# Aggressive rat, what to do?



## sachaaa (Mar 17, 2014)

I'm a first-time owner to 3 rats, who were purchased as a sort of shared bunch with other members in my family. I personally only fully own one of the three rats in our menagerie, Richard, however I'm the primary caretaker of all three so I refer to them all under the umbrella of 'mine'ness 

We purchased two rats almost a year ago, and within 6hrs of purchasing those two we picked up a third rat (Richard) who was somewhat younger, but had been in the same group as the first two rats. We introduced them fairly carefully, but there were some little scuffuffles in the first month they were together, mostly between our dominant rat Bobby (much larger, runs the roost) and Richard. These settled down quickly, and life with the ritter-ratters was great. We held them daily, assured that everybody held them at some point so they weren't used to be handled by one person. We also have a 12 year old family member, and we were especially careful to supervise him while he held the rats, and to handle them frequently on our own to help socialize them. At this point, Bobby and the other rat are absolute gems, they snuggle and gently take treats/play games/enjoy hiding in pockets and grooming your hair if you let them/are a bit clumsy and don't enjoy sitting on shoulders but enjoy every other part of snuggling/will come to the cage bars to visit anybody who walks by/make 'small talk' with anyone who pays attention to them.

Richard, on the other hand, has regressed noticeably in terms of his behaviour. He was always the more active of the rats, scurried here and there if he was being held, climbed everywhere, but he enjoyed purching on my shoulder and would groom my hair while he sat there. He has always been a squeaker, compared to our other two rats, he squeaks when approached/picked up/petted even with just a finger/when interacting with the other rats. We were concerned for a while that he was in pain, but he never struggles while squeaking or looks distressed, he just squeaks.

About two months ago, he became a totally different rat. He spends most of his time hiding in his little hut, he fights with one of our other rats and has twice drawn blood (not a great amount, but there was dried blood on his cagemate) and we've had to break up fights between him and this rat from outside the cage a number of times. He's also taken to biting and lashing out with his paws at people. It's become so bad that all the other rat handlers in my home are disinterested in handling the rats because they've been bitten or otherwise lunged at by Richard, and I've been left to manage all the handling. Yesterday, after taking a chunk out of my hand, I realized that something needs to be done because this is no longer acceptable. What started as a gentle nibble escalated quickly into full-blown blood-drawing bites and right now with the dynamics of the cage being so negative in relation to Richard, and with the sorts of handlers we have here we aren't in a position to let this go on.

Almost a dozen times, Richard has bitten someone in my household. He will often lunge at you if you go to pick up another rat, or will come from the corner of the cage and lash out at you if you go to return a food dish or handle another rat. Yesterday, he came close to me and was interested in being held and visiting at the front of the cage, so I scooped him up but he turned around and ran off my hand so I let him. However, I let my hand linger in the cage with the other rats and he turned around and lunged at me, taking a chunk out of my fingers and scraping me up with his little paws. We've had this happen multiple times, and he reliably draws blood every incident. Our two other ratters are incredibly gentle and interested in playing, and I can see that our feeling uncomfortable to go into the cage is actually detrimental to them. I've tried holding him twice a day for a set amount of time to see if resocialization was the key, I've used shirts of ours for scent purposes, but it takes us 30min to remove him from the cage for cleanings and he has also taken to biting unprovoked while being held. This behaviour isn't localized solely within the cage, it's a general behaviour at this point.

I've personally analyzed what we do with our rats, and have researched what we might be doing that would irritate him or might cause this issue. So far, we appear to be gentle, and fairly competent rat owners for first-timers. We never reach into their sleeping spaces to grab them, so they never feel 'invaded', and we try our very hardest never to grab them above so they don't feel like prey. We tend to let them crawl into our hands, or we scoop them from below, however we only pick them up when they climb up onto the folded-out cage door, or when they come to visit us at the cage door in the front of the cage. We don't corner them, don't typically grab them from the different landings in their cage, and we don't interrupt them when they're playing. We only pick them up when they're paying attention to us, and seem interested in visiting. We don't feed through the cage bars, we don't squeeze or otherwise try to keep them in our hands if they're trying not to be held and are struggling.

The only thing I think is worth mentioning is that because we don't have a rat breeder in our city or the local cities, we did purchase these rats from a local pet store. Our rats do have a regular cough/sneeze/sniffle, but it never progresses and they don't appear distressed by it. I am very fortunate to be friends with a veterinarian who often gives me advice on my pets, and was kind enough to prescribe me two antibiotics for Richard (who appeared to sound a little more rattley than the other two rats) and so he was given two oral antibiotics for a week. We noticed no difference in his alertness, behaviour or breathing and so we never continued the antibiotics beyond the treatment recommended by the vet. He was very sweet in the month or two following this, and wasn't aggressive at all, so I'm less likely to believe that he's 'scarred' from being held and fed oral antibiotics and that this is rooted in something else.

I've considered neutering him, but I'm concerned how that will play out in a cage with two other intact males, and I'm also concerned as to whether or not that will even make a difference to his aggression. I've considered rehoming him to a situation that suits him better, but at this point I can't even determine what it is about our situation that doesn't work for him so I don't feel confident giving him to anybody if it's not going to improve his life. It's not my first choice, but I've read a lot and some people are under the impression that if a rat is regularly drawing blood then euthanizing it may be the only thing that's fair to the rat and the people. At this point, I'm just not sure what to do. I'm getting married in June and will be moving in with my now fiancé, and I'd like to figure this situation out so that if our landlord won't allow me to have rodents with me, that my family will be able to handle the rats safely and confidently without being attacked by Richard.

Any experience or suggestions would be greatly appreciated


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

What was going on with the nips? I ask because I feel that is key; if he had something he didn't like and nipped as a reaction, and then learned oh I get what I want when I nip people then this is behavioral, just an escalation to cut out the middle man and can be fixed "easily" enough (via Immersion).

If you disagree and he wasn't being pushy, then it could be health related and at the least he should SEE a vet, if not to neuter him to see if he is ill or blind or something. As to this issue (unlikely, due to age!), neutering can significantly help. How will a neutered boy act with intact males? Less agressive, less likely to attack or attack. It can level the playing field so that behavioral modification can work (it's not snip snip and he's a good rat, of course) and hormones aren't interfering.

I don't agree that a biting rat is a dead rat, and I think several people on the forum have cried and bled to save their rats. I have. Rehoming with a warning is better than dead imo.

Anyway; this should help: http://www.ratforum.com/showthread.php?165802-Rats-Biting-a-note-to-other-beginners&p=1195858 Shame it wasn't stickied took some time to find.


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## sachaaa (Mar 17, 2014)

The nips have often been unprovoked. I understand that people often feel their rats are 'biters' but the rat is often grooming or play-nipping. I've been 'are you edible?' nipped by all our rats, but I've noticed that if I move or just generally after they've done it they usually look pretty surprised that I'm not yummy haha. However, my issue with these nips is that we can't find a common denominator between them. He's nipped before when someone put a gloved hand in the cage, just because he couldn't smell us and felt alarmed, so we never held that sort of thing against him. But these nips happen when we have our hands near the doorway of the cage, he will come up to the doorway and lash out at us, or if we're petting another rat he has been known to come out from under his little hut and attack. We've moved the hut, wondering if he's protective of it, but it didn't improve the situation.

I too thought that he had learned nipping meant not being removed from his cage, or something of that nature, which was why I spent over a month removing him from the cage twice a day, rewarding him with treats/play time/roaming around/shoulder rides. However, he'd be sitting on my sister's lap, she wouldn't be touching him and was just letting him roam around, and he lunged at her arm and took a chunk out of her. We're a practically no-scent household, we wash our hands if we eat before holding them, which are things I've read can often lead to nibbles. We're also a household with many stay-at-home individuals and college students who live at home and return between classes, so it's not as if they're left alone for days, these are rats who are regularly socialized and exposed to people.

I've considered neutering him, and I'm considering speaking to an acquaintance who works with rescue rats from different situations (abuse being one, so behavioural issues are a familiar challenge for them) to see if they might see if they can pick up something from his behaviour. I love all of my pets, and am accustomed to dealing with horses, dogs, and the likes so I'm familiar with a variety of behavioural issues and understand that sometimes it's better to give them up if it means they'll go into a better situation than to be selfish and keep them just because I don't want to admit that there are people with more experience who can help him better than me. And I think I'm in that position with him right now, I might not be if it were just me, but this little fellow isn't a good match with my family who will inherit him in the face of my impending move to a pet-free location.

As for euthanizing him for drawing blood, it's the most popular opinion that I've come across online, although it generally isn't my first choice.

Edit: I did see that post previously. The characteristics like tail wagging, lunging and puffing up are all things we've seen with him when he bites. I've been scouring scientific journals for studies on rat behaviour, thinking that the lab community would have loads of info on rats and handling (ex-psych minor here) but no such luck.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

This might help, if you want definitions: http://ratbehavior.org/

And tail wagging, puffing and lunging are like a cat or dog growling. A warning to stop the behavior.


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## sachaaa (Mar 17, 2014)

So far the behaviour seems to be touching his friends and entering the cage.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

I don't know how to fix that, specifically;

I would put thick thick gloves on and enter the cage, and interact with him.Remove his friends, and just focus on invading his space and showing him you aren't an enemy. If he bites, tell him NO and tap his nose. If he bites harder, pick him up and go nose to nose and say more firmly NO and then pet him confidently. Just keep doing this. More than 30 minutes, and always end on a good note. The longer the better. Set goals if you can't do a marathon.

With his friends, repeat but with them in the cage. It's important that cage aggression is fixed with no one to interfere or get caught up.


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## sachaaa (Mar 17, 2014)

I considered the thick gloves but I'll be honest, I'm not looking forward to putting my hand in there gloves or not because dang does he bite hard! The gloves have previously really freaked them out (I tried when they were younger out of fear, but they preferred bare hands and were civil until this little guy got wild), so I was always inclined not to use them as they always feel invaded.

Might be worth trying. His behaviour has been insane though, he sits in the corner of the cage in a sort of nest burrowed into his carefresh bedding, hair all up and ears oriented strangely, and very wide eyes. You can practically see his heart racing under his skin, it's like he's on high-alert 24/7. I feel bad for him, honestly, he seems kind of crazed and I can't imagine he's comfortable


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Hair puffed up is also a sign of pain, which is why I mentioned the vet. Rats hide their illnesses and if he is really sick he can get "grumpy".

I did my immersion of an agressive rat without gloves, and wish I hadn't. You have to have a first aid kit in with you to keep going as you leak blood. The bites hurt. Gloves won't stop the pain, but will make it less likely he breaks skin.


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## sachaaa (Mar 17, 2014)

I'm a Canadian, so I'm considering putting a ski glove underneath the leather glove  I'll rig up something, and as for the vet I may have my friend take a look at him again, it's possible he's progressed beyond the little dormant sneezing he had previously, so the meds might be more useful to him.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

When dealing with a rat that's being aggressive... being docile only fuels the flames. Force gets met with superior force and Alpha confusion is remedied. The nicer you are the more aggressive your rat will become... It sounds almost backwards doesn't it? But if you think about it... bringing more lunch money every day doesn't stop the bully, rather it makes you a bigger target.

The bully that learns you always back down becomes the most aggressive bully. And why not? It's a strategy that works! You might know every bite is bringing him closer to a final vet visit, but from his perspective he's in charge, top of the heap and king of the castle. And this won't change until he learns that there are consequences to his bad behavior.

Yes, there might be health reasons for his behavior... this is something only a vet might be able to fix, or not. But if the problem is behavioral, it's armor up and do extreme immersion. And yes, he's been pushing you around for quite a while and he isn't likely to go down without a major fight... but once he learns that attacking you is the cause of all things unpleasant... he'll stop doing it. That which most quickly fixes a bully is a bigger badder bully. Once Richard realizes he's not the king and you are the Alpha to the pack, he'll get back in line. Usually rats that respect their humans will become quite loving pack members again. They feel protected and reassured by your strong and confident presence and they are happy not to have to be in charge.

If you move out and leave the rats behind, someone else will have to take over the human alpha role... Mostly being an alpha is being a parent, you lead and comfort your family... but if your kids are chomping on your ankles you don't offer them cookies to let go and you don't run away from them in fear... sometimes being a parent means laying down the law in very certain terms. 

Extreme immersion usually gets ugly before it gets better, it's not for everyone...


Best luck.


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## sachaaa (Mar 17, 2014)

Thanks for the reply, I'm definitely familiar with the 'be bigger than the bully' idea as I'm most accustomed to working with horses, and when a bully is 10x your weight you most certainly don't pussyfoot around!

At this point I know I can likely follow an immersion-type program and do remedial work with him to get him back to a certain point, and that I could also neuter him to see if the lack of hormones might give me a little edge on him while I'm trying to kick this nasty little habit, but the concern will of course be if it can be maintained or not by my family members. The likelihood is that he'll quickly fall out of his little training regime, as my family members aren't particularly confident and have difficulty exuding 'alpha' around most animals. I appreciate that about them honestly, they're very soft and loving people who just want to nurture, but somebody needs to fill the alpha role and do the dirty work which is what I've done. It's a very real concern that this won't be something they can continue, or that I can maintain while not at home.

The very worst comes to very worst, I'll separate him from his 'brothers' and have him neutered then take him with me (shhh, don't tell my landlord), but at this point I'm willing to try immersing him as best I can, and if it isn't easily maintained by my family members then I'll cross that bridge when I arrive at it.


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