Curiosity biting?

[queenratifah]

My dumbo girl, Lola, who is about 10 months old is a very sweet and shy character. She is the mother figure of the mischief and is constantly nesting trying to make her home nice for herself and her friends.
However, she constantly bites me. It doesn't seem to be out of aggression or fear, during free time she will seek me out and bite me all over. She has never broken my skin, but it does hurt quite a bit, especially when she gets on my head and bites my scalp.
Why is she doing this? How can I eliminate this behaviour? Thanks!

 

[queenratifah]

Apologies for the double post...Lola walked across my keyboard and posted it!

 

[RatPack]

The rats I do have that bite (I consider it more of a nibble) only do it when they want me to play with them Some want to actively wrestle my hand and others just want me to chase them with my hand and then they will chase it back..kinda a cat and mouse kind of thing haha. Hopefully that is what she is trying to tell you.

 

[jorats]

So far, the only thing I have done was remove myself from my nibblers. Right now, I've got two who likes to nibble on me. Some rats do outgrow the behaviour.

 

[Joanne]

I will 'EEEP!' at them if they are biting too hard, and move the part away (ie toe) at the same time. If they are persistent, I will pick them up and rough them up, encouraging them to play (although to a hard core pesky biter that may just reinforce the behaviour if it was attention-seeking.)
I *just* got bit on the lip by my girlie because I just put some chap stick on. She thought it was a goodie and grabbed a hunk of lip. I squeaked loudly and she let go. Just a couple of scrapes. But she understood what I was trying to communicate because that is the same thing a rat would do if she grabbed them too hard.

 

[queenratifah]

Thanks for your replies! I 'Eeeep' a lot when she's out and about, they all go for my feet, but Lola will go for any flesh she can! I thought of the possibility that she may be playing, but she's such a timid girl that hand wrestling straight up terrifies her! It's not a huge problem and so far no injuries have been sustained, I was just curious as to whether this is normal behaviour