Question:

Rats getting aggressive?

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I have got 2 dumbo rats that i think are brothers. i got them from pets at home since i really wanted rats again and i couldnt find anywhere else that had any. anyways... ive had them almost a year and my black rat(match) and my white rat (mix) have started fighting alot and screeching really loudly. i dont know how old they are and they havnt hurt eachother yet but they might in the future. also Match is normally a friendly rat that loves being held but 2 weeks ago he bit my dad and drew blood for know reason then today he bit my trousers. do you think it would be better if i seperated them from eachother so that i could spend time getting each of the rats tamed again and then mayby reintroduce them and hope they dont fight or should i leave them together.

if any of you know how old a pets at home rat is usually. i think they were around 2 months or 3 months old when i got them.

thanks.

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  1. They may be stressed. How big is the cage that they are housed in? If they do not have sufficient room, problems may slowly arise. Rats are by nature territorial so they may not have enough space to negotiate that dynamic. The stress can manifest as aggression towards one another but also towards you and your dad. Any form of severe stress can cause this.

    If the cage is large enough and you cannot identify any other stressors, there may be a biological reason. With male rats there is also a potential for aggression based on hormones. Neutering can help to reduce this.

    Here is some info on rat aggression. It provides a scale as tot he degree of aggression and the recommended action to be taken.

    http://goto.glocalnet.net/rat/gen/ratsca...


  2. Fighting is a natural part of maturing for rats. They often do squeal and squeak, but it's up to you to decide whether this is play or not. The first sign would be if there is ever blood. If there is no blood, then you should assume they're not really going at it. They will fight like this to determine who is dominant, to establish a hierachy. You may notice one rat always winning, which means that rat is more dominant. The aggressiveness in your male rats will go away with age. My female rats fight too and they can get quite loud, but they're fine with each other, and no blood is ever drawn.

    If it pains you to watch, you might consider neutering both or just one of your males. If you neuter both, give them another chance, they will begin to act more calm towards each other. However if they're still aggressive and fighting, meaning blood is drawn, then take one of the males and house them with female rats.

    It's important to know the difference between play and fight, and I don't think your rats are really fighting. As they grow up, a lot of playing which may look graphic will occur. If your rats are really violently fighting, don't inrerrupt, you could get injured. Wait till they settle down and remove one. If they're just fighting over territory or food, you need to let them work it out on their own, and they will. they will most likely get into these little squabbles often over their lives, it's very natural, rats are pack animals and are meant to live with each other, so these things do happen, but they're evolved to cope with it.

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