Pet Forum / Mammals / Rats / April 2006

I rescued a rat who had a terrible aggressive streak.  He bit me nastily
quite a few times, the last one needed stitches (still have the scar on my
thumb four years later!), so I took him to have his bits off.  The change in
him was unbelievable, he never once bit after castration, not even little
nips.  He settled right down and eventually turned into a slushy, mushy, lap
rat.  I totally recommend having yours neutered.

Tracey

Oops...I accidentally replied to sender, so you've got mail too. Sorry.

Oh gawd...poor fella. I'm trying to find mention of how old he is in this
thread and it eludes me. How old is he? I won't try to suggest that
neutering isn't a good idea (especially if you have girls around), but that
rat was trying to establish a domain. It is scared ****less and needs to
feel like it has a safe place. When I got my two boys recently, I let them
hang out in their cage for a day, and then opened the door and let them come
out on their own (making all the usual kissy/clicky noises to entice them).
They jumped in and out a million times it seemed, exploring "the outside" a
couple inches at a time, eventually making their way to me, and after more
of the running back and forth to the cage a dozen or so more times, they
eventually started jumping on me etc... Took a while before they tolerated
being touched, and a couple weeks before I could pick them up without too
much struggle. They'll still avoid being picked up, but when they they've
climbed onto something they cant get down from, they welcome it. My boys
were 4 months old (so the guy said), and had never been handled, and were
absolutely terrified of me when I got them.

I've only been bitten badly once and gotten a few nasty nips, all from one
rat...a girl (Patty). She HATED my hand near her when she was in the cage.
Most hate it, though they will tolerate it. I was afraid of her after that
bad bite (prolly should have got stiches), and I think she sensed it...for
the next couple days I'd yank my hand away when she came to play. She never
bit me since, and was quite affectionate. My boys don't bite me when I do it
(yet), but Locke sure gets a "This sucks" look when I touch him when he's
laying down, so I don't do it anymore. I only give'em treats in the cage
(and this is after a couple weeks).

The fact that he didn't mangle your finger this time, that he just held onto
it is promising. Clearly this rat is confused about his place in the world
right now, but isn't so sure you're a danger anymore. I'm not saying "don't
chop off his nuts", but if you're not 100% sure, you might wanna give it a
few days (or weeks) and exercise alot of patience during the "getting to
know ya" phase, coz he's not gonna bond with you until he feels safe. I've
got a suggestion about the nipping if you wanna hear it, but using gloves to
handle him? I'd never do that in a million years. It's gonna take a while
before he trusts you hand enough to jump on it. Gloves are prolly gonna
scare the crap out of him too, coz gloves that are thick enough to block a
bite are gonna make for a rough ride when you clamp down. Male or female,
neutered or not, if they're still semi-wild, you shouldn't be picking them
up at all for a few days until they get used to the cage, get used to you.
Hopefully you can set the cage up so he can get in and out himself and has
limited access (cozy chair or couch + you) so when he's scared the only
place to run is the cage.

Now if you're concerned about him getting to the girls and getting them
preggers, than go ahead and get him neutered, but if you want to do it
because he's misbehavin, then you may be too impatient, wanting to take a
shortcut in taming an animal that may not have ever been properly
socialized. Sheesh! You women would prolly do it to your husbands if you
could get away with it ;o)

It could be there are some bad apples who need to be castrated. It could be
this poor guy's never gonna get the chance to prove he can handle his stones
coz things are moving too fast.

Just my two cents.

Neutering him will help him no matter what. It removes his stress cause
by his hormones. It will help calm him down and at least allow him to
live with his girls.
In the meantime, keep your wounds clean and if you start to swell up,
then it's time to see the doctor.