Mom's a biter, what to do?

I've got a female rat that's a biter. Not your typical biter though.

You see her problem is she is a little over zealous about treats. Today I was taking the babies about and looking them over when I reached in she flipped out thinking I was handing out treats and ran over like a white blur, sank her teeth into the tip of my finger and started trying to pull it into her corner where she always goes to eat her treats.

My verdit is out on her, she is gone once she finishes nursing. But my question is: Should I cull all her babies? Is this behavior genetic or learned? She doesn't bite defensively, just gets confused about what is a treat and what is my freaking hand.

I bought her from a large rattery when she was already and adult, so she was never handled growing up. Should I blame it on that and give the babies a shot or cull them all?

I have a ZERO tolerance policy for bitters, the babies are not held back they are fed off so is the mother.

Ultimately it is your decision however you definitely want to build your colony and hold back your breeders based on their temperament as well as production.

I certainly wouldn't hold her back or any of the offspring. Feed feed feed.


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she mistook you for a treat, I wouldn't rush to feed off.

You have two goals when breeding rats. 1) Produce food and 2) produce replacement breeders.

If this rat is a good producer but has a trait you don't want to pass on (can't tell it's a finger) then just use her offspring for food and don't stick your fingers in the tub.

I had a great producer that turned out to be a shark. She's in the freezer.

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Originally Posted by llovelace

she mistook you for a treat, I wouldn't rush to feed off.

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Yeah, she doesn't bite out of aggression or defense, but confusion about what's food. Is this a genetic trait that could be passed or is it learned, because she never had any human interaction until she was an adult?

have you tried squeaking at her? Every time she getsclose to your finger, squeal at her in the highest pitch you can manage...seriously. it's their way of saying "no!" Or "I'm uncomfortable". If she still doesn't change any... then do what you want with her. I've had rats that bit and after just a couple squeaks to let them know I can hurt, stopped biting. Obviously it is different if she is protecting babies.

I too have a zero tolerance policy for biters. They bite, they die. It's that simple. All of their offspring too become feeders. Rat bites hurt too much to keep the biters... even if the bites are accidental.

I have the friendliest rats bite me now and when then giving them treats, I wouldn't rush to feed off.
Good moms are too valuable in the rat room to just feed off because you got bit offering a treat.
If the momma bites defending her babies she's gone but killer her for biting you while trying to take food away from you? I wouldn't

Def not something to rush and feed off. When I Give all 50+ breeding rats pizza crust, Id swear their snakes lunging out to get it. Ive been bit from them getting over excited for a treat, but wont feed off.

My breeders are High producers so id never feed off for anything.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

Def not something to rush and feed off. When I Give all 50+ breeding rats pizza crust, Id swear their snakes lunging out to get it. Ive been bit from them getting over excited for a treat, but wont feed off.

My breeders are High producers so id never feed off for anything.

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Ya, no kiddin Rich! What was that one Mamas litter u had.. Something like 22 babies? I wouldn't mind if she took a finger of mine here and there. You have some baby makin machines over there! Lol

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Originally Posted by cdavidson9

Ya, no kiddin Rich! What was that one Mamas litter u had.. Something like 22 babies? I wouldn't mind if she took a finger of mine here and there. You have some baby makin machines over there! Lol

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32:gj::gj:

The problem is she doesn't just go for my fingers when I'm giving out treats, it's any time I put my hands in the tub she thinks I have treats, like today when I was taking a baby out.

She is on her way out, I will not tolerate being afraid to put my hands in the tub because of her over zealous nature, but if I do decide to hold back a female or two from her litter I'll give them a chance to be hand raised and figure out what's food and what isn't, but if they turn into mom I'll take that entire line out of my project.

Thank you everyone for all the advice.

I have a strict no bite policy..
You bite me, you get bit back.:snake:

This is an interesting topic.

Ive got one that is a biter and the other is not. The biter has drawn blood on me a few times. Im not rushing to kill her. When I clean out the cage I grab her by the tail. Other than that when I add food I use a shield on the biter so I can finish doing what I need.

But really I cant see this a being a gentic trait passed on. Alot of it is imo lack of human socialization. If you start early handling the babies to show that your not a threat. I dont see a reason why the should bite. None of my babies from her have tryed to bite me so far... the worse thing they think is my hand is a jungle gym.

I have fed the daddy off, because of inbreeding with his sis's. So I kept the other male to outbreed. Neither did the daddy or this new male I have was/is a biter.

Could it be gentic? I highly doubt it but no way to prove it. But what it boils down to is lack of human socialization as a baby. Thats my 2 cent.

I'll argue with you on that... I very well think it could be genetic. Just like any wild animal, over time, with generations of captive breeding, they can become more and more tame. Rats teach other rats how to chew, they are very smart, and do pick up habits from cage mates... I don't tolerate a biting rat, a chewing rat, or a cannibal.
Sure, if it's a momma, just protecting babies, I "may" give her another chance, but even with the amount of breeding females I have, I want to be able to open any drawer, and just randomly pick out what I need without watching for a nasty bite... Even when I bring in new blood, 90% of the time, the rats are pretty social right off the bat. So, why chance breeding in a "possible" biter??
If you're breeding, you can replace very easily....
And, even given that you say you grab her by the tail, that shows that she's at least somewhat tame, because that's the exact last thing you should do to a wild rat, they climb back up the tail and whack you fast!

I bought a pego rat from the store, because my other two has done nothing for the last two months. I new female i got on monday night and held her for a few hours and she seemed to be a sweet heart, on tuesday she gave birth to 10 pups, two days later when i was feeding her she nipped but did not brake skin, thin went on for a week, now she's okay with hold the babies moving the nest to clean, so maybe due to their bad eyesite she miss took your finger for food, or she just didn't want you in her cage with the pups. so just wait on making her food she if she bite after the pup are out of her cage. hope this helps you out