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I have four male rats in a five foot Martin cage. They are between 8-9 months old. They get along fine when I am in the room or in hearing distance (as they would get yelled at if they bicker). But when I am away, they are fighting.

There is one rat that is getting the worse of it, the latest wound really scared me - a deep cut on the cheek/jaw - if it had a half inch lower on the neck it would have be a disaster. One rat that is completely uninvolved and there are two big alpha-type rats that the smaller beatup one seems to challenge.

What should I do? Pull out the one rat from the pack? Split them two -two (which)? Neuter one (which) or all?

Thanks for any expert advice.

2007-05-02 09:28:49 · 5 answers · asked by ABC Gerbils 3 in Pets Other - Pets

5 answers

You have two dominant males which are constantly trying to reiterate that they are the "leaders" in the cage and this is why your one little guy is getting beaten up.
You really have only two choices - either to get the alpha males castrated (can be done very successfully) or split them into two groups with the two alpha's together and the other two together. However, the only thing you might have to watch is that you don't get any problems with your two alphas becoming aggressive towards each other once there are no "easy pickings" from the other little guy.

2007-05-02 09:55:08 · answer #1 · answered by motzeye 3 · 0 0

I would try castration to decrease the hormones. This could very well help. Your larger ones are fighting for dominance, and the smaller one probably just can't keep up with it.

Neuter first and if that does not work then separate. I like the martins cages because they have the full floor that can easily be covered to separate rats. I had the same problem once and just cover the opening and two lived on top and two on the bottom. I covered with vinyl tile and then covered the sticky side with another piece turned upside down

2007-05-02 19:23:36 · answer #2 · answered by Prodigy556 7 · 0 0

You could neuter them all, certainly - I've no experience with rat castration tho so I can't comment.

It might be better to split the up two - two. Maybe try the two alphas together so they are away from the beaten up one? Although they might then turn on each other! I'd try that first I think. Male rats certainly do fight quite badly - my friend's rat got a skinned tail and a big gash on his flank from his 'friend' before she split them up!

If you can't find a combination of rat couple that works then I would go for neutering - they're too social to live alone really.

Chalice

2007-05-02 16:38:30 · answer #3 · answered by Chalice 7 · 0 0

well the first thing to do is to get the wounded one out of the cage because they will keep beating him up til he can't fight anymore and when that happens they will end up eating him. i know that sounds gross but it is true. i breed them and i go through this all the time and i keep my males separate unless i am breeding them. i have at least 5 males and they do fight, so you should separate them 2-2 in a cage. there is no need to neuter them just put them in separate cages. rats are good pets but when you have more males and you keep them in cages together then you will get fights because they are trying to establish dominace and trying to see who will fight to be the leader. but you can try to handle them all more because the more you handle them they will not fight as much. good luck and i hope all goes well with your little guy that is hurt.

2007-05-02 21:43:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

They are probably fighting because of the high male hormones in there system. If you had them fixed they might stop, however because they already started it might be too late. It's best to have them fixed before they reach maturity. You might be able to fix the less aggressive ones and keep them in the same tank. The more aggressive one will probably ned his own cage.

2007-05-02 16:39:02 · answer #5 · answered by Melissa 3 · 0 0

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