pet rats

Question
my daughter has a pet rat that she has since very young, he used to be very people friendly but now he bits not only other people but my daughter and her boyfriend who has had it since winged. now they are scared to hold him or touch him he is in his cage all the time now where he used to play around in his rolly ball. now they are scared to put him in their..

my daughter just cant understand what happened to him?  can you help me understand it ?  thanks

Answer
There are different reasons that this may be happening and with the multiple reasons comes with ultimately you deciding what may be the issue.

For Example:

Stress: If a rat is stressed from environment changes, dying of another rat, change in owner. Now in this case you need to determine if any of these is happened and if you lost a rat recently maybe he needs a friend to help his stress. If it is location then you cna try making it more like what it was before.

Pain: Rat will of course bite if they are in pain and you touch them. Also listen for squeaks or noises indicating pain when pick up. You want to look over your rat(with gloves) to check for lumps, cuts, blood. If you feel anything you will need to contact a vet that deals with rodents.

I dont want to: Rats are like children and sometimes when they dont want to get out of the cage, go back in, or be picked up they bite to give you a sign they arn't wanting to be bothered.

Startling: If you make the rat startled then he will bite before thinking out of fear and reaction. Make sure he knows you are there. If he is old maybe it is harder for him to see you or smell you. Make more noise so he isnt taken off guard.

If these dont seem to fit your problem them maybe you need to work back into a trust bond with the rat. When he bite squeak loud to make him first aware that he is doing wrong and hurting you. DONT HIT...He will only fear you more and make things worse. He isnt going o understand "NO" he will just feel abused and more afraid.

You can also do a treat idea. You take a treat or so and place it in a can that will allow it to make noise. Shake the tin and call his name. When he comes DONT GRAB HIM, however give him a treat. Also give a treat (or 1/2) when he goes in the cage or comes out in a good manner. Till you can gain trust you can wear gloves to protect yourself and even if he bites the gloves still squeak to let him know you dont like that.

A great website that I found will give more information on making a bond with your rat no matter what age.

http://www.cavyrescue.co.uk/rat-article10.shtml

http://ratplanet.0catch.com/biteandtrust.htm

I hope that his helps and thank you for using all experts