A few months ago, I adopted 2 female rats. One has always been very anti-social, but all of a sudden -- she bites when you get near her. She eats %26 drinks well, but I wonder if there's something internally wrong with her. Thanks.
Answers:
If the bonding exercises were put into practice and they didn't work for her then she could be a rat's rat and doesn't want to have anything to do with humans. By anti-social do you mean she doesn't want to have anything with you, with her cagemate, or both of you? If this is the way it is to be then you will have to accept her for the way she is. I have had 200 rats in the last 11 years, some love me and want to be with me, others don't, and I just don't force the issue.
She could be a fear-biter, just terrified of your hands, especially if she associates that hand with an unpleasamt smell or touch in the past. Did, or is, anyone in your family teasing/tormenting her?
She could be territorial of her cage? This can happen if a rat is never removed from the cage to play out on the floor, or table, or couch. How is she when she is outside of the cage?
Try the bonding/training/forced socialization exercises over again and see if that doesn't help:
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Lastly, she could indeed be sick. Rats are very stoic animals and they hide their illnesses well. If she is in pain, touching her could cause her further pain, and thus the bite.
Is your rat sick?
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http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=is...
When in doubt, have her checked out..by the vet.
spazrats
"my life has gone to the rats"
Your rat is not sick, just smart. Rats are smart and your rat just learned that when she doesnt want to be bothered all she has to do is bite and you pull your hand away and dont bother her. Put on some leather gloves and just resocialize her buy picking her up and spending at least 15 min with her a day. I have 2 rats and same as you I have one that is extremely social and one that is not as social. The one that is less social went through a bitting phase that lasted about a week in which every time i went to pick her up she bit my finger but i still went ahead and picked her up. After about a week she quit bitting and its been about 2 months and she hasnt bitten me again since.
yes
She might be sick... Does she stay very still a lot, too? That's another sign that she's in pain, along with biting. If not, you might want to try offering her food. Never getting close to her, but letting her come to you to take it. She'll start to associate you with yummy things. But if she still bites, then definately the vet. It's good to get them both a check up anyway.
As Mike K said, she knows you'll leave her alone if she bites you. You have to work with her and not let the biting stop you. I know it's hard but if you leave her alone when she bites it's going to get worse.
I recently recieved two unsocial female rats. One sqeeled like crazy when you tryed to take her out and the other bit the crap out of me.
You have to gain their trust. Try to give them treats, not through the bars, that makes the problem worse. Open the cage door and hand them treats. If they take it try to pet them, just take it VERY slow. Don't reach in and try to grab her, slowly put your hand in the cage and pet her, slowly getting your hand around her waist, then slowly pull her out.
It may take a few days before you can even get her to let you pet her, but she will come around eventually. You just have to be presistant and slow.
I hope this helps...GOOD LUCK!
i would say that she is. any change in behaviour can be an indicator that your rat is ill. get her to the vet please.
are you sure they are both females? it sounds like she may be pregnant. the ONLY time my rats have EVER bitten me is when they were pregnant or sick and if she is eating well and drinking - make sure the other one is female too
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