Home » Plants & Animals » Rats » The Problem Rat: Bites People -- PART 1

The Problem Rat: Bites People -- PART 1

© Jane Adamo

A custodian in the Bronx found a box in a dumpster. He opened it up and discovered that it was full of dead rats. And a live one. He saved the young PEW and gave it to his 12 year-old neice in Brooklyn. This kind family went right out and bought him a brand new fishtank with a screen lid, food, bedding, treats and toys and named him Stewart. The rat seemed docile for a week and the family picked him up and held him a lot. Then he bit the girl.

As you may know, while a rat bite usually isn't serious, your first bite is usually scary. It bled a lot and they became too frightened of him to even go near him. They stopped cleaning the cage, only approaching and lifting the tank lid for the few seconds it would take to toss some food in. But these people had good hearts and eventually, I got the case from the NYC ASPCA.

I offered to help these people work with Stewart but they admitted they were just too terrified of him to even try and they'd really rather find another home for him. So I took him in.

I'll cut to the chase:

When I got him: if you approached the tank, he'd stand on his hind legs with his mouth open ready to bite. I'll tell ya, I was scared myself! But within one month of working with this rat, he readily ran over to me for scratching, treats, and combing; enjoyed climbing into my lap to lick and groom me (or maybe he was tenderizing me...) and loved having his face massaged. It wasn't hard, it just took some time and commitment. Any ratter can do this with good chances of rehabilitating the rat. Here's are your first two considerations:

#1 Have the right attitude -- control anger. This was easy with Stewy. How sad for him to be trapped inside a box with his family dead around him...and headed for the garbage crusher. He was probably so traumatized that that first week, he was immobile. When he relaxed a little, he bit. I pitied him. Somebody put this rat out with the garbage. And I was grateful to the family who didn't know much but did the best they could even though they were scared. At least they didn't throw him back in the trash.

Concerning fear: if your rat is a bad biter, I think this is a healthy emotion to have. Just don't let it paralyze you: put on thick gloves and move ahead.

The copyright of the article The Problem Rat: Bites People -- PART 1 in Rats is owned by Jane Adamo. Permission to republish The Problem Rat: Bites People -- PART 1 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.