Rat Bite!

my hooded rat just bit me. cut is deep.this is worse than when my burmese bit me. she has 9 pups. i cleaned the tubs this morning and same old same old. but later that night, she was lying with her belly up i was going to pet her like i normally do, then she just lunged at bit my finger. when i saw the blood, i really wanted to whack her against the wall! LOL! but her pups have 2 weeks to go before they are weaned.ill just kill it after they get weaned.lol. is this normal?

thank you.

raymond

Why would you kill her? It sounds like she was protecting her babies, and you probably startled her. I am VERY careful around nursing moms - their protective instincts kick in. I've been lucky not to have been bitten as badly as you have, but I have been given some VERY stern warning nips - hurt like heck, but didn't break the skin. I certainly wouldn't reach in when she's laying on her back taking a snooze. I generally talk to them to wake them up and encourage them to come to me, not me just reach in to pet.

Yes, i would not kill her, she was just following her instincts;)

I've been bit very hard like you, deep wound and brought blood, my fault too. Like any mom with kids, she's stressed out and was just on "auto-pilot" when she bit you.

I bet ya when the pups are weaned, she will be back to normal. ;)

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Originally Posted by munding

my hooded rat just bit me. cut is deep.this is worse than when my burmese bit me. she has 9 pups. i cleaned the tubs this morning and same old same old. but later that night, she was lying with her belly up i was going to pet her like i normally do, then she just lunged at bit my finger. when i saw the blood, i really wanted to whack her against the wall! LOL! but her pups have 2 weeks to go before they are weaned.ill just kill it after they get weaned.lol. is this normal?

thank you.

raymond

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Is it normal for a female animal nursing young to be protective? Well of course it is. The most well behaved pet dog can get snappy when she's with her litter of pups - would you "whack" your dog?

If you are going to breed animals, any animals, you need to understand the difference between normal behaviour and true aggression. If you want to waste a perfectly good adult female breeding rat just because you got bit, that's your choice I guess.

cos i heard from a member here that you shouldnt tolerate aggresive rats. but yeah, its my fault. i startled her. shes not aggressive. just doing motherly instincts. my mistake. thanks for the advice guys. :):oops:

i guess that it was also an instinct to kill it when i saw so much blood.lol.yup. im an idiot. hehe.

thank you.

raymond.

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Originally Posted by munding

cos i heard from a member here that you shouldnt tolerate aggresive rats. but yeah, its my fault. i startled her. shes not aggressive. just doing motherly instincts. my mistake. thanks for the advice guys. :):oops:

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I don't tolerate breeders that are overly aggressive with one another or towards their babies even more so with mice but this is for the sake of the colony itself and a different situation.

When it comes to this kind of situation a different and to be expected.

Always proceed with caution when dealing with a nursing mom, best thing is to remove her carefully and place it in a separate container when dealing with the babies.

Haha!!! I know how you feel - I'be been bit right down to the bone by a rat before, and it hurts like nothing you'd believe if you haven't been bitten by a rat before!!!

The sympathy is there, it was all I could do not to inadvertantly toss it across the room at the time out of sheer "Get off my hand you devil animal" instict (it wasn't my rat, it was when I worked at the vets).

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Originally Posted by Deborah

I don't tolerate breeders that are overly aggressive with one another or towards their babies even more so with mice but this is for the sake of the colony itself and a different situation.

When it comes to this kind of situation a different and to be expected.

Always proceed with caution when dealing with a nursing mom, best thing is to remove her carefully and place it in a separate container when dealing with the babies.

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ok. got it. thank you. and i wont be touching any of the moms anymore! aside rabernet's advice on talking to them and letting them come to me,any other advice on how to approach it? before i didnt care when i was doing my weekly cleaning. just grabbing it by the tail, and transfering it to another tub. but after that bite, lol..i wana know what you guys do to prevent that kind of situation. dont want that to happen again.:oops::oops::oops:

thank you

raymond