Renthead Mommy Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 We have three rats. They are brothers from the same litter, almost 1 1/2 years old. We have had them since October. They have a huge (Critter Nation) cage that is easily 4 times bigger than what they were living in so they have plenty of space. Suddenly they have started fighting. Not even when food is involved. One day there was food involved and that ended in squeaking, a scratched ear and one of them flipped onto their belly. Last night no food, just a fight. Up on hind legs, almost dancing. Again one ended up on there belly. These have been the only ones we have seen but that doesn't mean there have not been more. Do rats have a pecking order? Would they be trying to re-establish that? The first fight I saw was Howard (who is the most timid) and Sheldon, (the most outgoing and pushy when it comes to the food dish). Sheldon ended up on the bottom with belly exposed but Howard had the scratched ear. The second fight was Leonard and Howard and this time Howard ended up on the bottom. Is this normal? Is something going on? Should we be doing something different? I'm not going to come downstairs and find one of them dead or worse cannablizing the loser or anything am I? I know the first rule of Fight Club is don't talk about Fight Club, but it's currently happening in my living room, so I'm talking about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 It doesn't matter if they are siblings, separate them asap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 And now, like usual, they are all cuddled up in their little igloo together. Okay, actually two are trying to sleep, the third is also in the igloo entryway, but trying to drag a full sized tissue box into the igloo (not going to happen!). Those are the only two fights we have seen. Do they play that way? I wouldn't even know what one to seperate out as the loser of one was the winner of a different rumble. Is one of them trying to become the alpha rat? And one more reason why I hate our house owner and why I'd rather have a cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 We've alsways had females, but I thought males that were raised together occasioanlly fought once they matured. One and a half years seems a bit past that, though. HA! My son suggested they were going through "ratuberty". I was really hoping at 1 1/2 they were going through "mid-life" crisis. As in we are 1/2 way there to them not being here! LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth in MN Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060614173723AAa6vxO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2legomaniacs Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 They do have pecking orders so to speak. One is usually the most dominant of a group. We have 3 brothers as well. They are 4.5 months old now. Colby seems to be the main dominant, Gus next, and Jack bottom of the group. They do forced grooming to keep their position. We have also had pairs together in cages who were not sibling, but intact male cagemates. Roddy and Remy would do that kind of "fighting". Remy would try to make a move to test dominance and Roddy would put him back in his place. This is pretty normal rat behavior from my limited experience. We called the ones where they are up on hind legs, sissy fights. They were not serious fights but tests of pecking order or one telling the other to back off. If there is no blood being drawn, then it's not really serious. If there is blood, then definitely separate them. True fighting is scary. We tried to introduce a rat who lost his cagemate to another pair and that was a real fight. It looks like crazy, scrambling with the 2 locked together rolling around. Here is a link to a good page describing normal behavior with pictures involved. I would keep an eye on them. Give them extra attention outside the cage to have some time apart from each other for a bit too. But that sounds quite normal from what ours have done and what I have read. This link calls those behaviors as Dominance Behaviors and not actual fighting. http://www.rattyrat.com/guidebook/language.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2legomaniacs Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Also, Roddy and Remy kept this behavior up until Remy died. They just keep on doing it. What was funny and would irritate the heck out of Roddy was when we would let them out for roaming time upstairs. Remy would trot behind Roddy nose to tail like a little rat train. Roddy would get so irritated -- kind of like, DUDE, back off! no tailgating okay! A little space!!! They would tussle like you mentioned above and keep going with the whole cycle. It was hilarious! But it's also a form of play too. They are such fun and sweet pets, aren't they? We have 4 currently and adore them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoot Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Melissa is 100% right. This is normal behavior for rats. They do little dominance squabbles and forced grooming all the time and it isn't serious. If you see blood, however, separate them immediately. I tried introducing a new girl after my last rat died. She was sitting right in front of me when my older girl ran up and just attacked her out of nowhere. It's scary to see when they truly fight. Blood flying, teeth marks, lacerations, squealing. It's awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 The pair of rats I had when dd was born was a pair of brothers, and they would do that occasionally. I agree with the pps, that if two rats are really trying to hurt each other, you'll know it. Two of my cats play the same way. *shrug* Come to think of it, my brother and I did, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Kate Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 HA! My son suggested they were going through "ratuberty". I was really hoping at 1 1/2 they were going through "mid-life" crisis. As in we are 1/2 way there to them not being here! LOL! As someone who will be getting rats for the first time ever in a few weeks, can you explain why you are so excited to no longer have rats? You have me a bit nervous here!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share Posted December 8, 2012 As someone who will be getting rats for the first time ever in a few weeks, can you explain why you are so excited to no longer have rats? You have me a bit nervous here!!!! They aren't easy pets. Cats come up and sit with you when they want attention or you pick them up when you want them. You keep doing what you are doing and petting them and such. To spend time with them, I have to get them out of the cage and then hold them. For my son to play with them, I have to be there. A cat would just come up, he'd play with it an dthen wander off when the cat is done. I have to be there, to make sure they don't run off. I have to make sure they don't escape and don't chew computer wires. We don't have a "rat room" and there is no way to close off our open floor plan living room. And a cat wouldn't have a cat box in the middle of your living room like these guys. It's more of a 'putting out' than we are 'getting back'. We got them a huge cage, because I just can't carry around 3 rats every day so they have plenty of room plus it locks securely so I don't have to worry about them getting out. My son opens the door and plays with them in their cage. But I feel bad/guilty for both the rats and my son because I know how much more attention our cats used to get than these guys do and how much more he would get from a cat. (We are gone way too much/too many hours per day to get a dog.) We were sort of stuck with this. We promised my son a pet for the last two tours. One overseas and one in NY (where we were just gone way too often to have pets.) My husband is one of 6 people that do his job in the AF. When the Ohio person got sent to TX, and us here, we rented her house. Partially because it fit our needs, partially to help them out, partially because it was easy. They left the house absoutely filthy along with a number of other issues. Her husband waited until 5 days before we moved in to tell us he decided he didn't want pets. I was ready to bail on the house but she kept saying don't worry, I'll talk to him and it will be fine. It wasn't fine. But my son still really needed/wanted a pet. Fish and hermit crabs were not doing it. So we were stuck with this. Bigger/better than a hamster, but not really what he/we needs. There have been a lot of issues, and basically, I see them all when I look at the rats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2legomaniacs Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 While rats may require a bit more maintenance sometimes, we've found them to be lovely pets. We also have 2 cats. The rats are more loving and attentive than the cats are. They love scritches and food. Love love love their food. Homeschooling is nice for the rats since they are usually in the room with one of us while doing lessons. They like crawling around on the desks or snuggling under a shirt. Having several in a cage together is nice so they are not alone. We have 3 brothers in one cage and an older single male in another cage. We were never able to put him in with another group once his mate passed. So we take him out a lot. He is very sweet and loves a snuggle. I'm sorry you are not enjoying yours. It sounds like a lot of other things are negatively associated with them. That's too bad. :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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