# Naughty behaviour, Nipping me and other rats



## ronratter (Feb 19, 2014)

Hi hope I might be able to get a little advice.

I have had my rats about 2 months now. They were at the pet store for about 2 months previous to me getting them. They are four girls and have always got on really well and have been really lovely and very well behaved. 

I have a little issue I am hoping to nip in the bud. The rats come out most days and yesterday while they were out one of them nipped me then ran off. I've never been bitten or nipped by any of them so thought nothing of it and ignored it. A few minutes later she came back and did it again. I picked her up straight away and put her back in her cage. I left the other rats out playing with me. After about 10 minutes I went back to the cage and she was sitting by the door waiting for me, looking very sad! Anway I got her back out and all was fine and they played for another hour or so with me with no issues. 

So fast forward to today and I decided to give them some yogurt. I lifted the bowl out and got the shock of my life as she nipped me again. I dropped the bowl and it hit the floor with a loud bang. I don't know who was more shocked, me or her. I didn't touch her again but told her in a deep voice that I was very unhappy.

I got them out again today and there were two things that happened. 

She ran upto me again and gave me another nip. This time I picked her up fairly tightly, held her upside down and told her she was very naughty and gave her a firm rub on her belly. After that she kept coming upto me and looking as if she was going to nip again, but each time she just gave me a lick instead (which is what she usually always does.)

About half an hour later she and Flash were having a little battle when I think she bit Flash. They rolled into a ball (scary!!) and I think Flash gave her a hard bite back. After that she just lay there completely motionless for about 60 seconds and Flash ran to me and hid up on my shoulder. 

So it's only in the last two days or so she has been doing this. I think she has been nipping the other rats while grooming also as when she has been grooming Flash, Shadow and Daisy they have been squeeking louder than when the other rats groom them.

I think and hope she has stopped nipping me now but only time will tell. Am I doing the right thing? How can I make sure she doesn't make enemies with the other rats?

Thanks very much for reading and any advice you may be able to give. I understand she is getting to be a young adult and I guess she wants to assert herself, but it is a bit of a worry!


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## DustyRat (Jul 9, 2012)

If she Is drawing blood, then you have a problem. If not, she Is likely Inviting you to play with her, believe It or not.


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## DustyRat (Jul 9, 2012)

My old rat Fuzzy Butt would chomp on my toe and then take off with me in hot pursuit (exactly the response she was hoping for). My other rat at the time was the image of sweetness. Until I got to know her, I didn't much like Fuzzy Butt. Later she became one of my favorites.


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## ronratter (Feb 19, 2014)

Thank you for the reply. She is very excitable so maybe she is wanting me to play. I feel bad now in a way for telling her off but maybe she can give me another sign that she wants to play!


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## Leraine (Feb 21, 2014)

While it may be playful, you can still set boundaries if you do not enjoy being nipped. I know you feel bad, but she can give you signs in another way that doesn't involve you getting hurt. Rats are quite intelligent, so if you do not enjoy being nipped but still want her to let you know when she's playful, I think you will be able to teach her not to nip. 

I recently replied to another thread where a rat owner was being nipped by one of her rats who didn't used to nip. I think it's very relevant so I will include it here:

"I have read that some rats will nip to get attention, and that some rats seem to get a kick out of their owner's reactions to being nipped. 

I have seen it compared to people shouting at their dogs for barking. The human thinks yelling at the dog will punish it, but the dog perceives the yelling as the human getting excited, so they think it's a good thing. The human inadvertently "rewards" the dog with yelling, and in the future, the dog barks to get the human to yell. 

She may be biting to get your attention, or she may be doing it to get your reaction! In addition to stern "No!"s and snout-bopping, it may also help to more gently punish her by immediately putting her in time out, and leaving her there for a while. I read in a book that some rat owners use a "jail cage" which is a BORING cage that just has a water bowl or a water bottle. No food, toys, or interesting furniture. Misbehaving rats go into the jail cage. The reason you want a jail cage instead of putting them back into their regular cage is that if you put them back into their regular cage every time they do a certain action you don't like, you may be inadvertendly teaching them to, for example, bite you when they want back into their cage.

If you use her main cage as her jail cage/time out, when she gets hungry, or gets bored of being out, she'll bite you to be put back into the cage! By using a jail cage, you decrease the chance that there is she will find positive about her time-out punishment. When she learns that biting means 20 minutes of boredom, she may decide to stop (if she's biting you for fun in the first place, vs say, mistaking your hand for food or something)."

One more thing: Did your hands smell like food (or something tasty) when she nipped? Maybe she mistook your hand for food.


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## ronratter (Feb 19, 2014)

Thanks. I had read that post earlier in a different thread. Sounds like good information.

I had recently washed my hands so I don't think they smelt of any foods.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I have never seen any evidence that time outs work with rats... I'm not sure they work with children. I've never tried one on a child or rat. Rats get taken out of their cages and put in their cages and for the most part they are clueless as to why we do it. Why is it punishment sometimes and not others? At least with kids you can explain why they are in time out. 

Rats learn best when consequences are immediate and memorable (so do humans). Fuzzy Rat got her tail tip squished off by one of the wheels of my office chair, she never went under my chair again (her tail tip grew back). It was a truly unfortunate and painful lesson, but one she never ever forgot. Max burned her whiskers off on the stove and again she's never gone up there again (her whiskers grew back too). Rats are designed to learn from immediate consequences. They do something stupid, and the trap springs shut on them and if they survive they never do it again. 

When a rat learns to associate a nip with an immediate shout and bop they don't get themselves shouted at and bopped again. The more immediate, consistent and severe the penalty, the faster they learn that it's a consequence of their behavior.

Now this advise isn't intended to justify rat abuse! Rats are small animals and easily harmed... and you aren't trying to punish your rat... you just want to associate an inappropriate behavior with negative consequences... that's all. When your rats behaving appropriately continue to be as affectionate as always. 

Best luck.


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## DustyRat (Jul 9, 2012)

IMHO, rats don't get what time outs mean.


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## veimar (Feb 19, 2014)

Hey, was she biting or just nibbling? My boy rats always nip on my toes and fingers when they want to play peekaboo, but they never hurt me. They also like to lightly chew my fingers and lick them when I pet them. I thought it was totally normal and cute. I would assume she just wants to play with you.


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## ronratter (Feb 19, 2014)

Hi it was not biting but it wasn't nibbling either. I would call it a nip. They do nibble and lick my fingers though. So far so good it hasn't happened again since I told her off, and she seems to have calmed down with the other rats too.


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## Juliah456 (Mar 12, 2014)

Celeste chomps me sometimes, but I belieeeeve it's in a friendly way. If it's not piercing your skin or anything I'd agree that it's not aggression. You may also smell like food? Just a guess. Gabriel nibbles me when I have handled food.


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