SonOfA--

lol. Im glad im not the only one with a bad experience XD. Its definitely infected despite the mass amounts of hand sanitizer ive beeen putting on it, but its not that terrible. Just a really senesetive swollen red spot where the lower teeth went in. Literally as soon as my younger females start producing she's gone though. My agouti female whose had two litters now doesnt even care if I touch her babies. I might just clean house and start over with her last litter. I mean Id have a shortage for a little while, but I can buy some rats I guess.

I am definitely expecting a scar though. Frankly, Ill be dissapointed if i DONT get one haha. Its funny though. Now im finding myself afraid of ANY of my rats haha. Every time I pick one up now im careful about positioning, and try to get them under the arms so they can really move their neck and shoulders much. I dont use snake hooks much, but I wish they had a version of them just for rats XDD

In my experience with my breeding rats I've learned to never tail them.. Every time I clean the tubs I scoop each rat out and put it into the large holding tub without ever grabbing its tail. They seem more likely to show aggression if they are fearful. They learn that it is a fearful experience on cleaning day and they are held by their tails which is uncomfortable and scary.

I also try to handle every baby once in awhile so they don't fear me. It seems to work pretty good. I haven't had an aggressive rat in my colonies in about a year or more. The few that were, which were always Siamese for some reason, were fed off or put down to be frozen for later.

The two worst bites I ever had were both by pet male rats, I'm always careful around my mommas because I know they can be protective of their young.
One was a sick rat, he ended up dieing soon after the bite. I had him out on my shoulder getting ready to go to the vet with him, and I guess he wanted to go back to him cage. He latched onto my ear lobe, I heard the skin break. He just hung on, grinding his teeth. He had to hang on for a few minutes before letting go. My mom called the vet to see if they had any ideas how to get him off, they said soak a cotton ball in rubbing alcohol and put it under his nose. By the time she got everything ready he had let go.
The other rat was still settling in and I stupidly went to grab him out of his hide box. He bit my finger through the nail. I pulled my hand away and blood sprayed the wall and closet door. That one hurt.

Oh yeah! I've only had one bite and she never bit me again after that. If she would have she would have been gone. I don't like being bit and I don't want biters in my colony!!!

Here's my bite, she almost got all the way through my fingernail and pretty deep on the other side of my finger. I did the same thing, tried to take babies from a nursing momma
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...a/rats/008.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Foschi Exotic Serpents

In my experience with my breeding rats I've learned to never tail them.. Every time I clean the tubs I scoop each rat out and put it into the large holding tub without ever grabbing its tail. They seem more likely to show aggression if they are fearful. They learn that it is a fearful experience on cleaning day and they are held by their tails which is uncomfortable and scary.

I also try to handle every baby once in awhile so they don't fear me. It seems to work pretty good. I haven't had an aggressive rat in my colonies in about a year or more. The few that were, which were always Siamese for some reason, were fed off or put down to be frozen for later.

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Yeah, for some reason Siamese are prone to behavioral problems. Rat breeders say it is because they were so wildly popular when they first appeared that a lot of irresponsible inbreeding occurred.