Thursday, July 22, 2010

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT YOUR RATS

#3 - BITE ME? BITE ME NOT?


Do rats bite? The answer is 'yes' and 'no'. Among all rodents rats bite the least, however they do bite by mistake or when they become defensive. Unlike wild rats, fancy rats are familiar with human contact therefore they hardly bite. Throughout the years of me keeping rats, I've been bitten by rats several times and each time was for different reason. My first rat bite and also the most violent bite was by Milo's mom. I remembered meeting her when Milo and her siblings were about a week old in a near by pet shop. I went towards her cage and pointed at her for a second and 'ouch!', there she went and chomped off a small piece of meat on my finger. The wound took a month to recover. This kind of bite is unusual and it only happens when the rat feels defensive. Every once in a while, you'll forget that rats are pretty close to blind and you'll stick your finger in the cage to give your ratties a fur rub before washing your hands after touching food. Some rats, without fail, will think you've got more food because your finger smell just right, and they'll try to grab it really fast. Rats have good control on their bites. Before their teeth puncture into your skin, they are able to distinguish whether they are biting food or not, then only decide to bite further or not. This bite usually looks like simple paper cut. Tickle used to do this a lot, probably because of her poor eyesight because she's an albino.