What if rat bites

You can imagine how scary that would feel! Any aggressive behavior toward people has been learned as a self-preservation measure. The most important thing you can do is to spend as much time as possible with your rat, especially during the first several months. Ideas for how to bond with new rats and how to spend lots of time with them can be found in Bonding with Your New Pet Rats. Very slowly poke a large feather through the bars of the cage while talking softly.

At first she may lunge and bite the feather. With this combination, you can just imagine how threatening it would feel when a rat sees a human hand coming inside the only safe place it knows. Practice doing this a little each day. In the beginning, carefully move your hand just inside the cage without being very close to her.

After about a week, try gently and briefly petting her. After this, you can start picking her up. The idea is to move a little closer every few days while showing her every day that you are not going to hurt her. Place one of his favorite treats inside the box. Once he goes into the box to eat the treat, gently close the box and bring him out.

This process can be reversed if you have trouble getting a biting rat back into its cage. In most cases, your human-biting rat will learn from seeing how much your other rats enjoy being with you. Do your hands smell like food? Sometimes rats smell food on your hand and automatically think your hand IS the food.

Make sure your hands are always clean before interacting with your rats, especially when your pet rat bites. Speak softly while slowly moving your outstretched palm toward her. If the problem is biological, working with your veterinarian will help your rat feel better and then will no longer feel the urge to bite.

If the nipping is behavioral, consistently working with your rat on getting him acclimated to what previously set him on edge will help stop the fear-biting. I strongly believe each and every rat can be helped.

Hi, I was wondering for your advise with one of my current rats. One rat I have had for a while and when his brother passed away I got him some new friends. These were two new rats from a different rescue, they are not brothers but were together. One is super sweet and gentle, also smaller that the others and get scared easily but has a joyful personality.

The other is a biter and did bully the other enough to separate them and the smaller one seems happier now. So currently I have all three but separated. If I try introducing any of them either the small one get scared and squeaks loudly and the other two just want to fight for dominates.

I think the new biter rat has higher hormones as his temperament fluctuates as sometime he wants to bit me and sometimes I can have my hand right next to him in his bed and he will be bruxing away just by being close.

I am hoping to get to the stage when I can get them all together but I have tried many different steps. As I stated before all of my rats have come from rescues so I have no history from their past for family lines. Thanks for asking your great questions. Read more about neutering on this page. Keep in mind it can take weeks for aggression to subside post-neutering.

Make sure to know the difference between playing and fighting. After the first 2 get along well and are happily living together, begin introducing the 3rd rat. However, if having him nearby causes any of them to behave anxiously, then keep your 3rd rat out of sight until you restart the introductions. I hope you find this information helpful. Jasmine About Pet Rats. Hello, I would like your advice on my one female rat biting me.

I got two males about 6 months, got them neutered 2 months ago and then recently got two females. When I first brought them home, they were setup in a completely different room from my boys though I also had guinea pigs and ferrets in that room as well.

They both came out of the carrier and into their cage with no problem but when the one female went to sniff my hand, she immediately grabbed my finger with her mouth and bit down, drawing blood. I placed my hand in front of her to prevent her from jumping down from somewhere where she could have seriously gotten hurt, and instead of jumping, she sniffed my hand again and then bit down, drawing blood.

I also want to be able to introduce the females to my males but in order to do that, I need to be able to handle them to some extent. First of all, my apologies for taking so long in which to respond. I really appreciate your patience.

Also, as you read above, poor eyesight such as if she has pink or red eyes could predispose her to being a biter. Or could you possibly have had the scent of food on your fingers those 2 times she bit you hard enough to draw blood? Have you taken your rats in to see a vet yet?

I always advocate bringing new rats in to see a vet. I also recommend regular wellness checkups throughout their lives. Have you already tried any of the tips above? I would think that petting her with a feather could be very helpful for teaching her that touch is okay. Spending extra time with her, especially while you work to gain her trust, could also be beneficial.

Please feel free to let me know her current status. Great article, thanks for the information. We got three little girls my first pet rodent from a pet store yesterday and so we are very green to all this. They are quite young 10cm body. Her sister and friend seem to be quite placid.

My finger though seems to attract more attention. No food near. In the evening, day 1, I gave each some cuddle time. DH was quite skittish and managed to get off and away. Eek, ending up with me trying to get her back in hand.

Although panicked, myself and I realise her, I managed to scoop her back and still kept her around me for a little longer — eventually putting her back.

About an hour later I was saying goodnight to them all and did the finger thing again and she got me. I also want to apologize for taking so long in which to respond. Make sure to tell your provider about your contact with rodents. Rat-bite Fever RBF. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate.

Symptoms and signs of streptobacillary RBF include: Fever Vomiting Headache Muscle pain Joint pain or swelling about 5 in 10 people with RBF have this Rash occurs in about 3 out of 4 people with RBF Symptoms usually begin 3 to 10 days after contact with the bacteria, but can be delayed as long as 3 weeks. Complications of streptobacillary RBF can include: Abscesses pockets of infected fluid inside of the body, like in the belly abdominal cavity Infections of the liver hepatitis and kidneys nephritis Infections involving the lung pneumonia Infections involving the brain and nervous system meningitis Infections involving the heart endocarditis, myocarditis, or pericarditis About 1 in 10 people who have streptobacillary RBF infection die.

Symptoms and signs of spirillary RBF sodoku can vary and often include: Fever that may come and go or occur repeatedly Swelling or formation of an ulcer at the bite wound if present Swollen lymph nodes small glands that filter lymph, the clear fluid that circulates through the lymphatic system, and help fight infections Rash about 5 in 10 people with sodoku have this that can appear all over the body or only near the area of the bite wound if present These symptoms usually occur days after exposure to an animal carrying the bacteria.

A person can also get infected through consumption of food or water contaminated with the urine and droppings of rodents carrying the bacteria. This is known as Haverhill fever. Rat-bite Fever RBF. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Rat-bite fever RBF is an infectious disease caused by two different bacteria: Streptobacillus moniliformis , the only reported bacteria that causes RBF in North America streptobacillary RBF Spirillum minus , common in Asia spirillary RBF, also known as sodoku People typically become infected with these bacteria after contact with rodents carrying the bacteria.