Do Rats Bite?

Well first any animal that can open it's jaw wide enough has the potential to bite. Even our nicely domesticated pets can sometimes end up biting. A recent survey of dog bites in the US showed 4.5 million dog bites per year in 2001, 2002, 2003! And dogs are man's best friend!

The truth is that ofcourse your pet rat has the potential to bite you. But that being said overall rats are very docile and would much rather run away then bite you. The majority of rats will never seriously bite you, they are gentle and sweet and much more likely to give you kisses. I would imagine they share the same odds as any other family pet.

This point of this post is to give an honest experience over concern of rat bites. IMO should you be worried? Not at all, or not anymore then you would be worried over your family cat biting you. I think a dog is much more likely to bite honestly and if a dog bites you it could be very deadly.

I would classify rat bites into two categories. Nips & serious skin breaking bites.

Nips:
A nip often doesn't hurt at all though unexpected can make you jump. It doesn't break the skin or cause any bleeding. Honestly most of the time they are alittle tickle. A nip is saying one of two things. Either it is a warning, hey back off you are bothering me. Or it is just them trying to test, explore or grab something.

While rats have hands for grabbing they often grab or test things with their mouths. If they are unsure about what something is they may give it alittle nip. When raising a litter of babies they would nip at my fingernails all the time when they were little because they were fascinated and probably confused on what they were lol!

They also often think hands = food, because we give them treats from our hands. So an excited ratty may try to grab the treat that isn't there and give us alittle nip.

I want to stress that you shouldn't be worried or afraid of nips. I am a huge baby when it comes to any type of pain and a nip is absolutely nothing to worry about. It is just a light touch with their teeth. It does not hurt, it does not break the skin. It is actually kindof cute.


Bites:
These are serious booboos. They break the skin and may cause bleeding. A rat that bites is more then likely scared or aggressive. Or the animal may be sick.

Some ways to prevent bites are to know where your rat came from. If the rat has gone it's entire life up until it met you; never being held, touched, or played with; then you can expect that it is going to be a bit more frightened as with any animal. Secondly, do not corner a scared rat, or any animal for that matter. If you were backed into a corner with no escape and something scary was coming at you, then I am sure you would do all you can to fight them off. It is the same for them.

I once had an adult male rat that I rescued and only had for a few days before rehoming him. He was from a pet store and they were honest and said he had never been handled. The staff was freaked out because he was a PEW (pink eyed white) so they didn't want to touch him. It wasn't his fault. He did not like being touched. If you even touched him at all he would squeak as if you were going to kill him and try his best to escape. if you tried picking him up it was even worse! He never once bit though.

In my entire time owning rats I have only been bit twice. Both times were 100% my fault. Out of all the rats I have owned and their whole entire lives, it only happened two times. I would say that is pretty damn good. In my lifetime I have been bitten by a dog, a horse (yes seriously a horse bit me), cats - honestly one of my cats loves to bite me when he wants attention sigh. I have also had foster kittens be way too playful and get me pretty good. What I am saying is rats are not vicious animals.

The first time was with my first rat Sookie. She was a pet store rat. She had some territorial issues. She did not like people messing about her cage at all. I could open the door and pet her, give her treats but if I had my hand all inside the cage messing around, she would get cranky. She never bit from that though. Outside of the cage she was gentle and sweet. I even let my four year old niece play with her with zero worries. But one of the things she really hated was sticking things through the bars of her cage. If anything was near her cage she would pull it inside. There was a big rule where you never ever stuck your fingers through the bars of the cage. Which IMO is a good rule overall. Well one day I was being stupid and put my finger near the cage to let her sniff. I didn't think she could get me I guess. her reflexes were far better then mine and she bite down hard on my finger. It actually left a hole through my nail. I didn't bleed, but it hurt!

The second time was with my rat Khaleesi (who is now my heart rat). She came to me pregnant so we did not have alot of time to bond before she was in the throws of raging mommy hormones. After she had her babies she did not like me touching them. She was a great very protective mother and she hadn't known me all that long to trust me yet. Well I usually removed her from the cage before doing anything with it. This time I didn't...(again my fault). I actually went to feed her by using a scoop to dump the food in her dish. I think the huge scoop freaked her out and she attacked me. I got several fast bites down my thumb. I bled like crazy. One big scratch and a few smaller ones but it healed just fine. She has never bitten me since and infact loves to give kisses & licks like crazy.

All that being said, some rats are aggressive though. They may have very poor breeding, were abused or just never handled or may be sick. While an aggressive rat is best in the hands of someone experienced, they are not a lost cause. Check in with your vet to rule out any health issues first. Then slowly working with them over time they have the potential to become sweet and loving pets.


So yes rats can bite. They more then likely will not though. Be careful handling scared, aggressive or sick rats and new mothers.

Supporting good quality breeders who breed for temperament and have handled the rats since they were babies is always a great way to make sure you get a great pet!