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SQ

Senior Member - Vegan for the animals
Joined
Jul 21, 2007
Messages
17,208
Location
central New Brunswick Canada
Burrell escaped from the play area yesterday, tried to get Ralphie through his cage, and bit me after I picked him up. It was deliberate. My hand is very swollen .. can't move my fingers .... went to emergency last night - they said it was swollen because of internal bleeding and that it would be several days before it goes down. Oh well, so much for packing, cleaning, etc. I am keeping my hand elevated ...

Guess who is going to be getting neutered?
It was my fault for picking him up when he was feeling so agressive but most of my rats would never even think of biting ... I have reached in and pulled apart two ratties that were rolling around in a ball trying to "kill" one another before and not been bitten. Anyway, I think we will all feel much better once Burrell isn't being rulled by his hormones ....

Had an almost sucessful integration - Leagh's 4 boys plus the group of seven lived together for several days but Burrell kept challenging David and David spent his time fearfully hiding in a corner from Burrell. Will try again in a few weeks after Burrell is neutered.
 
That happened to me too. I had put my hand to stop Sebastien from going after Radar and he bit me hard. When they are in such a state of stress due to hormone/macho overload, they really don't think straight, almost like a rage attack. Sebastien is neutered now and I'm just waiting for the effects to kick in.
I sure hope your hand gets better soon. I was lucky, I had the swelling but it only lasted a couple of days. But the site is still very soar, and this happened almost two weeks ago.
 
Yep, Moth taught me very well not to pick up a huffing rat without announcing myself first. She has sunk her teeth in me before. :( Grab a book next time and put it between them, watch your fingers and wait til the fur goes down. That hormonal or territorial aggression makes them very instinctive where they will bite us without much provocation. :(

Sorry to hear about your bite. You made my most recent one ache (Saffi didn't like Dilbert during neutral intro's...and I didn't have anything handy nearby...silly me :roll:)

I always get bitten the day of or just before I need to use my hands for cage scrubbing, or some type of physical work...its just Murphy's Law I guess. :lol:
 
Ouch!! Im lucky to have never been bitten. The boys will nibble on my fingers but its nothing painful, more like they are grooming. Now my hubby on the other hand, The boys like to bite him. Not hard enough to draw blood or anything, but enough that he will not allow them near his face. They love to bite his lips. Its strange how they do that to him, but not to me?? They are always so gentle with me, and I trust them fully around my face.


Could it be my hubby's scent?? I find it strange how they react different towards me and him.
 
During intros I always keep a water bottle handy......
One thing you learn from working with dogs and cats is how to separate any altercations......Better to not get your hands involved......a couple squirts of water get everyone separated, then let them calm down. During high states of arousal they don't think about what they are doing......
 
Good advice, Dahlas!! I once was foolish enough to break up a fight without thinking. Five of my girls were out in the play area just after Corrie's girls had been there. One of them must have smelled too much like Corrie's daughters, because Stella started attacking her. All of those rats had been sweet and gentle, so I grabbed Stella without thinking.

Big mistake! She bit me hard, and she has snorted at me through the bars ever since (when I have been handling Corrie's girls).
 
The reason I don't recommend a water bottle is that our rats' eyes, nose and even ears are so sensitive I'd be worried to bring on a myco flare up.

I keep a towel near by, if there's a fight, I throw it on them. It confuses them and I'm able to scoop one up with no problems.
 
Anything to seperate.. a pillow or hardcover but slender book would work as well. I remember having to throw a tea towel on my fiance's bearded dragon after he bit me.... I also had to put a spare rat cage on top of him until my fiance came home. I still can't touch that thing.
 
moon said:
Anything to seperate.. a pillow or hardcover but slender book would work as well. I remember having to throw a tea towel on my fiance's bearded dragon after he bit me.... I also had to put a spare rat cage on top of him until my fiance came home. I still can't touch that thing.

What a crabby little bearded dragon! Shame on him! :scolding:

I would have given him a shave. :laugh4:

(Sorry, bad humor) ;)
 
Since my rats are all fairly new still, I have had this fear that they would bite me at some point while trying to pick them up. So far no bites, so that's good. I am going to take alot of the advice though, just in case.
 
Rats do not normally bite.

I have been bitten by rescues that had been abused and eventually then turned into very sweet ratties.
I have also been bitten by hormonal ratties that smelled an unfamiliar male rat.
 
I've only ever been bitten once and that was my very first rat Savin (pet store rat) I believe I startled her and she got me right on the end of my middle finger, did it ever hurt!!! :shock: I bled for a bit but I lived :D
I've also learned not to put band-aided fingers near rats, they try to steal the band-aid which hurts if what the band-aid is covering is sore :lol:
 
I was bitten once by a very territorial male........"Don't put your hands in my cage" chomp and hang on....that boy would give a Pitt bull a run for his money....and yes it hurt very much........I think his teeth met in the middle......he mellowed out a bit when he got over but I had learned my lesson...."leave me a lone when I am in my cage"
 
Of my three original rattie girls (merlin, Play-Doh and SocRATese) Play-Doh was the only one to ever bite. She didn't like being held and I didn't know much about rats so I just let her be and never socialized her like I did with merlin. SocRATese never bit but she did hate to be held.

Ghost never bit any of us but she WAS pretty territorial and didn't care for people or rats despite her breeder telling us that she was a nanny rat and that new rats were always placed with her after they finished quarentine. I never quite understood how she could be an angel with her breeder and a devil with us.

The boys, other than Moosh, HATE being handled and prefer their cage or the floor over being handled or shoulder riding, but again, we have never been bitten by them.

I think I would die of shock if Willow ever bit me instead of the CONSTANT kisses I get from her. Brenna isn't a kisser but isn't a biter either. Baby Girl isn't a biter, even when she's in her mad terror runs (see Health and General Care for my thread in there regarding Baytril and later in the thread about scruffing the little thing). Emma Lee is learning that my fingers aren't just huge mama nipples and that they aren't to be chewed or sucked on.
 
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