my pet rat attacked me

Question
I have three female pet rats. One of the rats I got about 2-3 weeks ago and she turned out to be pregnant when I got her. (I didn't know she was pregnant until she gave birth to 9 rat babies!) She was a fairly friendly rat until she gave birth. Then she became very aggressive. Yesterday, I had picked up one of her babies and was returning it to the nest when she attacked me. She literally charged after my hand, bit me, and would not let go. She almost bit the tip of my finger off. This resulted in a bite that needed stitches. I also had to get a tetanus shot and an antibiotics prescription. So, now I am absolutely terrified of my rat! This morning I had to change her water and I was so scared that she would attack again. (By the way, I put her and her babies in a separate cage after she gave birth.)

Do you think she will try to bite me again? What is the best way to avoid another bite? Any advice would be really appreciated because I'm just not sure what to do. I want to keep her, but I have to figure out how to never get bitten like that again.

Answer
I'm sorry to hear you got bitten; however that's very common for lactating/nursing does to be extremely territorial. The best way to avoid it is to lure her off the nest, calmly and gently seclude her in another cage, and then inspect the babies, only to return her when you're finished. After her litter is weaned, she'll most likely return to her normal self.