# Biting for no reason



## Rat_attack (Mar 4, 2016)

My rat Casper is the most sweetest, loveable rat I have ever met, but recently we have been having issues. It all started about 4 months ago when I was sitting on the couch with him and he decided to come at me and attack me. He meant business and I almost needed stitches, literally the worst pain I have ever felt lol. He has attacked me about 6 times and drawn serious blood. He still acts the same and loves people, but if you expose any skin on your hands he will attack and NOT let go. So for a while I resorted to wearing big thick winter gloves when I interact with him and he didn't bite the gloves, so I thought it was safe to take them off. Right when he noticed I didn't have them on he attacked me again! The worst part about it is that he is not aggressive at ALL besides this and is a huge sweetheart, he still acts the exact same but bites! Everyone is afraid of him and I was afraid of him too at first. But I have now been wearing the gloves and I haven't had any issues. It's really sad and I want to know if anyone knows anything about this.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Do you wear lotion or use any strong scented soap to wash your hands?


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## Rat_attack (Mar 4, 2016)

Gribouilli said:


> Do you wear lotion or use any strong scented soap to wash your hands?


Nope I always make sure to wash my hands and I even switched soap to see if it was that :/ I don't know what his issue is haha


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

So weird...Usually rats might attach gloves or bandages, not the other way around- especially since that's not a soap/lotion issue. How old was Casper the first time he decided to attack your hands?


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## Rat_attack (Mar 4, 2016)

Gribouilli said:


> So weird...Usually rats might attach gloves or bandages, not the other way around- especially since that's not a soap/lotion issue. How old was Casper the first time he decided to attack your hands?


I'm not positive, but he's a little over 2 now so I would say like 1 year and 10 months


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## Korra (Dec 11, 2011)

Is he your only rat? Have you considered neutering? Doesnt always help random biters, but it helped mine


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## RatAtat2693 (Jan 13, 2016)

Did anything change around that time?


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Could it be a pituitary tumor? It is unlikely since it has been 4 months and you don't mention any other symptoms...but it is worth to mention. Here are other signs of a PT, does he dusplay any of those symptoms at all?http://ratguide.com/health/neoplasia/pituitary_tumor.php


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## Rat_attack (Mar 4, 2016)

Korra said:


> Is he your only rat? Have you considered neutering? Doesnt always help random biters, but it helped mine


No I have 3 rats but he is by himself because he does not get along with other rats. We did think about that but I couldn't live with myself if he died from the surgery. Thank you so much for the imput, if he was younger I would probably do it.


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## Rat_attack (Mar 4, 2016)

RatAtat2693 said:


> Did anything change around that time?


Yes I got two more rats... But they aren't kept together. He never really noticed them until recently when I moved them into the ferret nation with him (Casper is on the top, the other two are on bottom)


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## Rat_attack (Mar 4, 2016)

Gribouilli said:


> Could it be a pituitary tumor? It is unlikely since it has been 4 months and you don't mention any other symptoms...but it is worth to mention. Here are other signs of a PT, does he dusplay any of those symptoms at all?http://ratguide.com/health/neoplasia/pituitary_tumor.php


Yes I heard about that and considered it as well, he doesn't have any other symptoms though... Maybe he's just getting old and crabby? Haha thank you for the imput


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## Sox & Smokey (Mar 26, 2016)

I'm having a similar problem with a rat we got 3 months ago. He has bitten me so hard he injured a tendon in my hand (not to mention all of the blood!). He isn't scared of me, he doesn't seem aggressive, he just bites. It's been making our entire situation go down hill. If you find a solution I'm interested! Mine does gloves too but seems to bite more (and harder) on skin.


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