rat biting frequently

Question
Hello Sandra

I bought 2 11 week old females from a pet store 1 week ago. So far the socialisation and care advice that 1 was given has been followed i.e. putting my hand in cage and letting them some to me and sniff, talking to them so they get used to my voice etc

1 female is very friendly and responds positively and has started to come to the cage door and jump onto my hand and climb onto my shoulder. The other is very timid and looks to hide away from contact. On the rare occasion she has come to me she has bit me drawing blood several times. This is not a nibbly bite but a very hard lunging bite. she has also lunged at me through the bars. My 11 year old son who has spent the same amount of time going through the motions patiently has also been bitten twice.

Can you give me some advise please ? I am toying with the idea of calling the petstore and arranging for her return.....

Many thanks

Mo

Answer
Mo

You should not return her. She is your rat now and its up to you to learn how to train her, I will help you.  She will just become snake food if you return her.  For starters, she needs more time to adjust to everything. An antisocial rat needs more than just a week.

Here is a link to my website and the page on trust training. I trained a biting wild rat that was the same age and it worked wonders.


http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/trainingshyorbitingrats.htm