2007-09-21 02:49:57 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Rodents
i have no females, and the two males are the only rats i want to get...i want a pair because it's better for the rats
2007-09-21 02:56:40 · update #1
As the owner of 7 male rats all kept together in one cage, I can honestly say that all of my rats get along just fine BECAUSE I did proper introductions. All though I do have squables every now and again, mostly over special foods, the only time I ever had any major fights was when I introduced a very aggressive male that fought with everyone and in turn made everyone fight with each other. None of my rats are siblings, all bought at different times and all get along great. Since you are talking about brothers then the chance of them seriously fighting is slim, there will be some pecking order issues that come up and rats do like to wrestle with each other, but all of that is considered normal and will happen with males OR female rats. So to answer your question, no getting two males from the same litter will probably not cause fights! So good luck on your ratty adventure and come check out the ratlist (yahoo groups - ratlist) for more information and a community of rat owners that can usually answer any questions you have.
2007-09-21 03:20:49 · answer #1 · answered by Tanz 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I have owned 35 rats in my lifetime so far...and plan to get more when the ones I have pass on. I've never had a problem with ones that are born together fighting for dominance unless there was a female around. Sometimes they get to playing and biting and rolling around...it can look like they are doing some serious damage but they are not. Their skins are really tough and can take alot from each other. I would just keep an eye on them and make sure one is not constantly drawing blood from the other one.
2007-09-21 04:13:57 · answer #2 · answered by Gen 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Brothers born of the same litter are friends for life. However, if you choose to add other males to their peaceable kingdom, it will either not work, or you will need some careful introduction procedures. I have succeeded in adding males to males by carefully following the instructions of the experts.
It's very possible that there will be a dominance squabble now and then, it's normal and not serious. They will quickly learn who is dominate and who is submissive and that will be the end of the squabbles.
When I breed my rats I keep all of the babies for life. The boys go in with an adult male mentor, usually their father if he will accept them, and the girls stay with mom. It has worked every time for me.
My boys and my girls all live in the same room, in separate same-sex cages of course, and I have never seen the boys fighting because of girls being around them.
spazrats
"my life has gone to the rats
2007-09-21 07:23:29 · answer #3 · answered by spazrats 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Rats are pack animals, and always need to establish who is the dominant one when there are more than one. That being said, I have never had problems with rats who are raised together. They don't even need to be brothers, just cagemates from an early age. Usually even older males can be introduced to each other and live together after a couple of initial squabbles to figure out which one is the alpha! Good luck to you.
2007-09-21 03:18:04 · answer #4 · answered by Kinder/1st grade teacher 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I once had 25 boys living together and some even came from different homes. Since they were born together and raised together you won't have a problem. If you think you will, use the vanilla trick and bath tub. That's how I use to intro. new rats. I have to admit, males were much more easier to intro. then females.
2007-09-22 09:06:05 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Probably not if there are no females rats around for them to fight over.
2007-09-21 02:57:13 · answer #6 · answered by slickshiftin 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Our rescue brothers will be 2 yrs old in Dec. & they have always been great together apart from some occasional *very* minor squabbling.
2007-09-21 07:28:19 · answer #7 · answered by Catkin 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Probably only if there is a female in the cage also.
2007-09-21 02:53:49 · answer #8 · answered by Princessa Macha Venial 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
you will get the more dominant one , they will wrestle a bit but this isnt fighting. As they will be together from the start they'll be fine.
spazrats said it all lol knowit all - joking :)
2007-09-22 05:32:10 · answer #9 · answered by Swan 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes they will be having a cage match!!
2007-09-21 02:58:52 · answer #10 · answered by shorty 6 · 0⤊ 4⤋