[ItsRatPizza]

We have 2 male rats, Leo and Dumpling. I've noticed that during free roam, Dumpling will sometimes come up while I'm sitting and grab/bite clothes, like my sleeve or pant leg, and pull hard. One time, he did this to my sleeve while also kicking, and because he got some of my skin he left quite a bite mark! He seems to target clothed body parts so my hope is that he's just trying to pull on fabric, but it's quite disconcerting because I never know how hard he's going to bite so I try to shoo him away before it escalates. When Leo is out at the same time he (Leo) likes to hide in my daughter's hoodie, and Dumpling does a similar thing, biting at Leo through the hoodie fabric trying to get him. Has anyone else had a rat do something similar? For you, did it seem more playful or aggressive? Dumpling will take treats gently from our hands and doesn't lunge at them when we have to reach in his cage so he's not aggro full time or anything, I'm just trying to figure out what he could be trying to communicate. These are our first rats so I'm still new to much of this and hearing any similar experiences would be greatly appreciated!

 

[SonicRat]

I have had plenty of rats do this and some are less gentle than others.I do not believe they are being aggressive,it is attention seeking or they are being naughty and cheeky.Try saying a firm No,put them on the floor away from you Whilst gently pushing them away with th3 flat of your hand.Though you never can tell,if a rat has a very naughty streak they get a perverse pleasure out of being told off! Good Luck!

 

[ItsRatPizza]

I have had plenty of rats do this and some are less gentle than others.I do not believe they are being aggressive,it is attention seeking or they are being naughty and cheeky.Try saying a firm No,put them on the floor away from you Whilst gently pushing them away with th3 flat of your hand.Though you never can tell,if a rat has a very naughty streak they get a perverse pleasure out of being told off! Good Luck!

Thank you for your reply! I'm glad to hear that it isn't necessarily aggression. I wouldn't be surprised if it's attention seeking; his brother is a bit more amiable towards people and is shaping up to be a sweet little shoulder rat for my daughter, so Dumpling might be jealous of the attention he gets. Ironically, his sassiness might be preventing that same closeness, so I'll try your suggestion to give him the hint that I don't appreciate the clothes-biting and work on giving him the good attention he wants. Unless, like you said, he enjoys being told off lol.

 

[Kyrie]

Sorry, I don’t have any advice for you, but one of my rats will also on occasion try to chew on my clothes. It’s never aggressive though, it seems like she just wants to chew on something. 🤷‍♀️

 

[ItsRatPizza]

Sorry, I don’t have any advice for you, but one of my rats will also on occasion try to chew on my clothes. It’s never aggressive though, it seems like she just wants to chew on something. 🤷‍♀️

No, that's actually quite helpful! I was mainly wondering if this was something rats do to be cheeky or when exploring, so it's good to hear that yours do it sometimes, too. Thank you!