Some pet rats just aren’t that pleasant to deal with. They might bite, scratch, or chase you or other rats. This probably wasn’t what you envisioned when you decided to adopt, so if your rat is displaying this behavior, you probably want to do something about it. There are numerous ways to deal with an aggressive pet rat, and in this post, I will tell you all about them.
A friend of mine adopted a feeder rat a while back, and the first time was quite rough. Had she known these tactics, she probably would have had an easier time. Read on to find out my best ways to handle an aggressive rat!
Contents
How To Deal With An Aggressive Pet Rat
Neutering
First of all: If your rat isn’t neutered, then you might want to consider that. Neutering often helps greatly reduce aggression in rats by lowering their testosterone. This practice relieves rats of sexual frustration, which often makes them more manageable and pleasant. Studies have also proved other benefits, such as neutered rats living slightly longer lives than others.
Neutering is often the first suggestion for an aggressive male rat, so you should look into this to see if it is an option for you. Since neutering rats is still quite an uncommon practice, prices can be a little on the expensive side. You could check your local area for any animal rescue clinics that might be able to do this for free.
It often takes about 4-6 weeks for a neuter to take effect, though. During the first weeks, you likely won’t see a difference in your rat’s behavior, as it takes some time for the testosterone to go down. Just keep this in mind if you decide to go for the procedure.
Free-roaming
An aggressive rat might benefit from being allowed to free roam for some time. Try putting him or her down outside of the cage for some time to see how they behave. Maybe you could start in a larger, but still somewhat confined area, such as a bathtub or small room. Don’t leave them all together though, it is probably best to stay and observe his or her behavior.
This was one of the most important parts of my friend’s journey of changing her aggressive rat behavior. She’d start in the bathtub, then moving to the full bathroom, small room, and so on. She took it in steps, which is the important part. Don’t let an aggressive free roam the entire house or apartment, at least not in the beginning.
I covered her story more in this post!
Feed the rat with a metal spoon
Another good tactic that I’ve read about on the web is feeding aggressive rats with a metal spoon. This forces the rat to stop biting, which often is one of the biggest problems. The reason this works is that biting down on such a hard material is really unpleasant, so the rat quickly learns to eat the nice treats with their tongue instead. In the long run, this should decrease how often your rat bites you, as well. Just put some soft and tasty foods on a spoon and let your rat lick it off.
You might be nervous about teeth damage when doing this, but these worries are mostly unfounded. Rats rarely bite hard enough to cause damage, and the people I’ve heard do this have never had any problems. If you want, you could start with a hard plastic spoon to try it out, before switching to a metal spoon when you feel comfortable.
Place fabric in their cage that smells like you
Maybe you’ve already heard how effective this can be, but if not, I’ll give you a short rundown. Many owners have had success with putting a piece of fabric on their bodies during the day, and then placing it in the rat’s cage. This makes the pet accustomed to your scent, and hopefully, it will associate your smell with the safety of their little cage.
Try putting a piece of fabric inside your clothes and keep it there during the day. This will make the fabric smell like you, and when you put it in the cage, your rat will get used to your scent. Cat owners do something similar before they adopt a cat, so the practice has been proven to work.
Time out-box
Another tip that I first heard about from a now-deleted Reddit user, is making a little time-out box that you can put the rat in when he or she bites you. This will make the pet animal associate biting with a negative consequence, hopefully forcing it to reduce the behavior to avoid punishment.
Many rat owners immediately put their rats back into their cages when they bite, which actually could reinforce the bad behavior. Think about it: If you pick up your rat, and he bites you, it is probably because he is scared or uncomfortable, and his goal is to be put back into his cage. By putting him back when he does, he will learn that biting works! All he has to do is cause some bloodshed!
Creating the perfect time-out box is quite straightforward. Just take a box, it could be cardboard, wood, plastic, and cut a hole in the top. The reason you want it to be top-loaded is so that it is easy to put your rat in it, and hard to get out of. Make sure the interior of the box is boring enough to provide no stimulating fun for your rat. This way he will begin associating biting you with a bad outcome.
Keep your rat in the time-out box for a few minutes before putting him or her back in the cage. The time-out duration should depend on how aggressive the rat is. I’ve found about 5 minutes to do the trick, but experiment!
Gloves
Put some gloves on! This way, you can continue holding and calming your rat even when it bites you. One of the most effective ways of making a rat less aggressive is to make it understand that you aren’t dangerous.
Pick up the rat with some tough gloves on. Even after the biting begins, keep holding it and do your best to show as much love as you can. It is important to be firm, but you need to show your rat that you only mean well.
Some people have found that welding gloves are thick enough to protect you from your rats’ teeth. In reality, many gloves are thick enough, so look around for a sturdy pair.
Why is my rat aggressive?
Aggressive behavior in rats usually stems from their childhood. They might have been poorly socialized, or abused at a young age. Rats that have grown up under bad conditions will be less friendly to humans and other rat-friends.
While fancy rats can be aggressive, it is much more common in feeder rats. I’ve written an article that explains this subject in detail, but to summarize, because breeder rats are often bred in cramped containers, without much human interaction, they often don’t behave as well as breeder rats when they are adopted.
There are many ways to combat aggressive behavior in rats. The way that I’ve found to be most effective is showing extra amounts of love, even when your rat seems scared or angry. If he or she wants to be alone, you should let them. But once in a while, pick it up and pet it, talk to it, and treat it to some nice food.
How do I stop my rat from biting me?
Biting might be the biggest problem with aggressive rats. Not only does it hurt physically, but having a pet that bites you can make you feel sad and disappointed. We adopt a pet with hopes of giving it a great life, so if they are violent towards us, it feels like we’ve failed.
To stop a pet rat from biting you, clench your teeth and make a “chh” sound back at them. Your rat will understand you since you mimic how rats naturally behave. Rats make this sound when they are hurt, so doing this tells your rat that it is hurting you, which often makes them stop.
If this doesn’t work, you should remember that neutering is the most effective way to stop aggressive behavior. It typically takes between 4-6 weeks for the effects to kick in.
How do you tame an aggressive rat?
Is one of your rats constantly picking fights with his cage-mates? Then their living conditions might be the problem. Rats often pick fights to claim territory, so consider adding some more hideaways, or even enlarging the cage.
Should that not work, try separating them for a while. Sometimes, some time apart will calm aggressive rats by making them feel like they have their own space that they don’t need to fight over. If you can, get another rat cage and let the aggressor move.
Still no luck? Neutering is probably the only solution. This lowers testosterone which is probably the cause of his bad behavior. Take your rat to a vet who works on exotic animals and ask for a quote. Keep in mind though that prices vary greatly between clinics, so you should probably look around until you find one that will do it for a reasonable price. I’ve found clinics that neuter rats for as little as $150.
Why does my rat bite me softly?
If your rat is biting you softly, they are most likely doing this to show love. Rats groom themselves with soft bites, and if they like you, they will most likely do it to you as well. This is completely normal and you should see it as a good sign of a strong bond between you.
They could also just be exploring. Rats bite things to understand what it is. This is most common in young rats since by the time they are older, they will know who you are!
Is it normal for rats to play fight?
Yes, it is completely normal for rats to play fight with each other. Usually, cage mates who know each other will play fight from time to time, and as long as it doesn’t get too aggressive, you don’t have to worry. Should there be bloodshed, then you should consider splitting them up for a while.
I hope you’ve learned something from this post. I did my best to cover all possible solutions, as I know many people have these problems.
Did one of my tips help you? Feel free to leave a comment below and let me know! I’d love to hear from you!
Hey, I’m Peter. During the last 25 years, I have owned and raised over 20 pet animals. On this blog, I do my best to share my learnings during this time, to hopefully help others.