# Biting when opening the cage



## Outspirit (Oct 31, 2014)

Hi everyone, couple nights ago one of my girls bit me when i was doing some cleaning in the cage. It hurt really bad (ive had nibbles before and testing but this was the real deal i think lol) and i had to get a tetanus shot. I think my girl was just tired/annoyed with me so i dont really blame her. In the beginning i made the rookie mistake of giving them candy through the cage bars. When i open the door of the cage they come running and bite what ever comes through the bars (my fingers lol), i always tought it was quite annoying, stopped giving them food through the cage bars (now i just open the small door for treats really fast before they can get there) but after the bite its just really scary for me. Im so scared of being bitten that hard again that i either sneak up to the cage and open it really fast (no problems when the door is open) or it takes me 10 minutes to get the girls to move away from the door. Do you guys have any tips? What can i do about this? It makes me so sad because its a real task to just open the door.... i know its my fault and i dont blame the rat but i wanna make it better..


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## rudecrudetattooedfatgirl (Aug 30, 2014)

Ummm...you fed them candy? Squeak loudly when they do it and firmly tell them no biting. If that doesn't get the message across, bop them gently on the nose too.


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## Outspirit (Oct 31, 2014)

Rat candy im sorry i wasnt clear  ill try making a squeak sound if it happens again thanks


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## rudecrudetattooedfatgirl (Aug 30, 2014)

Remember that once you have a tetanus shot it's good for a couple years, you don't need one every time. I don't know how to get over the fear of being bitten. I've had some blood drawn several times, and yeah it hurts, but remember it's really not that bad. I was more shocked that he bit me than in pain, if it makes you feel more comfortable get some gardening gloves to protect yourself. Just remember that they don't always realize they're hurting you, you have to give them rat signals that they hurt you, I'm sure once they realize that it's painful they'll be more gentle.


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## MousE190 (Oct 7, 2014)

Hold treat sideways,,so rattie cannot snatch it from fingers,,,,picture holding a coin on its edges,,,talk gently,,,,,,,make sure fingers are clean,,,,then open door,,,get treats,,,lure them out...that"s what I did with my first rat,,,,,still works


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## LittleBird (Jun 22, 2014)

MousE190 said:


> Hold treat sideways,,so rattie cannot snatch it from fingers,,,,picture holding a coin on its edges,,,talk gently,,,,,,,make sure fingers are clean,,,,then open door,,,get treats,,,lure them out...that"s what I did with my first rat,,,,,still works


I actually hold the treats in the palm of my hand and my girls are very gentle about reaching in and taking one. I've made the mistake of trying to hand them a treat by holding it with my fingers and almost got my fingers snatched off. Now I put exactly 4 treats in my hand and each of my girls only takes one treat and I don't lose a finger. That's just the way I've taught my girls to do it and it works for us.


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## theAfanc (Aug 29, 2014)

I figured if ask my question here instead of starting a new thread.

My bigger boy was biting me a lot and was bong really aggressive with the other when feeding time it so I started feeding them by hand and a few times throughout the day. This has seemed to help my bigger boy get pretty sweet and he hasn't bit me since. But my little one doesn't like it when he is fed second and if I don't get to him in time, he will grab one of my fingers. The first time was at a knuckle and I tapped him on the top of the head and he let go. This time, he grabbed under my nail and wouldn't let go no matter what. I finally had to grab him and squeeze him to get him to let go. Also, he didn't get breakfast. I don't know how else to punish this behavior short of him not getting his meal.


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