Dalebert , I have a question for you about rats

[Raineyrocks]

Hi Dalebert

We have 3 large rats but they bite, do you have any suggestions on how to get them to stop?  I got them from a pet store just before they became snake food.   They said, the rats were in a college experiment program;  I'm not quite sure for what, I forget.

I'd love to take them out of their cage or have someone else do it preferrably but they bite.  Rick hand feeds them but when he goes to pick them up, they bite.

Also, will they stay in the same room we're in or quickly wander off?  We've had them for a few months now so I don't know if it's too late to train them.

[dalebert]

I'm afraid I don't know the answer. I think they need to be brought up a certain way from early on as pets. Mine have never been biters. One of them has accidentally nipped me a couple times when I had food in my hand he could smell and they have horrible eye sight, but he didn't even draw blood.

Here's a good resource to check out.

http://www.mainelyratrescue.org/rattieblog2/

[EthanLeeVita]

They said, the rats were in a college experiment program

My turn for a silly reply rainey! Perhaps it had something to do with experimenting with what causes aggression?

[Raineyrocks]

I'm afraid I don't know the answer. I think they need to be brought up a certain way from early on as pets. Mine have never been biters. One of them has accidentally nipped me a couple times when I had food in my hand he could smell and they have horrible eye sight, but he didn't even draw blood.

Here's a good resource to check out.

http://www.mainelyratrescue.org/rattieblog2/

Okay, thanks for the link Dalebert!

[Raineyrocks]

They said, the rats were in a college experiment program

My turn for a silly reply rainey! Perhaps it had something to do with experimenting with what causes aggression?

Who knows?  It might have something to do with experimenting, maybe they're secretly trained to attack! 
I don't trust that pet store anymore after they lied to me so much about my rats, they said the rats were friendly, used to being handled, and didn't bite.   Yeah, right! 

[K. Darien Freeheart]

I'm seeing vicious rats on chains in rainey's back yard, snarling and drooling to scare off intruders.

[Raineyrocks]

I'm seeing vicious rats on chains in rainey's back yard, snarling and drooling to scare off intruders.

That would be so awesome!  It would be $$ saved on dog food and maybe they would eat the daddy long legs! 

[geoff]

What's up with the daddy long legs? I hate spiders, creepy, crawly, the size of a dime and can kill you, but I always heard the daddy long legs were the least of the spider worries. When I was younger I always wanted a house I could have and just have a shotgun  and shoot any spiders I saw and not care about the damage.

[Raineyrocks]

What's up with the daddy long legs? I hate spiders, creepy, crawly, the size of a dime and can kill you, but I always heard the daddy long legs were the least of the spider worries. When I was younger I always wanted a house I could have and just have a shotgun  and shoot any spiders I saw and not care about the damage.

They are big and have octopus like tentacles, they jump down off of door frames and land on you, (possibly), they are very fast.   My philosophy is they may not be harmful but could cause a major heart attack. 

[geoff]

[/quote]

They are big and have octopus like tentacles, they jump down off of door frames and land on you, (possibly), they are very fast.   My philosophy is they may not be harmful but could cause a major heart attack. 
[/quote]

word.  I am scared shitless of spiders and sharks. like I said, I always wish I had a P.O.S. house that I could just walk around in w/a shotgun and blast away at spiders I saw.

[Raineyrocks]

They are big and have octopus like tentacles, they jump down off of door frames and land on you, (possibly), they are very fast.   My philosophy is they may not be harmful but could cause a major heart attack. 
[/quote]

word.  I am scared shitless of spiders and sharks. like I said, I always wish I had a P.O.S. house that I could just walk around in w/a shotgun and blast away at spiders I saw.
[/quote]

A quick black spider ran across my desk last night and I screamed, he's probably hiding somewhere to dart out again. 

[microtone]

i don't know about rats.  but...

frankly i've worked with rescue attack dogs, and i worked with socializing feral cats. but gee, when people poke rats with pencils they turn into snarling biters. caged minds do deviant things to defenseless creatures, and your dealing what the best schools often do turn out on a regular basis.

so my guess is to return them to their natural state, and let them run free. run free run free. in fact, if you ever come visit liberty village flea market i would be happier than a clam if you let those poor abused adorable furry little critters lose near my barn. let them be free, please. because those damn feral cats wake me up at night ever time there is a shortage of fresh meat.

on the other hand, if you have keep those rats in captivity, use light weight gloves that deflect the tooth bite. you can handle and pet those little mammals with out any fear again till the get use to the touch of a gentle hand.

[Lloyd Danforth]

I'm guessing dozens of people stuck their finger's in Dale's Rat's cage at Porcfest and that no one got bit.

[Raineyrocks]

i don't know about rats.  but...

frankly i've worked with rescue attack dogs, and i worked with socializing feral cats. but gee, when people poke rats with pencils they turn into snarling biters. caged minds do deviant things to defenseless creatures, and your dealing what the best schools often do turn out on a regular basis.

so my guess is to return them to their natural state, and let them run free. run free run free. in fact, if you ever come visit liberty village flea market i would be happier than a clam if you let those poor abused adorable furry little critters lose near my barn. let them be free, please. because those damn feral cats wake me up at night ever time there is a shortage of fresh meat.

on the other hand, if you have keep those rats in captivity, use light weight gloves that deflect the tooth bite. you can handle and pet those little mammals with out any fear again till the get use to the touch of a gentle hand.

Thanks but I'm not going to set them free, I think they are too domesticated to last in the wild.  I could be wrong but I don't think so, they are almost 2 years old.   As a "norm" I don't believe in keeping wild animals for pets unless it's to nurture them back to health and then return them to their homes, outside of course but we bought them from a pet store where they were there for a while and they were about to become snake food.

Any time the kids have bought home turtles I've told them to go set them free and we tried to help orphaned baby bunnies too.  In Delmarva we rescued chickens off the side of the road, they would fall off of the Tyson/Perdue trucks and we had a bunch of them, I miss having chickens, they are so cool.

[MaineShark]

I'm guessing dozens of people stuck their finger's in Dale's Rat's cage at Porcfest and that no one got bit.

Is that a euphemism?

Joe