Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay so how come I keep getting bit?
I have to be doing something wrong as the moms are sweet as pie till I start messing with the babies.Ive been bit hard by 3 different moms, once to the bone.
Its always when Im getting a few babies out to put down(Im wondering if they know) or cleaning the cage.
I dont want to put these moms down(Ive put down my other biters).One has huge litters and the other is my het dumbo(she has never bitten till i pulled her babies out to clean the cage).Im not even going to feed off her babies.
BTW these are unrelated moms that have all bit me.
They dont bite once the babies are gone, they go back to being nice rats.But I rarely put whole litters down at one time because I use various sizes of youngsters for different animals.
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It's fairly normal for mother rats with litters to be aggressive in defense of their cage or their litter.

I have one female that is tame as can be but when she has a litter, don't get near her cage she will attack.

Remove the female first, lure her out of the cage with a treat and she should handle just fine. Put her away somewhere in a temp cage or something then go deal with the pups.

Man , just be careful... wouldnt you try to hurt someone who is taking your babies away to be killed? Its instinct ...there is NO need to put them down for being good mothers...

You need to be more careful... its completly natural.. your the one with the problem ... when im removing pups i am very quick.. you cannot hesitate or fumble around .. reach in and grab and getthe hell out

Tom
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Safari Tom
See'em Touch'em Save'em
www.SafariTom.com

Yes I agree, don't mess with the MOMMA! i have tame rats, but won't trust them a bit, i always grab by base of tail,move to another container and then play away with those cuuttee feeders.

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1.4 various boas(Flicka,Felony,Nova,Alias,Abby)
0.1 BRB Abalone; ABBI
1.0 Rott X (OSO)
2.0 cats (Simba, Morris)

fish & feeders

If rats are tame they should NOT be handled by the tail. If they must be handled by the tail then they are not tame.

I was under the impression that biting moms was not normal and they should be put down.So by not putting them down I was being a bad breeder even though they are nice at every other time..

Now I know its normal behaviour and its me that has to be cautious and move mom first.
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I disagree with the biting being normal for a mom. I clean my tubs weekly and the process is to move mom and babies from dirty tub to a clean one. I usually leave mom to move last since the babies are calmer with her in the cage. Both the rat colonies and the mouse colonies are the same, mom's never bite me. Whether I'm pulling babies for feeding or cleaning cages, it dosen't matter, the moms are fine with me. Sometimes the rat moms even come lick my fingers while moving babies.

I have dozens and dozens of breeders.

My racks:

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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
20.28 BRB
14.18 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Well, either you lucked out and got a good strain of less aggressive mothers or your large scale operation and the practice of your "rules" has selectively bred the trait out of them.

I've tried, but my rat population is too small and I don't want to introduce any new blood and hence new sickness to my currently healthy rats. If I got rid of the mothers that are more aggressive then I wouldn't have any female breeders left. I do try to not keep breeders from the worst offenders and don't breed them further if they are really bad.

a little of both. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I was bit by a mom with pups. Did get bit the other day by one of the feeders in the holding rack while moving for cleaning. Made one of my boas happy if ya know what I mean

I think the key to success is to always have a supply of fresh breeders. Like the rules imply, any sign of trouble and I feed off that animal!! I can only do so without impacting production if there is another animal waiting to take it's place. Applies to both mice and rats, males and females.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
20.28 BRB
14.18 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

I agree with Dave, I have 58 bins with rats and 28 bins with mice. Dave's "No biting rule" apply to all my rodents.

I feed my snakes twice a week and never had any biting problems.
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1.1 Albino Sonoran Gopher
2.0 W.C. Sonoran Gopher
1.1 Red Bull Snake
1.1 San Diego Gophers (het albino applegate)
2.2 Leucistic Texas ratsnake
1.1 "White Oak" ratsnake
2.3 W.C Okeetee Corn
1.2 Abbt line Okeetee Corn
1.0 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Creamsicle Corn
1.2 W.C Miami Phase Corn
1.1 Sinaloan Milk
1.0 Albino Honduran Milk
0.1 Anery Honduran Milk
1.1 W.C Mexican Black King
0.2 C.B Mexican Black King
2.0 W.C Cal King
1.1 C.B Cal King
0.1 Durango Mountain King
1.0 Desert King
1.3 Northern pine
1.1 N.J White pine
2.5 Black pine
1.2 Louisiana Pine
0.2 kankakee Bull
2.3 Bearded Dragon
0.0.40 Red Eye Tree frogs
7 Tanks full with African Cichlids.
Many Mice, Rats and feeder Roaches

that most the rats in the area petstores(three within a 45min. drive) all come from the same breeder.So If I kill off my biting moms then I am just going to buy from the same stock again.As it is I had to drive 2hrs to get the male dumbo from Petsmart(they dont sell females at all)..
My one normal mom has given me 17 babies consistently with every litter.How can I feed off such a good breeder.
There is a Rattery in KC but they wont sell to just anyone.I would have to fill out a huge form then hope she will let me buy one of her SO SPECIAL babies...
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My original stock is from Petsmart and Petco (Chandle, Arizona). Rase the nowborn and see if any of them will do better.
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1.1 Albino Sonoran Gopher
2.0 W.C. Sonoran Gopher
1.1 Red Bull Snake
1.1 San Diego Gophers (het albino applegate)
2.2 Leucistic Texas ratsnake
1.1 "White Oak" ratsnake
2.3 W.C Okeetee Corn
1.2 Abbt line Okeetee Corn
1.0 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Creamsicle Corn
1.2 W.C Miami Phase Corn
1.1 Sinaloan Milk
1.0 Albino Honduran Milk
1.1 Anery Honduran Milk
0.1 tri color Honduran Milk
1.1 W.C Mexican Black King
0.2 C.B Mexican Black King
2.0 W.C Cal King
1.1 C.B Cal King
0.1 Durango Mountain King
1.0 Desert King
1.3 Northern pine
1.1 N.J White pine
2.5 Black pine
1.2 Louisiana Pine
1.0 snow Southern Pine
0.2 kankakee Bull
2.2 Bearded Dragon
4 Tanks full with African Cichlids.
Many Mice, Rats and feeder Roaches