# Biting problem, maybe scared?



## MusicMonkey666 (Apr 4, 2014)

I've had Max for about 5 weeks now. His my only rat. I usually take him out of his cage everyday and allow him to explore for 2 hours or so depends. Usually he likes to hang out on my shoulder or hide in my hair. For the first 2 weeks he was fine. One day I stuck my finger in his cage just after I had eaten a sandwich only to have him bite me obviously it was because he smelt food. Then my house mate stuck his finger in to pat Max, he had clean hands. Max bit him. Now 9/10 when you put your finger in his cage clean hands or not he bites. Also recently what's got me more concerned is that when you go to take him out he'll bite. He bit me hard enough tonight to draw blood. 

I'm not sure whats happened with him or how to solve the problem.


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## Mattsrats (Feb 24, 2014)

Rats are social creatures that find strength in numbers. Rats that live alone usually become depressed, fearful, develop anxiety, and become aggressive.

You should get him a cage-mate as soon as possible because you still have to quarantine the new rat for at least 2 weeks and your fella will be alone that whole time. In the meantime get some leather work gloves and pick him up regardless of the biting as he may stop once he realizes it's futile.

Rats are such social creatures to a degree that some people consider keeping 1 rat to be cruel.

This article applies to rats:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_animal


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## brundlefly (Mar 27, 2014)

Ditto for above. It's funny how so many biting and behavior issues stem from rats who don't have cage mates.


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## Mattsrats (Feb 24, 2014)

I agree brudle

Rats basically need back up... I know I would feel better if I was in a new situation if I had a friend there with me.

I'd say emotional support is the best way to describe having a cage-mate. Rats are way more intelligent than we can even determine I think.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

First of all, your rat isn't confusing you with food... rats really aren't that stupid... If your rat bites you it's because he wants to, why he wants to is a matter of what's happening in his mind.

I've raised a rather amazing rat, and our current rat is also temporarily alone, you can make up for lack of a rat friend by being around 24 X 7. Not that your rat will play with you round the clock, but you need to be there when he wants to be with you.

You might want to read the immersion guide for some ideas on how to improve your relationship and stop the biting, then you either need to adjust your lifestyle to include your rat into everything you do, or perhaps consider getting him a friend.

Best luck.


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## xbexidabestx (Jun 17, 2013)

I cannot stress how important the socialising side of having rats is. I had to isolate one of my males so he could recover from a slight choking incident.... Only for a few days, but Im pretty sure I actually witnessed some depression in him from being alone. He wasn't himself, no way can rats reach their full potential alone. Get him a cage buddy as soon as possible!!!!


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

MusicMonkey666,

I know you asked about biting and you are getting the general reply that you need another rat... And you are likely thinking that wasn't your question and by the way, it won't necessarily fix your biting problem because that's more than likely due to improper socialization and not enough time playing with you. He also might be reaching the age where he's staking his claim on pack (family) leadership and you might have to remind him who's in charge.

After a bit of thought, once he goes too aggressive a new friend may not help because he may beat up a new rat because he's stuck in bully mode... So to be honest, I'd work on fixing his biting problem before you adopt another rat...

That said, everyone is telling you the truth. Most people aren't home much of the time and they can't keep their rats company around the clock. Your rat will enjoy the company of another rat friend and it will let you take more time away from your rats without having to worry about him all of the time. And you don't have to worry, rats are social animals, just because he has another friend he will still love you. Rats aren't like birds that forget their humans when they have other birds to play with.

So first I'd address the biting then I'd get him a friend. But this does not imply that this has to be a long term project. Many biting rats can be fixed in a matter of hours or days and you could have a new rat settled in with him by next weekend, if you skip quarantine... (maybe not a good idea) but my point is that this needn't be a big problem. 

I suppose there's a logical issue with getting an additional rat, that you may feel that two rats will require twice the time from you, but that isn't entirely true... Whereas you may be spending more time with your rats it won't be twice the time and when you're not there they will have each other. It is also not true that you can spend less time with your rats, they will still need you to be their leader or parent. Either way you will have to be involved.

The thing to keep in mind is that if you really want to raise an only rat, two hours a day is not nearly enough time. To do it right you have to be the other rat and you need to be there around the clock... So yes it can be done, but no it isn't practical.


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## MusicMonkey666 (Apr 4, 2014)

Well looks like I'll have to get him a cage buddy. He actually just bit me again a few minutes ago this time pretty badly. I've had someone say his cage defensive which could be part of the problem not the whole problem seeing as his out of his cage at the moment. I really don't want to introduce another rat if his going to attack it. I plan to introduce them slowly other time before finally putting them in the same cage. How do I deal with the biting problem before adding a buddy.


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## Mattsrats (Feb 24, 2014)

Rat Daddy said:


> MusicMonkey666,
> 
> I know you asked about biting and you are getting the general reply that you need another rat... And you are likely thinking that wasn't your question and by the way, it won't necessarily fix your biting problem because that's more than likely due to improper socialization and not enough time playing with you. He also might be reaching the age where he's staking his claim on pack (family) leadership and you might have to remind him who's in charge.
> 
> ...


I couldn't have explained it better myself.

Have you ever known someone (friend or GF/BF) who suffered from being codependent? When a codependent person is alone or without their significant other they become sad, depressed, and/or lash out irrationally. Rats are much the same way in regards to being all alone, granted it's not the exact same but in terms of understanding it, you can cast several similarities.

Like Rat Daddy said, the only time a solo-rat works is if you are with them 24-7. My first girl Rikku was a solo-rat for over a year but I was on disability at the time and suffered from many health issues so I was home round the clock. Rikku and I were best friends and spent every waking hour in each other's company. She turned out to be one of the best rats I ever had the privilege of knowing/owning. I eventually ended up getting her 7 more friends over the coarse of her life but she still stayed attached to me. She passed away shortly before the age of 6 years old, outliving every one of her cage-mates during the course of her life.

Rats are the most happy when they have someone with them all the time and they form deep bonds with other rats and their human owner. Sometimes I hold a specific rat for several hours while I am home. When I return him/her to their cage, the cage-mates are over-joyed. Rats naturally live in communities so you can't have a community with just one.


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## MusicMonkey666 (Apr 4, 2014)

Mattsrats said:


> I couldn't have explained it better myself.
> 
> Have you ever known someone (friend or GF/BF) who suffered from being codependent? When a codependent person is alone or without their significant other they become sad, depressed, and/or lash out irrationally. Rats are much the same way in regards to being all alone, granted it's not the exact same but in terms of understanding it, you can cast several similarities.
> 
> Like Rat Daddy said, the only time a solo-rat works is if you are with them 24-7. My first girl Rikku was a solo-rat for over a year but I was on disability at the time and suffered from many health issues so I was home round the clock. Rikku and I were best friends and spent every waking hour in each other's company. She turned out to be one of the best rats I ever had the privilege of knowing/owning. I eventually ended up getting her 7 more friends over the coarse of her life but she still stayed attached to me. She passed away shortly before the age of 6 years old, outliving every one of her cage-mates during the course of her life.



I understand but I don't want to put another rat with him. He bites anything that goes near his cage or lunges at everything passing his cage. I can't even try trust training because he automatically sniffs then bites anything put in his cage or near him.


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## Mattsrats (Feb 24, 2014)

I haven't any idea what else to suggest, I do know keeping a biting rat as a pet is VERY dangerous both to you and others.

My friend had a rat similar to yours a few years ago. Started out super sweet and super licky then one day started biting everyone that tried to hold him. He even started trying to bite when people would try to hold his cage mates. The worst came when the rat lunged at my friend's hand when he was changing the water bottle. The rat latched on and dug in deep ... blood everywhere and nearly broke the rat's neck detaching it from his hand. He had to get stitches and eventually had to put the rat to sleep.

I hope it doesn't come to that and hope you find out what's wrong.


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## MusicMonkey666 (Apr 4, 2014)

Mattsrats said:


> I haven't any idea what else to suggest, I do know keeping a biting rat as a pet is VERY dangerous both to you and others.
> 
> My friend had a rat similar to yours a few years ago. Started out super sweet and super licky then one day started biting everyone that tried to hold him. He even started trying to bite when people would try to hold his cage mates. The worst came when the rat lunged at my friend's hand when he was changing the water bottle. The rat latched on and dug in deep ... blood everywhere and nearly broke the rat's neck detaching it from his hand. He had to get stitches and eventually had to put the rat to sleep.
> 
> I hope it doesn't come to that and hope you find out what's wrong.



So do I. I've had a few suggestions from some Local Rat breeders and owners. A few have even speculated at the cause of his biting seeing as it only started after my room mate returned from his trip. At the moment I'm going to try a stern tactic with him a local breeder suggested. She said ever time he bites given him a flick on the nose and he should learn quickly biting his not an acceptable behavior.


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## Mattsrats (Feb 24, 2014)

Don't forget to wear some leather work gloves as I suggested earlier that will save your hands trust me. The 2 times I have been bitten that drew blood, they went for the soft tissue between my thumb and index finger. Trying to heal that area is tough because you are constantly flexing it as well.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I cover extreme immersion in my guide posted at the top of this section... It's a rather extreme procedure used only with biting rats, there are a few extreme immersion threads where you can read through the process as it was ongoing.

Extreme immersion is not to be undertaken lightly, it involves locking yourself into small space with a biting rat and breaking just about every rule you've ever rad about socializing rats... but it's got a very good track record of success. It's about the only socialization method developed only for aggressive biting rats. If that doesn't work, you might try neutering but otherwise biting rats are not pets.

Best luck.


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