Rat severely scratched my daughter

Question
QUESTION: 2 weeks ago my husband and I got a fancy rat for our 7 year old daughter.  We answered an ad in the newspaper, the rat was free, is a male and is 10 months old.

The owner, a teenage girl, said he had never bitten anyone and was very friendly but had just gotten a job and wouldn't be to give him nightly exercise time anymore.

We brought him home and handled him daily for 9 days.  He has been very friendly and when we scratch him on the back of the neck he gives "kisses" by licking our hand.  

The night before Christmas my husband was petting him a little roughly near his rump.  Bo-Bo (the rat) became hyper and agitated and I told my husband to stop because it was obviously upsetting Bo-Bo.  

The next morning when our daughter pulled Bo-Bo out of his cage everything was fine until the 3rd time she pulled him to give him exercise time and Bo-BO scratched her hard enough to draw blood, but it wasn't deep.  She said she was only petting him and didn't squeeze him or anything.

Everything has been great with Bo-Bo up until two nights ago.  We had Bo-Bo on our bed letting him run around and my husband began petting him very roughly on his rump.  Bo-Bo became very agitated and nipped at my husband's hand but drawing back before actually biting him.  My husband continued doing this over and over to Bo-Bo and Bo-Bo began acting very hyper then attacked my husband's arm for quite some length of time (five-ten minutes) but never drew blood.  

I told my husband on numerous occasions to stop, but he's an idiot and thought it was funny and cute and nothing was wrong because Bo-Bo had not drawn any blood.  Bo-Bo attacked by scratching very fast, but not hard, on my husband's arm, nipped at his skin and even pulled his forearm skin up but never pierced the skin and then appeared to dry hump my husband's arm over and over.

At this point I pulled Bo-Bo away, put him back in his cage and gave him his favorite treat, a baby carrot.  Bo-Bo didn't eat it which is odd for the short time we've had him, he's always eaten the carrots right away and he has not eaten any food at all in two days.

This morning my daughter pulled Bo-Bo out of his cage and began petting him while holding him.  She said she was petting him gently on his back and then he scratched her severely.  The cut is so bad we had to take her to the E.R. and she had to get Eleven stitches!  (The cut is on her forearm).

Obviously the whole family is upset and I'm not sure at this point what to do.  My husband (knee-jerk emotional reaction) wants to kill Bo-Bo.  I started researching on the web and called a trainer at Petsmart who said hive him 3-4 days to calm down, then treat him like he is a new rat and start the process all over again of re-training him.  I did read that rats often attack in the rump and hind quarters so I'm figuring Bo-Bo felt like he was attacked by my husband.

So now what do I do?  I obviously can not have an animal around that will harm humans, especially my children, but I don't know if Bo-Bo can be retrained or if someone ever pets him again on his back or near his rump that he'll attack (defend) again.

What do you suggest?
Thank You!
Leslie

ANSWER: You do realize none of this is Bo Bos fault.  He was only reacting naturally and defending himself. I have studied rat behavior for a long time and because this rat did not attack and bite you shows me he is not aggressive at all. The scratching was obviously from a struggle. Rats do not scratch like cats do.  Bo Bo obvouisly was trying to get away when your daughter while she was holding him which resulted in a scratch.  

The people at Pets mart are dog trainers and nothing more.
What you need to do is not pick Bo Bo up until he forgets the incident with your husband agitating him and getting his hormones in a fluster. He is an intact buck that was coherced into turning his defenses on.  Had he been with another male rat they may have erupted into fighting after this.  I would not allow your husband to handle Bo Bo again if he is going to tease this animal into such a frenzy like he did.  Its not fair to the rat and its not fair to your daughter, who was the innocent victim in this by getting hurt.

What you  will need to do is set up a play area and let Bo Bo exit his cage into the play area on his own. Your child can sit in the middle of the play area and Bo Bo can explore his new play area.  Be Sure his nails are clipped down by a qualified Vet and that she knows not to pick him up, allowing  him to come to her first. Over time he will learn to trust again but any male rat will react this way when agitated, esp when they are stroked in the rump area like Bo Bo was.

I dont mean to sound like I have no sympathy for your little girl because I am a mother myself and know how I would be upset if an animal hurt my child, but I would be upset with my husband rather than the animal since it was provoked in the first place.  If someone cannot handle an animal properly I would not allow them to handle them any more.  

Tell your little girl not to be scared of Bo Bo. He will only pick up on this and be leary of her.  Please refer to my website, Sandyscrittercity.com and check out GETTING STARTED to see how to construct a play area out of cardboard along with ideas for play toys as well so the two of them can bond.  Again, do not allow her to reach in and pick up Bo Bo but allow him to come out on his own.  This will form trust again, although I do not  think the trust issues are with your daughter and Bo bo, but instead, Bo Bo doesnt trust your husband.

Men! ::Sighs::  LOL!!   I know all about husbands, trust me!!  Between you and I, of course!!  Shhhhhhh...dont let him read this!!   :)

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your fast response!  Yes, I am very much aware it is not Bo-Bo's fault and my husband is a complete idiot!  :)  

I've just got done reading through your wonderful website and the kids and I have begun making a play area out of cardboard for the rats.

Most of your website is fantastic!  I had a really hard time reading the main page though with the yellow colored font and the long paragraphs made it difficult to read and not lose my place when scrolling.  The content though is absolutely fantastic, very informative & my kids and I enjoyed the pictures!

I had not mentioned in my first question to you that we purchased two young male rats a few days before Christmas as pets for our sons, ages 9 & 11.  They are brother dumbo rats that (as mentioned on your site) have not had any handling (per the pet store's policy as they've stated to me).  

My husband and I put them on our bed to run and get used to humans, one is doing great!  The other is much more shy and if you reach out to pet him he poops.  I'm hoping by making this play area that he will calm down and feel safe around humans and allow himself to be handled.

Are there any other suggestions you may have to help with this process?  We are sticking our hand in the cage palm down (as I read on your site)and allowing him to come sniff it, and he is doing that.  As soon as you make any movements at all or any noise, he runs to his house.  

Also - we initially (before my husband riled up Bo-Bo) placed all 3 males on the same bed together and they only sniffed each other and nothing else.  We took this as a good sign.  But should we be doing this?  

I was told by the pet store people that you should not introduce rats from other families together.  I'm assuming right now that since the two from the pet store are fairly young that their hormone levels are too low to alert Bo-Bo into declaring himself the alpha and attacking them. Of course I'm asking you about this stuff because it is blatantly obvious from your site that you know considerably more about rats & their behavior than do the pet store people!

I'm also wondering if you think it is a bad or good idea to try and exercise them all together in the play area or if we should make separate play areas for them?

Thank You again!
Leslie

P.S.
I've made the decision to keep Bo-Bo myself and to not let my husband near him until he changes his self-righteous attitude.  My daughter approached me this morning and said she would like to try and be friends with Bo-Bo again and is no longer scared to be around him, she's just scared to pick him up.  I'm very happy about this, and of course told her to not pick him up at all until he gets used to her again.

Answer
I am glad you made me aware of the problems with the first page on my website.  I strive to make it as easy to read as well as interesting and not boring for everyone.  Each computer is different, I have found, or should I say computer monitor.  Once I went on my website on someone elses computer that had a small monitor screen and everything was all bunched together etc...and on my big flat screen monitor it looks good, but I am going to change the background to make it easier to read.  As for my long paragraphs, I tend to blab on and on and on and on, as you may have noticed, so I will cut some of that down too.

As for letting the males togehter, you can let other rats fromm other mischiefs (colonies) togerher but if the rat is older of course, you should introduce them slowly.   You can put the cages side by side but not close together that tails can get into the other rats cage or that they can touch each other and let them get used to each others scent first.  How old are the younger rats?

If they are not baby babies, say, older than 3 months, you can let them meet, trying one at a time with Bo Bo.  They may sniff each other and may wrestle and chase, but I am sure you notice the two boys chasing and wrestling and play fighting like crazy now.  Thats the way baby rats play and in fact, if you went to the page WATCH MY BABIES GROW you will see half the photos of my newest rats are in a ball, wrestling. They are 8 months old and still do that, too!!

Once the boys get used to everything, let them meet Bo Bo, but again, keep their cage side by side for now, no contact otherwise until you get them used to the play area.  They can take turns in the play area, and this way they will smell that Bo Bo had been out and vice versa. They will get the hint that there is indeed another male in the area.  As for the scared rat, he is doing what is called "fear pooping".  You know the saying  "He is so scared he *S***" himself...kind of the same thing.  LOL    Once he gets used to you, this will stop.
However, dont be shocked if they start to leave urine trails on YOU or the kids.  Guess what? Gross as it sounds, its normal and they are marking you as their property, letting the other rats know they were there and your their turf.  Their urine is sterile so dont worry, no hepatitis or typhoid or anything creepy is in their urine that is harmful to humans. In fact, rats can pick up on the urine scent and know from the scent the sex of the rat, the age of the rat, etc... etc...  and another interesting fact: rats in the wild leave a urine trail so when they are in the dark under ground tunnels, they can find their way back by following their urine  trail.

Oh and your right to assume if male rats are too young an older buck can attack. This is true, strange bucks may attack and even hurt younger rats which is also why male rats should never be left with new ratlets even if they are the father of them. they dont know the difference.

Anyhow, thanks for the heads up on my website. I am going to change it right now!