Does anyone have this issue?

My rats do this thing... if I let them sniff my hand they sort of test nip me by putting their teeth on me without applying pressure. I don't feed them through the bars either.

It is super unnerving and is part of the reason I don't like to play with my rats much at all.

Some of mine do the same, it's more of a taste test just to see if it's something they can chew on. Best way to break that habit is just to be around them more often and handle them aswell. When they learn the smell of human scent they should stop, or like mine, they lick my hand when feeding or handling. Now that is a weird feeling. lol

Yes, this is very common. You just have to teach them not to do it just as you need to teach a puppy not to mouth you.

Best thing to do is make sure your hands are clean when you handle them (don't smell like food) and make a high-pitched 'eep' noise when they put their teeth on you. Other rats will 'eep' at them when they bite a little too hard so this lets them know it's not acceptable.

As a sign of affection they will also lick and nibble you, just gently redirect them if it bothers you. Handle them more frequently and they'll stop with the test-bites and the grooming-nibbles shouldn't bother you.

One other thing that might help if you are keeping them as pets, is to teach them the word 'treat'. Only use it if you are giving them a treat and never use it if you are just playing with them. They learn pretty quickly that without the 'treat' word, they shouldn't expect food and are a bit less likely to do a taste-test.

I've had rats as pets for more years than I care to admit and I've never had a true bite from one. My bp's have bitten me worse than any of my rats every have. :)

Good luck!

Some of mine do it, I have a granny rat who would do that if i got anywhere near the babies, I removed her and another granny rat to thier own cage. Occasionally when i'm about to feed them they do tend to lightly bite but I think it's just excitement as I always give a treat plus pellets, I personally would get excited too:)

Thanks for the comments, I get licks occassionally. These are breeder rats but I treat them like as kindly as I'd treat a pet. My girl Dumbo (the dumbo rat lol) is my only pet and she is really sweet.

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I've had rats as pets for more years than I care to admit and I've never had a true bite from one. My bp's have bitten me worse than any of my rats every have.

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You're lucky! I had a mean weanling guy I bought as a feeder rat bite one of my finger tips once and he didn't let go until I pulled him off (he had held on for about 5 seconds, and kept flexing his jaws). I had a bit nerve damage for a few weeks in that finger tip, it tingled for a while whenever I touched something around the bite spot. I think I'm lucky it didn't get infected, the deepest wound was almost to the bone.

An adult ball python feeding bite is nothing compared to even a small rat bite. Which is why I'm a bit intimidated by my rats lol :oops:

I stay far away from breeder rats, if I have to buy them I use tongs. We bought a breeder male and he bit through my DD's finger when she was trying to get one of the girls out.

Well, once i was checking on some babies one of my rats had, and my stomach, chest area was against the bin, and the momma rat just came up and Bit me on the chest lol It HURT! It didnt break skin, but got purple...

Just as I talked a rat bit me. OIne whole group excaped thier cage( They are in an excape proof room though so no real biggie) and I was putting them away one by one, well one young new mom was protecting the babies and she jumped on my hand and bit me, it hurts quites a bit but you can tell but the way the marks are that she was just shocked not really meaning to hurt me as she didn't seperate her teeth which make the bite bigger. I was going to kill her but I'm going to give her another chance seeing as she's locked in a room where my kids can't get hurt anyways..

Great, woke up with a swollen hand now i have to go get antibiotics yuck!

I was at the petstore yesterday, and one rat bit the daylight out of one of the employees, drew some good bit of blood. I had to laugh because he was saying he worries about the mice biting him.

Lol, part of my thumb is numb from a rat bite I got a few days ago. Reached in a cage with a momma rat to check on the babies and she NAILED me- I wasn't expecting it because this was one that was friendly before she gave birth. Stupid hormones!! She hit me right on the lower knuckle of my right thumb and GROUND her teeth. I made quite an impressive pool of blood on the floor, enough to make me lightheaded before the bleeding stopped, and did some nerve damage. I'd rather be bitten by 10 ball pythons than a pissed-off rat!

Other than that, though, a lot of friendly rats will do this 'testing' no-pressure bite, or nibble you a little- I don't worry about it much.

Yeah.. I've been leaped at by a mom giving birth (I was peeking into the tub). She managed to give me some scrapes, and now I know who's babies to leave alone.

I'm just lucky a full grown adult hasn't fully nailed me.

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I made quite an impressive pool of blood on the floor

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You aren't the only one! I wonder how my mom would feel if she had seen the blood trickling down my hand and dripping off.. I don't think she'd ever touch my animals again!

I've been bitten right through by a male thinking I had a treat for him. He got me twice! Damn little bugger almost got fed off that day, but I kept him because it was my fault for not thinking before I went to handle him.

When they put their mouth on you, they are testing you to see if you are something edible instead of just trying to rip your finger off LOL. When they stop before they bite down hard, obviously they have learned. :gj:

Rats that nip are given a second chance--rats that actually BITE are immediately turned into food. I rarely have any rats bite. I do think that aggression is largely genetic.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

Rats that nip are given a second chance--rats that actually BITE are immediately turned into food. I rarely have any rats bite. I do think that aggression is largely genetic.

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Agreed, biters = immediate food.

I've weeded out all of my aggressive rats. Pregnant or not, nursing or not, I have no fear of reaching into any of my tubs. Its nice to not have to worry about psycho rat lunging completely across the tub to rip a hunk off your hand.

And yeah, I'll take a BP bite over a rat bite any day of the week.