Nibbler

Question
I own a young adult male dumbo rat. I got him from a local pet store and he is neutered. I've had him for three months or so and he's started to bite down on pretty much anything from my hands to my ears to my chin whether he's sitting in his cage or out. He used to just lick my hands like he was making sure they were clean but now he'll lightly bite down and then let go. It's nothing that hurts but I don't want him to progress to bitting harder and harder until he breaks the skin. I've been bitten by hamsters and rats smaller than him so I know what they can do. I try to get him out every day and and let him run around on my bed (which is how he gets to my face a lot) and I'm constantly giving him stuff to chew on. At first I thought that might be what he wanted. Along with new things in his cage to chew on I make sure my hands don't smell like any of the veggies and what-not I give him. Since none of that has changed his biting habit I'm starting to think its probably a genetic things since his pedigree is unknown. Is there any other explinations or anything else I could do?

Answer
This is pretty common for young males. Next time he bites down on you and you've reached that "this might be too hard" stage - just yelp. One sharp, quick "OUCH!" will work. He'll probably immediately startle, at which point you can reward him with a pat and go back to what you were doing. Next time he does it - yelp again. Eventually he'll get the point that you make that loud, scary noise when he bites. He'll quit doing it pretty quick.

Alternatively, if he doesn't quit, when he bites put him back in his cage - playtime over. Once you've gone about your day and done other things, get him back out. Rats enjoy being out, and he'll learn that when he bites he goes back in his cage. Don't use the cage as punishment - it isn't a time out, don't scold him, yell at him or smack him - he won't understand that. But a simple putting him back to bed trick may work.

Good luck.