# I'm starting to think I should just give up...



## LizLovesRats5 (Mar 28, 2007)

So one of the neutered rescue boys I have has made no progress other than his initial tolerance of me. He still lunges at my hand if I put it near him (doesn't draw blood though). He will interact with me, and willingly crawl onto me, but if I pet him, I have to watch him very carefully and never put my hand near his face, even then, he often bites, and will bite me when I'm petting the other rats too.  I'm getting to the point where I just want to give up. I'm not going to get rid of him or anything, I mean, I want him to have a good, safe, and comfy home for the rest of his life because I know the only reason he's such a jerk is cause he was treated so badly when he was young. I'm just really sick of it, I mean he'll crawl onto me, and I'll take him and a couple others to the couch, and they'll be romping around, hiding under my legs, etc. and he'll walk up and bite my hand. And the fact that he'll lunge at me when other rats are WILLINGLY getting some good skritch time really irritates me... Anyway, I don't know what else to do with him, and am wondering if I should just stop trying with him, and let him live out his life in peace.


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## Stephanie (Mar 25, 2007)

my iriquois does pretty much the same thing you are talking about. he will nip at my hand just about all the time. I think it is a dominance thing really. I just pin him on his back until he gives up. It has made the nipping less frequent really. You may very well have to keep him seperate fromt he others while you have outside the cage time. You need to let him know that you are the alpha rat!


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## LizLovesRats5 (Mar 28, 2007)

Yeah, I've tried the pinning thing, and it hasn't helped. I honestly don't think it's a dominance thing, I think he just doesn't like people.


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## Stephanie (Mar 25, 2007)

perhaps he doesn't LoL how consistent with the pinning are you being? how long are you holding him down for?


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## LizLovesRats5 (Mar 28, 2007)

I was pinning him down every time he bit me, for about fifteen seconds, several times in a row.


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## Stephanie (Mar 25, 2007)

I would keep him pinned until he stops squirming. I have had to pin steve for up to 2 minutes before. I would also randomly pin him just to make sure he knows that you are alpha rat wether or not he is biting. I must admit though none of my boys have been neutered when I have had to deal with this. Actually of my nine males only one is nuetered and that just happened yesterday.


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## fallinstar (Nov 26, 2006)

ive found wen my rats play up if i make a loud noise or blow at them they stop as then they relate bad behavior with bad things summit like that but it seems 2 have worked for me


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## thegrotto (May 11, 2007)

Stephanie said:


> my iriquois does pretty much the same thing you are talking about. he will nip at my hand just about all the time. I think it is a dominance thing really. I just pin him on his back until he gives up. It has made the nipping less frequent really. You may very well have to keep him seperate fromt he others while you have outside the cage time. You need to let him know that you are the alpha rat!


I very much agree with her.


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## Night (Feb 23, 2007)

It's not about dominance. It's about trust and fear. Dominating or flipping an already aggressive rat will just further the issues.

Aggression begets aggression.


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## LizLovesRats5 (Mar 28, 2007)

Yeah, I was wondering about that, Night. I think I should stop pinning him, but I doubt he'll ever stop biting me...


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## Night (Feb 23, 2007)

How long has he been neutered?


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## LizLovesRats5 (Mar 28, 2007)

He's been neutered for about four months and I have him about 2/1/2 - 3 months. I got him and his brother, and his brother has none of the biting problems that he does, though he still squeaks every time I pick him up.


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## Holly (Dec 31, 2006)

Do you know how old he is? Is it possible that the biting is an attempt to start some kind of "finger-boxing" type play with you?

Maybe he walks right up to you and bites you to make it clear that HE wants the attention, and NOT whomever you are petting at the moment.

How does he act if you take him out by himself?


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## LizLovesRats5 (Mar 28, 2007)

Haha, no he's not biting out of play or want for attention... I WISH. He's biting because he doesn't want my hand near him or any of the other rats because he's still scare of humans, and he obviously associates hands with bad things.


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## DonnaK (Feb 8, 2007)

Could it be his age? Terrible teens and all that...


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## Holly (Dec 31, 2006)

Hmmm...well, only you know for sure if this is a "phase" he is going through, or if you should just feed him, and love him, and care for him, but not expect to get really cuddly...?

I think, were I in this position, I'd try to teach him, "Hands Are Good," by hand-feeding him little tidbits, or maybe putting some peanut butter on your finger and letting him eat it off. (Don't let him bite your finger by mistake, though!)


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## LizLovesRats5 (Mar 28, 2007)

I do hand feed him every day, and I pet him every day, and up until about a week ago, I did the forced socialization thing with him daily as well, all to no avail. He hates me as much as he did the day I brought him home, that's why I feel I should probably just continue to pet him a bit and watch him carefully when I do and hand feed and give him out time and give up on him ever actually getting any joy out of interacting with me.

He is 7-8 months old, is that "terrible teen" age?


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## Vixie (Jul 21, 2006)

DonnaK said:


> Could it be his age? Terrible teens and all that...


Hey! 


My Edward used to bite me any chance he got. After awhile he just bit me when I had my hand in his cage or near it. I dunnow why but I started giving both the boys a couple of pieces of their food by hand before letting them at the bowl and Ed has stopped biting me altogether. He still bites anyone else but he's stopped with me.

So I suggest hand feeding of some sort.


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

7-8 months is still the teen age, its late teen but teen. my suggestion would seep doing as you're doing and maybe get a good pair of leather gloves and continue with the forced socailization thing. hand feeding is an excellent method to trust train as well.


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## LizLovesRats5 (Mar 28, 2007)

Already got the leather gloves, haha, wouldn't be handling him at all without those. 

Yeah, I'll try some hand feeding. Hopefully as he gets older he'll get too lazy to keep hating me.


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## DonnaK (Feb 8, 2007)

Vixie said:


> Hey!


Yes?


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