agression/biting me *update*

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papercrow

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2007
Messages
157
Location
Baltimore, Md
So I had my boy Walden neutered last Friday 11/9 because he was becoming increasingly agressive and caused one of my other rats such an injury that he had to be taken to the vets. Before the neuter he would bite me on occasion, but it never broke skin.

Since the neuter he has bitten me three times. The last time I think he hit bone and I left a trail of blood from the rat cage to the bathroom. My husband thought I should go to the emergency room. I understand that he is probably scared since he is seperated into a smaller recooperating cage, and probably in pain. My issue is now I am scared to death to go anywhere near him. How long do you think I should just leave him be? The vet said he could be reintroduced on Tuesday, but there is NO WAY I am putting him back with everyone else because the bite he gave me could have killed one of them. Has anyone else had problems like this?
 
Ouch!!

It can take anywhere from 1 week to 3 months for the rat to no longer feel the stress of those hormonal urges. Also, being scared and a bit traumatized can also be contributing to his biting. The norm being 3 weeks.
If you can, muster the courage to continue going to him several times a day, not necessarily take him out but talk to him, maybe allow him to walk out of his cage, onto a table while you are there.

Was he this bad before the neuter?
 
No! He is SO much worse now. He used to bite a little bit, but it never broke skin. The last bite he wouldn't let go until I screamed. :( He just hung on like a tenacious little pitbull. (No offense to pitty lovers!)
 
He was neutered only 2 days ago, so I'd say give him a bit more time, it probably scared him, just the fact that he's no longer in his "real" cage could be confusing him.
 
No he is not on pain meds, and I'm sure it hurts! I guess I was just so shocked by the unexpected violence of it. He's always been a little evil, I just didn't expect to be attacked. I'm just going to give him treats for the next week or so, then after that I guess I'll try and lure him out and take it from there.

Has anyone else ever had their rat react this way to being neutered?
 
As everyone else has said, he needs time before his hormones stop raging. Some males are good to go within a matter of a few days, but most cases I've seen take between 2-3 weeks before they really settle down.

If your vet gave you pain meds, you might want to see about increasing his dose some. If your vet didn't give you any pain medication for him, you can also use Infant's Ibuprofen. Rats, being what they are, can and will lash out when they're not feeling well or are in pain, so that would be my first assumption.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone! I now have him on pain meds and we'll see if that helps. I'll be sure and report back if he ever becomes the squish rat I hope he'll be!
 
Well here we are two weeks post op and he is still biting HARD whenever anyone puts their hands in his cage. Poor guy. He never bit hand enough to break skin before the neuter. I wonder if something happened while at the vets...

His eyes are starting to soften whenever I talk baby talk but as soon as my hands get anywhere near the cage he gets very tense. I managed to scoop him into the bonding pouch last night and he didn't bite once I got him away from his cage. But he would squeek pathetically every time I would stroke him :(
 
yeah. We've been having out time sessions about every other day. There has been lots of puffing and posturing and sideways walking. There has been very little progress but I'll keep trying!
 
I've heard of some rats taking up to 3 months to calm down. But some rats will always be cage aggressive but sweeties outside the cage. I had one like that and even neutered I had to take him out of the cage to clean.

Keep doing what you are doing, I bet it will pay off in the end.
 
Thanks Jo. It's just so disheartening because he wasn't cage agressive at all before the neuter. The only time he had bitten previously was more like hard taste testing, but it never even left teeth marks. I had him neutered because he was fighting with his cagemates.

Perhaps it's because he's still in the hospital cage by himself. The first time he bit me hard (pre-neuter) was through the bars of that cage. None of my ratties are bar biters. He looks delighted when he sees the other ratters, but as soon as they start to play it gets huffy real quick. I'm not giving up. It just sucks.
 
It took my Fred 3 months, he's great now. Pinto was cage aggressive his whole life after the neuter. He was fine outside the cage though. And then Rogue became a love after 3 days as well as Jonah. Good luck with your sweetie.
 

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