[Misv]

I have a rat that's two years and a few months old, he has been showing signs of getting older like graying fur, less activity, and his legs are losing function over time, but he has recently been showing a weird new habit of biting when he rarely bites usually. Not hard biting but the biting he does when he's trying to see if something is food. He does also seem skinnier than before but I may just be paranoid. So I'm thinking he may be having some problem with eating so he's hungry a lot and that's why he's biting things more often, but the fact that it's my finger, my blanket, my clothes, etc, not just things that would smell like food, makes me think maybe thats not the case. He may be confused because of old age but he's not biting in a scared or aggressive way. Also he's he's grinding his teeth more than my other equally old rat. Can anyone offer any options as to what this might be? In the mean time I'm just going to give him baby food in case that's easier for him to eat than his usual food and thats why he's skinny and biting a lot.

 

[Mkd]

His teeth may be overgrown and can't chew properly. It happened to one of mine. I think you can go to a vet and he will show you how to trim his teeth if that is the problem.