange to me that a rat that's been with you for 10 weeks already would suddenly attack (if showing no signs of prior aggression). Had something spooked him?

I know it's not a nice experience, but you need to at least try and get him out and handled again. The fear response is obviously what he was looking for (and got), now the main thing is to break that bite/fear cycle to decrease the likelihood of a repeat performance.


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## VetTech

I think it helps if you're wearing sturdy, thick gloves if you decide to try and handle the biting rat. I also put on a sturdy jacket (ie., jean jacket) to protect my arms when handling it.

BTW, update on Louie the rat that I gave back to the rescue girls. They did NOT put him to sleep. They decided to neuter him, and see if that would help his behavior. I guess he has still been acting very strange and defensive with them, ever since they got him back home. It's only been a short time since his neuter so I don't know that they've seen any change yet. But I did neuter his brother, Izzy, and that was a huge help in eliminating his nipping and bullying. It's been almost three weeks since I had it done, and I could see an improvement about a week after the neuter. I definitely don't regret doing it, and hope that it will help his brother, Louie.

Deb


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## BoyzRcrazy

I lost over a pint of blood in this experience and my doctor put me on Tetracycline for the infection. I am taking a vitamin combination to combat anemia and build up my blood supply. I'll work with him more when I'm feeling a little stronger.

He did show earlier signs of extreme cage aggression, esp. after a cage cleaning, so this isn't entirely new. His agression before was always aimed at his cagemate. (That was my initial post on the forum.) He simply cannot handle the process of being taken away from the cage, but I also tried spot cleaning with him in the cage and that didn't go over well either. 

I at least have learned not to handle him before / during / after cage cleaning. If I can find a way to get the cleaning done without a hands-on experience we might have some success. He and I have been visiting through the bars, and I can open the cage and hand him treats so long as I don't do it with an open palm.

At least it's a start.


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## ration1802

If it's an ongoing thing, you may want to consider a neuter. If he's still quite young, he should be able to benefit the most from it. It may help calm him down.


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## Zuruifox

I had the same problem when I had my little Molly rat. I had to give her up due to her biting issues. In place of her, I have a hooded rat who seems to get along okay with my other rat. There are normal dominance issues but they seem to get along for the most part. Naomi (the new rat) tends to wanna bite sometimes too when she's in her cage. I've resorted to putting on gloves to get her out of the cage, once she sees she can't bite through them she gives up and becomes as sweet as can be when I finally pull her out. I think they both could use a trip to the vet to get spayed. Unfortunately I don't have the money to do it right now, but hopefully I can do it soon. I got really off track there, but I guess what I'm saying is if you run into a biter you can try gloves. It seems to work for me anyway.


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## BoyzRcrazy

Thought I'd give an update. Two of the five wounds in my hands are still infected, but the oral antibiotics should keep working on those. The other holes are healing over and look really clean.

The heartbreak is harder to mend, and I am struggling to trust my nice little guy who hasn't had any issues. (Once bitten, twice shy...)

"Chupacabras" (the rat formerly known as Makura), is now living in a new Petco Rat Manor, which is a pretty respectable small cage, by the way. (It can house up to 3 rats.)

I thought I would have trouble moving him from the cage he's been in since the incident on Sunday to the new one without my being bitten again, but my roommate helped me. (This roommie is a rat expert, Animal Science major and resident guardian angel, it seems.) We got "Chupacabras" into the new cage without handling him, and without gloves.

I let him settle in, and then was able to reach into his cage (which is a great weakness for him) and hang his hammock. This is progress. (I have spent a week just talking to him and opening the cage to hand him treats with my finger tips.) 

Now he is now next to his old cagemate, but the cages are about 6 inches apart, so nobody can get hurt. 

Good progress for the week, I think. Although I do realize that his temperament is not stable, so I will have to decide what the best life for him will be on a day-to-day basis. He seems to be fairly content, and I took a couple of cute pictures of him in his new home playing the role of "rug rat" curled up burrito style in his favorite rug. (We are working on new memories.)


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## Nomadofthehills

BoyzRcrazy said:


> I lost over a pint of blood in this experience and my doctor put me on Tetracycline for the infection.


A PINT? Are you hemophilic? Did you apply pressure and proper bandaging to the wounds?



Also, on a side note, if a rat bites me gently, I let him/her. I only eek when it is hard enough to hurt. I feel a preemptive eek can let the rat know he is dominant over you, and will come back to make sure you know he is boss. Just my opinion of course.


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