Dang rat got me

Was checking the rats yesterday afternoon and the last female I looked in on had babies during the night. She just walked up to where I had my hand and chomped down on my poor thumb. :( Sad when a single rat has made you loose more blood than all of the snakes we own. lol

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...i/DSC00019.jpg

In my collection she'd be a dead rat as soon as I weaned her babies.
Several years ago I culled anything that even thought of biting and now none of my rats bite.

She'll be going as soon as the females I held back are big enough to start breeding. I started with 3 females and 1 male. The male has never tried to bite but as of now all 3 females have, 2 got me and the 3rd got a friend.

I had the same thing! One of my tank ratties suddenly started biting me. As soon as I was sure the other females were nursing the babies, I killed her off. One of the other ratties has also started possibly thinking about biting. I'm a bit shy about leaving fingers where any can bite now though, and she has not been actively going after my hands, so she's on "watch". I wonder if rats learn to bite when one starts... and they all start?

My favorite dumbo female does grab you with her teeth, but she doesn't 'bite', just grabs and tugs.

Crazy rats keep us all on our toes.

I think not messing with them as much when we first got them didn't help either. The females I kept back seem to be a lot more calm and don't mind me picking them up. I've only kept the ones that have been calm and have had very very curly fur and whiskers.


Your dumbo rat sounds like the ferret at the pet store we saw earlier this month. He grabbed my husband's finger and tried to take it away and played tug-o-war with him gently.

i have always fed off any rat that shows even the slightest bit of aggression. i have only been bit once and that sucker ended up on the dinner plate. all my rats are free handled and dont freak out. each and everyone can be sold as pets as well as feeders. that was my goal and it happened much quicker than i thought it would. i hate buying new stock due to having to start all over with the selection of non aggression and handle ability.
rat bites suck and hurt worse than any snake ive been bit by.
adam jeffery

Rats that bite me also bite the dust.

There are too many she-rats out there that don't bite for me to put up with that sort of mess.

Yup and as of today I have 2 replacements in with the male. Guess I'll find out in a month or so if I've raised them right and they won't attack like that one will.