For those of you who have never experienced a hormonal rat, or had a "biter", here is a word of caution. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT play with them with your hands, or attempt to hand wrestle with them, until you are FOR SURE they are ready. I knew better, but I have a curly boy, named tater tot, and his brother, cheddar, who I had to separate due to tater being aggressive. Like a fool, one night, and was hand wrestling with him (they were unsocialized, and I got them because they were "aggressive biters" which turned out to be fear at first, so I was excited that they were coming around) and because of the way his fur goes, I couldn't tell he was puffing up at me until too late. I ignored his body language, and when I realized it, and said aloud, "are you puffed up a-" he struck. I didn't even the the full word out, and he had already latched on, and my reaction was to pull my hand away just a second too late. When I did, it ripped a gash in my first finger, and a puncture wound on the top knuckle. And I pulled him out of his cage too the floor. Now he was already agitated, and scared, and I was going to have to grab him. Little did I know, I was dripping blood all over the floor, and had to quickly get a paper towel, block off his paths of travel, so he couldn't disappear, or get hurt, and I let him wear himself out going back and forth, until he eventually climbed his cage to safety. Needless to say, I ended up with a nasty infection, dispute cleaning it and using antibiotic cream and bandage. I should have gotten a stitch or two, but I was too worried about him. So he ended up being neutered last Friday, and I'm waiting for his hormones to calm down, so I can intro him and his brother again. Here are pics of the wound. For anyone who has this happen, it's important to remember to always clean it thoroughly, and take ibuprofen immediately, and don't hold it against the rat. In most cases, they try to warn you.
