New rats biting help

[Ratmom610]

We are new rat owners, I had two Females when I was 12 and they never bite. Well my husband got us two 6-7week old males from a small family owned pet store. We’ve been working with them in trusting us. Hand in the cage letting them come to us, lots of treats. We’ve got them last Monday, our white one is the one that interacts the most his brother still keeps his distance. Well the white one started out just putting his teeth on our fingers like testing it out not hard at all well today I put my hand in like always but this time no treats and he started out putting his teeth on me but not biting down but then he started doing it harder and try to pull my finger in the cage then finally he bite so hard he broke skin. And earlier he bite my husbands finger when he put it through the bars (I told not to do that) with my rats as a kid we never had this problem I’m not sure how to go about this. Since this is happening in the early stages of bonding. Please help! What am I doing wrong? How can I correct this? What do I do now?

 

[jorats]

First, never put fingers through bars. That's like invading their space. But they should not be biting when you put your hand in. They are definitely not being aggressive at this age, it's more testing out. When they bite, even just a little, Eeep loudly and say a firm no. If they stop offer them a small yummy treat. I would also start offering them a spoon with something super yummy and wet like soy milk, or watered down jam, something that will make them lick. Once they are used to licking the spoon, start putting it on your fingers so they learn to lick your fingers and not bite.

 

[Ratmom610]

Yeah I know I told my husband that he has never had rats before. But the spoon tip is a great idea. It just our white male einstein that’s is the nibbled/bitter. Our other male Newton, when he has come up to my hand mainly licks it a testing nibble here and there. But we haven’t been able to scoop them up and bring them out of the cage yet. Thank for your response

 

[SQ]

There are some ideas on joinrats.com that might be useful