removing pinkies

[satomi325]

Rat question but I'll piggy back here.

I have to clean my rat tubs tonight. The babies are 10-14 days old. I put my hand in the other day and one of the moms lunged at me and bit me pretty bad. I jerked my hand back and she was latched on so hard it ended up flinging her out of the tub, then I had to chase her around the room to get her back.

Any tips on avoiding this aggression? I wasn't even close to the babies... is this pretty normal or should I consider her less tame and not worry about my other females?

Its different for all females. Its an individual thing. Most of mine are good about me messing with their tub or babies.

But some girls get overly maternal (which isn't their fault) and get very protective when they have litters and/or only when they have pups present. When the pups are old enough to walk, that instinct to bite/protect starts going down gradually.

If your girl was tame before, she probably is still tame. Its just the presence of her litter that's putting her on edge.

You can't really avoid the aggression since its instinctual. Just be aware.

But I have noticed that the girls I have personally raised and handled from weaned age don't mind me messing with their babies. I guess they are familiar with me and just know I won't hurt them or their babies.
I've only been bitten twice and those were by tame older girls that I got second hand.


Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2