# New owner with a question



## fish430 (Jul 29, 2015)

Hello I adopted 2 rats for my fiance and I from a rat rescue. The lady that let me choose which ones out was very nice and one of the rats we chose was a rat That she raised from birth named blue. She handled it alot and said it's very nice and mellow. The other rat we got was snake food. The snake wouldn't eat it so the rescue got him. This rat stitch (his name) is extreamly mellow and loves to just sit with you and cuddle up. Now they were not in the same cage at the rescue but there cages were right beside eachother. Now when we got them home we were handling them a bit feeding them treats and they were taking them nicely from out hands and having a jolly old time. Now when we put them back in the cage blue became dominant and started beating on stitch pretty hard. I new this was normal. Now this is when things get weird when I went to move there cage blue bit me threw the cage and drew blood. I figured he mistake my finger for food. Now this morning they were both in there hammock sleeping so I figured they figured things out. I went to give them each a cheerio for being good while they were in the hammock and blue snatched the cheerieo with his mouth so fast and hard out of my hand he made me bleed again! Stitch just casually grabbed it with his hands. Now I didn't know if maybe blue was just trying to get it before stitch did or what. My question is it seems blue is being aggressive. I'm almost afraid to let my fiance pet him. He sniffs my fingers when I put my hand in the cage and don't want him biting any of us. Why is he being like this? Is it because he's new or is he just being aggressive. I almost want to take him back. And get another. Now I typed all this on my phone so sorry for any run on sentences or misspellings. 

Edit. Blue is 8.5 months and stitch Is 7.5 months.


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## fish430 (Jul 29, 2015)

This is what I came down too this morning


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## fish430 (Jul 29, 2015)

<img src="http://www.ratforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=216681&stc=1" attachmentid="216681" alt="" id="vbattach_216681" class="previewthumb"> This is what I came down too this morning


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I never recommend that anyone work with new rats in a cage... for some reason weird things happen there... Maybe it's the limited space or bad memories from previous owners or whatever. In time rats learn inside and outside the cage is the same place, but at first things seem to go wrong there.

Second, rats respond differently to different humans, our most vicious part wild rat was a sweetheart to my daughter who could squish her into doll clothes... and only ever bit me once due to a disagreement over not letting her kill another animal. If she didn't know someone and wasn't properly introduced and supervised she bit repetitively and tore flesh.. and could be a very nasty piece of work. I understand that wild and part wild rats are wired differently from common domestic rats.. but my point is that your new rats don't really know you yet and aren't settled in to their new home yet...

Check out my immersion thread and get your rats out of the cage and into the immersion area, it will give you both more running room and let you get down on the same level to get to know each other... Your rats won't feel cornered and you will have more room to maneuver safely too. Once you are all best friends, I'm sure Blue won't even think about biting you again. To us, our part wild rat was a sweetheart, I trusted her implicitly to play alone with my 5 year old daughter... if you were another small animal, like a mouse... you were dead if she found you... and if you were a stranger who tried to pick her up, you would need stitches. There's a lot going on in a rats mind, there are very few rats that are inherently good or bad, everything is in context. Blue might have been mistreated by his former owners and have been defensive or even aggressive, he may have liked the person at the rescue and been friendly and charming and he doesn't know you yet... so who knows what he's thinking when you shove your hand into his cage.

In immersion, he'll have more ability to express himself and you will get a better picture of how he is behaving and what he is thinking... think of it as behavioral diagnosis. Then respond to him appropriately and build a bond based on communication. It's less about trying to figure out why he's upset or confused and more about helping him to understand that you are his new best friend and you are going to make his life wonderful regardless of what other humans did to him.

Was out part wild rat an aggressive vicious killer or a sweet cuddle puff? She was both and could be either depending on what she thought was going on and who she trusted and loved. It's too early to make any judgments, or to predict who Blue can be at this point, but through immersion we have fixed some very screwed up rats. Be careful, wear thick gloves if you feel you need them but also try to make it as fun for you and your rats as possible and things will work out.

Best luck.


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## Chillzone68 (Jul 22, 2012)

I had adopted a male rat off of Craigslist a couple years ago. I was told he was friendly and after placing him in his cage, I went to pet him and he bit my knuckle. He bit me so bad that I still have nerve damage in that finger and a huge scar to boot. After that, I tried desperately to rehome him as I thought he was a demon rat and would bite me again. After realizing no one wanted him, I started wearing two layers of gloves and slowly offering him treats. It took a while to trust him again, but wearing the gloves built my confidence and he turned out to be the best pet rat ever.


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## fish430 (Jul 29, 2015)

Thanks for the replys I got them out today for about 45 minites each not together yet to try to get them used to human contact. They were both being good but you could tell they were scared so I kept coaxing them with treats. Then when I put one the last one in his cage they both came out and stated kind of mingling around the cage. Then blue jumped in and as soon as I put stitch in blue slammed him and started attacking him. I didn't think he would still be fighting him they were laying together when I woke up this morning


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## fish430 (Jul 29, 2015)

Blue also comes to the cage and when I try to open it puts his nose right to where my fingers are trying to open the door I'm not sure If he's smelling for food or trying to bite me I'm not trying to find out either so idk. I'm almost thinking of giving him back and getting another one from the rescue.


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## Grotesque (Mar 19, 2014)

I know you are tempted to give them back but I want to tell you something. My first rats were from Craigslist. They were snake food that the snake didn't eat. Chai was always sweet but Mocha was HORRIBLE. She was mean, drew blood, and completely unloveable. 

You can probably find my old posts crying and ranting about trying to decide if I should give her away.

We worked with her every day and eventually (yes it took some time) she turned into the sweetest most loving rat you'd ever meet. She always had an attitude and needed to be the boss 24/7, but she went from drawing blood to giving kisses.

It was SO rewarding to watch the hard work we put into her help her to turn around.


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## raindear (Mar 3, 2015)

I recently adopted a rat that was intended for snake food. He started as a frightened biting boy, but in 10 days with immersion, I had a loving gentle boy. My story is here: http://www.ratforum.com/showthread.php?267114-I-m-not-sure-I-can-do-this.

I suggest you check out the immersion thread which is stickied here and remember that you are still a stranger to your new boys. Give them a chance to know you.


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