# How to stop rats from play-fighting with my hands?



## Zonalox (Apr 12, 2016)

Hi,

I have two unneutered male rats, and recently one of them has begun nipping me whenever I pick him up. He's definitely not biting out of fear, because he's perfectly fine with being touched except when he's picked up.

He also doesn't bite hard enough to break the skin or anything, so I don't think that he's doing it out of aggression?

All of this leads me to think that he's just trying to play-fight with my hand, as he also play-fight a lot with his brother.

I've tried making high-pitched noises to discourage him from doing this, but it doesn't seem to work 

Any suggestions??


----------



## MeganR (Mar 25, 2016)

I am new to rats, but one of my boys likes to play fight with my hand. I play back and it is a lot of fun. He will chase my hand around and I will also "tickle" him. He has never bit hard. Hopefully, someone with more experience will comment, but I would be concerned that your rat is trying to communicate something with you since you say it is when you are picking him up. Right before my boys got sick they started turning their back to me or acting like they didn't want to leave their cage. It was probably because they were not felling well.


----------



## JAnimal (Jul 23, 2014)

He could be biting because he wants something and he thinks that if he bites you he thinks he will get it. The first time he bit you what did you do?


----------



## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

How old is your boy? In the 5-9 month range? he's probably hitting puberty and his hormones are making him angsty. At this point you need to watch and make sure the behaviors don't escalate. Its best to stop doing anything that causes him to nip you at all, as you don't want to set him off. Stop touching his rump and lower back as this is a place males will attack and he may whirl on your hand. Hopefully this is as far as it goes and he won't go into full hormonal rages which can only be cured with a neuter.


----------



## Katrianah (Apr 13, 2016)

Play biting is usually pretty identifiable. They get a bit zoomy and bouncy, and it's usually quick gentle bites and lots of wriggling to encourage wrestling. More submissive ones may roll over on their back to let you at their bellies if you scritch and tickle them back.

If his biting isn't causing pain, is a series of short rapid bites/nibbles or is coupled with lots of wriggly behavior and a desire to be close to you as opposed to running away when you try to pick him up or after you pick him up (darting away and then returning wouldn't be avoidance behavior, and usually is attempts to entice you to chase, and falls in with the play behaviors), then it's probably harmless and normal bonding behavior. 

There's a world of difference between play wrestling/play biting and nipping with the intent to cause harm. Identifying which it is will help you determine if it needs to be corrected or not.


----------



## Zonalox (Apr 12, 2016)

Thanks for everyone's help  he's around 7 months old, and he does tend to run and jump around a lot before he goes for my hand, so I'm 99% sure it's just playing, and I'll soon try playing back  thanks all!


----------



## Katrianah (Apr 13, 2016)

Good luck! Just be sure to establish limits if he gets TOO rough.


----------

