# My first rat bite



## Veileddreamer (Sep 21, 2015)

So somehow I had made it through over a year of ratting without ever being bitten, but last night that all changed, haha. I just adopted a sweet new girl (Cordelia from Mainely Rat Rescue) who has a rather sad story. She was brought in because she was part of an accidental litter that the first owner couldn't find homes for... but they waited ~5 months and basically never handled her during that time. The MRR foster was great with her, but she's obviously still skittish, especially since I'm a new hooman who may or may not be scary / negligent.

Anyway intros went off without a hitch so I left them (her + 4 resident girls) in the cage together overnight. (The cage is in my room.) Woke up at 5 AM to some passionate squeaking... idly sprayed water in their direction (from my bed lololol) because during the day the only action that had generated such squeaking was my resident alpha sitting on top of the ferret tube with Cordelia inside, and the alpha responds well (i.e. runs away and grooms herself pretty again) to being sprayed. Spraying once didn't do anything, spraying twice didn't do anything... so I go to investigate. I open the cage door and this new little princess makes a LEAP OF FAITH and jumps out of the cage 4 feet to the ground. I'm trying to catch her on the way down but no luck. She then goes back behind the dresser the cage is on, which is a huge problem. That wall has one of those along-the-bottom-of-the-wall space heater things, and while I have a barrier in place where they can't jump/climb down from the cage into it, they don't free roam on the floor, so that was most definitely not rat proofed.

So ultimately I chased her all around that corner for like 30 min before catching her. I would usually have spent more time being nice, etc. but I was absolutely terrified she was going to chew on something electric. When I finally got her back into the pet carrier, I wanted to look her over to see if she was hurt from her skydiving incident or from whatever had been going on in the cage that prompted it. She was fine, but squeaking bloody murder, and right as I wrapped up my mini exam she just CHOMPED on my thumb. Obviously 110% out of her pure unadulterated fear, but still really hurt lol.

The bite is OK, I think: swollen and bruising but I put alcohol on it and then iodine immediately after and it's almost all healed up. What should I look for with that? And perhaps more importantly, how should I handle Cordelia to make her more trusting? I did the "towel burrito" thing for a while today and she didn't bite at all, so I know she's not a biter, but she still fear poops 2/3 of the time when she is picked up which is so very sad to see. I just want her to know humans are friends. My resident rats I had basically since babies, so they never went through 5 months of not being handled.  So I feel a bit inexperienced here and would love individual advice.

*TL; DR:* New rat bit me after a crazy chase around the room when she escaped and got near powerful electronics. The bite wound on me looks good, but what are warning signs that I should go to a doctor? Also, how best do I make a petrified-of-humans rat come around? Is forced socialization with the "towel burrito" the best plan? She is only scared, not aggressive/dominant.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

First as to the bite... it's best to let it bleed for a while, which is easy to do... and then apply iodine... which you did. I'm a huge fan of iodine, and I've never gotten an infected rat bite... Not that I've been bitten often, but iodine usually works a treat.

If you get nasty flu like symptoms in the next few days you could have rat bite fever... the chances of it are very very low, but as your rat is a rescue rat without a lot of history... it's an outside possibility... If your swelling increases, and starts oozing puss and you get a black line running up your arm you could have blood poisoning... which is also really uncommon... Then there's the normal stuff you can get from any puncture wound like flesh eating bacteria... OK... too much detail... But in short if the swelling doesn't go down or gets worse or you get a nasty flu in the next week or so, head for your doctor or the ER, otherwise you will be fine.

If I had to put an off the wall statistic on it, complications likely occur with one in about 500 to 1000 pet rat bites. Which puts the odds strongly in your favor. I'd certainly bet on those odds... But freaky things do happen and the moment I tell someone they never happen, they almost always do... It's a running joke that the universe seems to feel never gets old. 

As to how to socialize your rat, check out my thread on immersion, I think you will find everything you need to know there...

Best luck.


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## Veileddreamer (Sep 21, 2015)

So we've been immersing for half an hour now. She is letting me flip her on her back, lick a finger and mock groom her, she's coming to nestle in my lap. Are we "done"? I guess I didn't see a dramatic change except the first two or three times I flipped her she fear pooped and tried to bite, but armed with my protective gloves I "eeped," VERY gently bopped her, and kept on. Now she acts like she's thinking about biting when flipped but will open her mouth, I eep, then she's like "nah better not." Also grooming herself a lot so apparently thinking deep thoughts lol.


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

With any animal bite always keep an eye on it to make sure it is healing well and if you start to feel unwell visit the doctor. Better safe than sorry.

I think you might be pushing her too fast too soon. I would really not suggest flipping her on her back, and not bopping her.
IMO it is always better to go slow and go at their pace. If they show any negative signs of beign stressed or uncomfortable go back a step.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

It's likely to take more than half an hour to really effect permanent change, but you're definitely on the right track. The more screwed up a rat is the more dramatic the change will be. There's nothing wrong with an immersion session becoming a play session... Pretty much keep going until you establish a relationship with your rat and you are understanding and responding to each other.
Basically do immersion until you two trust each other and become friends.


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## raindear (Mar 3, 2015)

Is your tetanus up to date? This is one of my first concerns with any bite.


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## Veileddreamer (Sep 21, 2015)

I ended up going to the urgent care because the wound looked puffy and felt stiff. They didn't think it was infected, but they precautionarily gave me antibiotics. Also put me in a thumb splint to immobilize it for healing purposes and also to prevent me from moving the area too much and "working" the infection up my arm / to other areas. It's pretty hilarious in the end, the people at work tease me so hard about the thumb splint from a pet rat bite. Anyway, the very first thing they asked me was if my tetanus was up to date... yes, it is, fortunately, because I am a college student and they make you make sure about all that before you are allowed on campus. 

It's healing nicely now, and Cordelia is coming out of her shell. Took her first piece of food directly from my hand yesterday! Still a little nippy if I invade her space when she's in a tube, etc., but she is really getting the hang of what "eep!" means.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

lol... I'm a 6'2" tall guy... and I don't eep for nobody. I raise my voice and say NO BITING and that works for me... but if your an eeper and your rats understand that EEP means NO... go for it...


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## Veileddreamer (Sep 21, 2015)

I usually reserve the "eep" for biting, they get "hey! NO! BE HAVE!" when they're brawling or squawking, which they have quickly learned is the equivalent of "don't make me come over there with the sprayer, kids." And then we have snapping my fingers at them for when they start to do something they shouldn't. "Hey! *snap* No chewing on that! Thank you." You've written a lot about rats/humans learning each other's language, RD, and it really is so very true.


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## RatAtat2693 (Jan 13, 2016)

Hey, if you want me to, I can email Cordelia's foster home and ask what tips helped them?

MRR takes care of our rats even after they go home.


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## RatAtat2693 (Jan 13, 2016)

Sorry - didn't notice how old this is.


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## Veileddreamer (Sep 21, 2015)

Haha! No problem. You guys have been excellent, are excellent, and continue to be excellent. I don't know if I put this in the original thread, but I emailed the MRR adoption coordinator and she sort of kept an eye on the situation.

For anyone reading this in a Google search -- (1) MRR is epic awesome! (2) I am happy to report Cordelia is not at all a biter anymore and never bit me to draw blood again after I worked with her a little. She is a ridiculously soft, calm young lady who enjoys burrowing under blankets and only coming out when her cagemates convey to her that the coast is clear.


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