Cage

What can I do with a dumbo rat that attacks outside his cage?

He has been a problem ever since he was purchased from Pets At Home. He would never accept any cage mates, even though he was introduced gradually to them. He is 18 months old and we have tried every thing to calm him down.He always snaps at any hand put into his cage. He is allowed some freedom and will return to his cage at night. Last night he was out in my room on my bed, he ran across the bed, jumped up and bit my cheek. He ran away to his cage, ate and went to sleep. The bite drew blood and hurt quite a bit. What can I do to stop this behavior? Would castration be of any benefit? Is euthanasia the only answer for a rat that attacks without provocation? Serious answers only please. Pets at Home is a large chain of pet stores in the UK and we have had him from six weeks old.

Public Comments

1. what is pets at home? is it a shelter or a pet shop? the reason might be that the rat might have been mishandled before. if it is from a shelter, there is a definite possibility that is used to be mishandled. the same can also go to the pet shop. new animals should be slowly introduced to the household as patiently as possible. since its still new, dont ever put your hand in the cage... it might have been regarding the cage as its own territory and will try to eliminate any third parties. of course, it has to warm up to its owners first before introducing any other rats. your rat will think that the other companions are merely trespassing on its territory and will do the same to your hands. castration is unnecessary, unless recommended by a vet. to stop this problem, physical contact is not quite useful. it must recognise that you are its owner and master. your rat is trying to be dominant over the whole household. sorry but im not to sure about taming its dominance... ask a pets trainer, maybe they know something. sorry if im not that helpful... ^-^;;
2. Neutering might help - probably will. It worked with my girls - Fudge (the dominant) picked on Smokey for quite a while, but stopped almost immediately after they were both spayed. If it worked on females, it will most likely work on males. A few weeks after the neuter, you could try slowly introducing him to another fixed rat - slowly is the keyword here. Edited to add: It might also be a mental disorder of some kind - if he was bred only for his ears, the breeder he came from (quite likely a "backyard breeder") probably didn't care if his parents were biters, aggressive, or mentally ill.
3. That certainly isn't "normal" rat behaviour. Has he been checked by a vet? I'm not positive, but I think there may be illnesses rats get that affect their behaviour. If he's actually attacking you, you better let him live on his own for a while, to relieve added stress. Occasionally rats don't feel the need to accept other rats, but in these instances, a solitary rat is usually very affectionate with people, so I don't know why he bites you like that. It's great that you allow him to roam around, but I would keep him caged or handled under your supervisoin until he adapts a bit more to you. When letting him out, only allow him to leave if you pick him up very quickly, and then right down. Don't grab him, make sure this is as pleasent for him as possible. And wear gloves if you have to. Through this, he will learn that you are a part of his freedom (which I assume he enjoys) and to explore, he only has to tolerate a little handling. I suspect change will come very slowly, but do increase the amount of time you spend handling him gradually. Food is a huge help. Even with nippy rats, I always give out food from the palm of my hand. Some people suggest this encourages the rat to bite, but this will be rare if he doesn't smell food right away, and will never be hard. I feel doing this by hand increases the interaction between you and the rat. And with a solitary rat, you really want to keep it as socialized as possible. They are highly social instinctively, and allowing one to go without anyone at all will have psychological affects. Also try entering his cage while minding the environment. Be sure that the lighting, background noise, even temperature is comfortable for him. Talk softly, and offer a treat. Do this once or twice a day. Eventually he WILL get used to you doing that. Give treats everytime he improves. Castration would only help if his behaviour is caused by hormones. Talk to a vet first, and ask about alternative causes. I deffinately would not go into euthanasia just yet. Good luck!
4. im not shure but i think you should buy him his own cage and by him his own baby rat friend
5. Neuter him if at all possible. He might be a total victim of his hormones. It could make a world of difference to his temperament. If he gets neutered and still acts vicious then you may just have a bad one. They are rare, but they do exist. If you do decide to humanely euthanize, make sure that your vet knows how to do it kindly (forget the injection into the heart without making them unconscious first. It's just mean!) Good luck to you and the unhappy/aggressive little guy!