agression in newly adopted rat

Question
Hi, I own quite a mischief right now, and recently adopted a trio of rats from a friend's mother who could no longer take care of them as she was going into a retirement home. I trusted completely their quarentine, since they got their rat supplies from me and did not go to pet stores, so I brought them straight home. No health problems after two weeks, but Sora is a problem. I have changed their cage just after they got to my home to see if that affected the problem, but it only changed the fact that now Sora can not bite me if she is IN the cage and I am not, going from 1" wire to 1/2" wire.

Her last owner would not hold her much because she often bit while in the cage. I am able to pick her up from above, but don't go near if she is facing me as she has gone after my hand before when it was sitting still within the cage! She also will lunge at me whenever I am NEAR the cage, even though the wire is 1/2" and she can in no way get to me. The other two are perfect angels, but not Sora.

Sora looks to be 8-12 months old (maybe a LITTLE more), while Sasha seems around 12-15 months or so and Mahoney is likely around 6-7 months (could have escaped the last cage, but chose not too since she likes her roomies). THey live peacefully, and one of my other girls has bonded totally with Sasha so I put her in their cage too - no fighting other than the normal mini scwables and dominace shows.

What can I do to help change Sora's behavior? I want her to trust me. I'm not comfortable giving her treats from my hand presently because I have VERY thin skin where even a nip often makes me bleed. Is there a type of glove I could maybe wear? Is there a method to change her attitde?

Once she's out of the cage, she's fine (so far at least), but in the cage she's a little meanie! I MAYBE could deal with this on my own, but I also have a two year old who I don't want any chance of being bit when walking by (she won't stick fingers in the cage at least!), which might tramatize her away from rats for a long time.

Thank you for any suggestions you may be able to give me. :)

Krystie

Answer
Sounds like Sora is cage brave, possibly even territorial over what she deems is "HER" locale. I've had this problem a couple of times with does, generally though; they're nesting (and have a litter due any day). I generally steer people away from gloves because I find them, in the long run, to perpetuate the problem. She'll learn to associate the gloves with the treat and handling rather than your fingers/hand and in turn continue to bite you when you're non-gloved. Instead, try finding a long treat (pretzels work) to offer her, or better yet, offer her small pieces of soft, easily chewed treat on the end of a pair of tweezers. When she begins to associate your presence with treats, offer them bare-fingered. Rat bites HURT and I know you're wary to be bitten (and I certainly understand the worry of your toddler, I myself have an infant on the way any day now), but its really the only way to trust train. Offer her a treat only when she walks directly to you from the cage. If she gnashes her teeth or acts aggressive - no treat. These treats should be special and ONLY given to her when working on the trust training.

An excellent woman to talk to about this is Sandra Todd, also an expert on this site. She's dealt with situations very similar to this and I believe will be able to help you a lot more.

Best of luck!