Rat biting small children problem...

[RayneBowRats]

I have had my rats for 6 months now. A certain rat of mine,Daisy, who is my biggest sweetheart, LOVES me to death, bruxes when I just take her out of the cage and covers me with kisses, has taken up to biting my 2 small children while she is in the cage. She is fine with adults, and older children, she is my "rat ambassador" when people come over, she is the one I take out for people to see and hold because she is just a mellow sweetheart.

My older child, who is 3 1/2 has been learning to place his hand up to the bars before sticking his fingers in when Daisy is around. All the other rats cover my kids with kisses and just lightly nibble. Daisy has lunged and drawn blood on too many occasions for me to be okay with her staying here. The final straw was when she bit my 15 month old for no reason. I saw the whole the thing, he was using the cage to help him stand up and his finger went through the bar and she charged and attacked.
I really don't know what to do, short of finding her a kid free home.
She is fine with them when she is out of the cage, no problems what so ever. I am kind of at a loss of what to do, because like I said, she is my favorite of the group, but I can't have an animal that is attacking my children for no reason.
I am hoping to either find some other ideas of what I can do to stop this behavior, or maybe some one here has a nice home where there aren't little children for her to attack. I really hate to see her go. I've tried making squeaking sounds when my kids are by the cage, and it helped a little, but its still not fixed. I'm trying to make sure there is no food residue on their hands as well.
Would getting her spayed cause the cage aggression to go away? Has any one else had this problem with a female rat before? I just so don't know what to do.
They live in a 2-story CN cage, and its located in our living room. Not sure if that makes a difference with people trying to offer advice, but I figured I throw it out there. She started biting about 2 months ago, and its been getting worse.
Thanks for any ideas, hopefully some thing will work and I can keep her in the home.

 

[lilspaz68]

Mesh the cage so little fingers cannot go inside. Make a rule that NO ONE puts their fingers through the bar and rats are only allowed to be patted through the open doors.

 

[SQ]

Rats often bite or nip through the bars.
There are various reasons for this such as fear, defending their territory/cage and cagemates, they think it might be food, etc.
No one should ever put their fingers through cage bars, although some adults do pet their rats through the bars if they have a close relationship with all the rats inside the cage.
As Lilspaz68 said, mesh your cage so that little fingers can not go into the cage.
Teach your children not to poke their fingers through the bars, feed through the bars, or touch the cage. (Hopefully you have child proof locks on the rat cage.)
Under adult supervision, children petting rats through open cage doors or after they have been removed from the cage can be very rewarding for both children and rats.

I hope you do not rehome your girl.
Rats have short lifespans so this will not last forever.
A few changes should make your home safe for both your children and your rats.

 

[lilangel]

I also find often too rats like to nip smaller fingers but i have not come up with ones who drew blood yet. Those points that lilspaz and SQ gave are great ones.

My daughter although she is 12 years old still has smaller fingers still gets a little nip here or there, she now knows not to do that with certain rats :giggle:

I wish good luck and do hope you can keep your little one

 

[henry's_mum]

I run a rescue from my home, I also have a 3 yr old son, ,and on occasion babysit for a friend.
It has been a rule from day one that NO fingers go through cage bars, NO food either!

My son has been bitten, and so have I, running a rescue we get all kinds of rats in here, at any given time. It clearly is NOT the rats fault that your wee one was bit, she was merely being a rat. It isn't anyone's fault, your wee one was needing help getting up, and the wee rat was being a rat. I'm sorry that your child got bit, but I certainly hope you don't get rid of her over this.

It's a VERY fixable problem IMO. Mesh your cage, like it has been mentioned, enforce rules about touching the cage bars, feeding through the cage/fingers in the cage, etc.
If it's possible you may even think about getting the cage moved up where little fingers can't have access to it for now?

I try and keep my biters away from my sons level, and i'm strict in letting him know that it isn't the rats fault, he shouldn't have put his fingers in the cage. It's her home, and fingers look tasty, and when you're small most times tase tasty too...

If you do decide to re home her, please find a rescue close to you that will take her in, don't go through kijiji, or petstores please, they're a hunting ground for herp feeders....

To give you an example, this pic is ONE of MANY of my 3 yr old son with the rats

 

[Slapdash]

Although I am still new to rats I thought maybe since the 15month old probably won't be able to understand and follow the no fingers in the cage rule ecspcially if he was using it to help him stand up... in addition to wiring the cage maybe you could put a gate around the cage. Such as the small animal playpens or even childrens play pens they sell, if thecage is against the wall you could make a half circle around it so that little fingers and teeth are unable to reach eachother? Just a thought because we currently have the same set up toprevent our rabbit from getting to the rats cage when she is running around the house? Oh and one other thought is depending on how tall your 3 year old is, you could close the rats onto the top level of the CN, assuming it has the ladder that latches closed, when the children our playing in the living room? Good luck, hope it works out

 

[jorats]

"for no reason at all"????

She certainly had reason... the cage is her home, her sanctuary and she will protect it. She has no concept of human babies and adults... animals react on instincts. Act first, ask questions later.

 

[RayneBowRats]

Wow....Umm...Thanks for all the great ideas.

 

[Maple]

Mummy you saw the whole thing when baby was using the cage as a support and didn't help out to avoid this from happening.
Children have to be taught not to touch any animal for their own safety. When you hold out your arms to your little one what response do you get? 9 out of 10 times they will lift their arms to be picked up. Even at 15 months they understand, keep trying, it will get better.

 

[PitLuvs]

I have a 19mth old son, he is not allowed putting his fingers near the cage. If he gets bit, well then I feel I am not doing my job to keep him and my rat boys safe. Might sound a bit harsh, but we are the adults, they are children and animals. Our cage is in the living room, on floor level and it took weeks of No's and Ah Ah's to stop him from going around the cage. Now he sits in front of the cage, or lays down and talks to them but he isnt allowed to touch. Hard for a child so young to comprehend but he's doing well.

Hope you dont have to rehome your little girl, could you possibly put the cage somewhere that cannot be touched by the kids? I agree with Jo, kids are scary things to such small animals, and she will protect her home.