Please Help -Biting in a Neutered rat

[Chel]

Ok so here is the problem:
my man rat Briar just bit me all of 10 minutes ago. It isn't a bad bite, he got me on my middle finger and it bled a fair bit, bandaided now, still stinging but the cut itself is very small.(is there anything special one should do to care for a rat bite)

Here are the details on Briar:
I got him from Dahlas in Mid February neutered, along with 2 of his brothers (he was 5 weeks at the time). He had abscesses on his belly from an tumble with a larger rat during intros while in her care, but it was all relatively minor. I had to clean them out and since then he hasn't been a huge fan of mine. I've handled him plenty, but he still doesn't seem to be coming around. He has nipped at me before but I always thought it was because I took him by surprise etc. and I always yelp when he does it so he knows it is wrong. He lives with his 2 brothers and 4 lady rats in a double CN.

This incident:
He was on the top level of the CN in a little house with one of his brothers and one of the lady rats. There was some paper towel around the house and I was cleaning the cage, so I reached in to grab the paper towel. Here is the part that gets me, the paper towel was a fair way out of the house so when he bit me he actually ran out of the house and nabbed my finger then went back in.

I don't know how to curb his aggressive behaviour, like I said, this isn't the first time he has been aggressive with me, but it is the first time he drew blood. i don't know if I'm experienced enough to deal with this! Any suggestions?

 

[SQ]

You may want to ask Godmother as she had a wonderful girl named Edith that sounds like your boy.

When she wanted to take the rats out of the cage Godmother would place a container into the cage, Edith and others would climb in and then Godmother would carry the container to where she was taking them and the rats would hop out.

When putting your hands into the cage, always be aware of where Briar is and do not put your hands near him. Better yet, remove him from the cage before cleaning it, etc.
Continue to work on socializing him outside of his cage.

I have never done anything special for a rat bite, just treated them like any other bite or scratch.

 

[kscanuck785]

I, too, have a girl that sounds like your boy, Ruby, I got bit pretty much in the same circumstances as well...
I do like the previous post mentioned, I put some type of carrier in the cage, wait until she hops in, and then carry her out...
she is really nice when she is out and about, she even licked me a few times, but if I cant see her, this is when she is to be watched for
I guess, I've just learned how to deal with her, I wish I could love on her like I do the 8 others, but she is not one that likes to be handle, so I just let her be

 

[jorats]

Your little guy seems to have territorial issues. For some reason, he thinks you are a threat to his home and even maybe his buddies. Can you do lots of one on one socializing with him? Just scoop him up, and walk around the house with him in your hands, pet him on his head, never on his hips or back end. Then place back in the cage. Do this several times, even for just minutes at a time. When cleaning the cage or doing things with the cage, he shouldn't be around because it stresses him out, or you can distract him by giving him a few cheerios or yogurt or anything else yummy so he can relate cage cleaning to something good.

 

[vinzyangel]

My mikey is getting like that

 

[jorats]

More socializing will help.