# Why do rats bite armpits?



## blinky000 (Jun 27, 2010)

I've had Celia for over a year now and she's lovely, well tempered rat but since day one she's always nipped my armpit. Today she nipped it harder than usual and just seemed to clamp down on it harder when I eeped. It hurt. A lot. What does she love so much about my armpit? What can I do to stop her biting it? Her favourite place in the world is in my sleeve and I don't want to make it out of bounds for her.


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## 1a1a (May 6, 2011)

I sometimes wonder if it is the same reason they bite eyelids and ears...(softest, most edible parts of the body). I hope not, the notion that my beloved pet would eat me given half the chance makes me quite sad.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

"softest, most edible parts"...wow that is funny!!

eyelids and eyelashes get nipped because eyelashes are like feathers and if you have ever seen a rat go into predator mode with feathers (birds) then you'll understand.

Armpits smell bad or different (stinky sweat or deodorant) making them Not You.


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## blinky000 (Jun 27, 2010)

You know, she does eat my other edible bits too! And I think I've seen this predator mode before. Poke a sponge at my girls at your own risk. They go mental!


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## noMoreFaith (Apr 28, 2010)

One of my albinos used to nip at everything, probably because of her bad vision. Once she bit me in the eye..I remember how much blood there was! (like a horror movie scene). Since then, she quit that habit of nipping everything.


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## A.ngelF.eathers (Jul 6, 2011)

lilspaz68 said:


> eyelids and eyelashes get nipped because eyelashes are like feathers and if you have ever seen a rat go into predator mode with feathers (birds) then you'll understand.


Which now explains why my Kalabar ravaged a cat toy that I gave to him. It had feathers and the first thing he did was rip each one of them out and push them through the wire.


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## hshelton (Feb 23, 2010)

I had 4 foster baby birds last year. I had them sitting up in a cage on my dresser which was pulled away from the wall to prevent any of the rats getting onto it since they were free ranging at the time. Somehow, Piper managed to scale the dresser and got on top and got a hold of one of the birds and she bit it so hard she almost severed its back toe. I was incredibly mad as you can imagine and the baby bird didn't live much longer since it was no longer able to feed itself. I have two parrots now and make sure I keep them well away from the rat cage.


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