Is it common for males to fight?

[1095732]

I have 3 boys, who are brothers so they've been together their short but entire lives. They get along great right now but I'm wondering if there is a good chance they will start fighting when they mature. Right now they are about 10 weeks old.

And one other question. When I have the cage door open the girls will look down to see how far it is. When they do that Hanzel always grabs their fur/skin and pulls back. It looks like she is trying to pull them back in, but I don't know if that's what she is actually doing or not. It makes the others squeak sometimes.

 

[dspch911]

My 5 older boys, they are 17 months and 15 months now, never fought. In fact they are just about perfect, sweet, loving, slug muffins. Now, for my 7 other boys, around 6-7 months - yes, they fight all the time!! Screaming and banging DCN around to the point that one time I was in the shower and thought someone was breaking in. So far I have had 3 of them neutered and the cage is starting to calm down. I started with the trouble makers since not all of them are feisty. So I would have to say it all depends on how they handle their hormones - Good Luck, hope yours are the sweet lovable ones.....but they all are lovable in their own ways.

 

[jorats]

No, it's really not common for rats to become aggressive and fight badly. But it is normal for rats to tussle and squabble from time to time.

Ya, what your girl is doing is normal, she sounds over protective. lol

 

[zebrageekgirl]

My 5 boys fight and and sqweak not often though. 2 are just over a year and the others are about 8 months


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[Ratlover2013]

Sounds like they are just playing.

If I neutered makes fight usually between 9 to 12 months and cause blood it's usually hormonal related and they would need neuters.

 

[Aida]

Aww, your girl is such a sweetheart!
Rats have so many human qualities that hundreds of ignorant people claim don't "exist" in animals. Just look at them for a little while and you'll see how capable of emotion and care they all are.

As for your boys fighting, i'd say don't worry about what isn't there. All rats fight sometimes, but I've never had males, so I can't really give you an idea of how "common" it is.

 

[odoriusagi]

My little stinkers (meant lovingly! I love the way they smell) are intact adults (10-14 months, not sure since they are rescues) and get along in general, but every once in awhile, they will have a big cage-shaking, squeal-inducing scrap that ends up with them both puffed up in opposite corners and possibly one of them bleeding very mildly.

The fiesty, territorial one will be neutered in the coming weeks, and hopefully that will be enough to keep the peace!

 

[Spudrat]

I just got two male rescues, approx 8 months old. Skittles is small and fiesty, extremely inquisitive, and hard to keep still. Kit, who is dominant, is bigger, lazy and a little more inclined to sit still for a petting. They get along rather well in their cage, with an occasional dominance grooming and peeps coming over the evenings but nothing major.

Well now that they are starting to get more comfortable with out time, Skittles has no problems running around and exploring the whole area, hopping and weaving his way through the play pen. Kit really takes his time on the ramp down (it's rather large) and can spend an easy 20-30 minutes sniffing around before he feels comfortable climbing out. Well, I think he might be trying to encourage Kit out of the cage (DCN), but Skittles has this pesky habit of running around and back up to Kit to try and rush him out. Everytime this happens, Kit backs into the cage and will have none of it lol! I think Skittles is starting to feel like the play pen is his zone because while Kit takes his time figuring things out and cautiously exploring, Skittles will run in and out of range poking, prodding, and trying to *cough* emmasculate Kit. He'll get knocked back a couple of times, but Skittles just keeps coming back for more! The last two nights Kit had enough and squared up and they boxed pretty good. No damage but Skittles got knocked over and realized that the fight wasn't going to end well.

I broke it up, and for the rest of the night Skittles leaves Kit alone. It really looks like Skittles just wants to play, but the mounting makes me think he's trying to establish dominance outside of the cage. I wonder if Skittles will cow Kit into giving up his role (seems unlikely based on size and demeanor).

tl;dr - Kit and Skittles fighting over play time, seems like a clash in personalities, nothing too serious.

 

[jorats]

Are you sure Kit is the alpha?
It is very common to see the alpha actually disallow a rat from coming out of the cage. It sounds to me that Skittles is reigning over Kit but Kit is not too sure he's submitting to it.
At 8 months, both are in their prime and the fact that they are new to this home will make them act out even more. They should settle down soon enough.

 

[Spudrat]

Well according to the foster, who I maintain a good amount of contact with, Kit was the alpha when he lived with her. For the first week or so, before he even started coming out for play time, he would always power groom Skittles.

These are my first rats and I've had them for a very short period of time, so I'm unable to speak from experience. I think Skittles might be trying to gain dominance in the new home, as you suggest, but as much as I love the little guy, I don't think he has the chops to take on Kit lol. Kit still tries to steal Skittles food right out from his hands, but I make sure he knows that there's plenty for everyone, no need to be rude.

I'm wondering if they are picking up on the different way I treat them. Skittles will come to inspect whenever you're near, he'll take treats more openly, won't run as far when eating, and is more comfortable climbing on me. Kit is still pretty passive and while I try make sure they get equal treatment (and treats), he just doesn't come out for the treats or the play time.

Either way, they're both lovely little guys and I just love that I can watch their temperment with me grow and blossom into trust.

Boys... gotta love them!

 

[jorats]

They do sound wonderful and I love it when you have two unique personalities. They will grow with you and in their new home.

 

[hopefloats]

It isnt just with males that will "bicker" which is what I consider just cagemate fights. Fights I see as males that are aggressive but in rat colonies in general it is common for little bickering. I have girls who are more rude than any of my boys. They are bossy, steal food from the boys and will side step a boy 3 times their size. it is funny to watch within reason you are watching them in their life. Fighting over food, making their roles in life and so on. I love seeing it all including the bickering. for the most part the boys I had from birth stay in a family cage. I rarely ever had to remove boy from being mean. I have done it on occasion but they are usually beyond mean. I had 7 brothers and they could only live with each other. I tried numerous times to introduce them to others and in the end it was only the rexzillas in a group no one else was allowed. You will become addicted to the rats. they grow on you in a major way.

 

[Spudrat]

Well, honestly I had never considered getting rats before, but these last few weeks were definitely a major change in attitude for me. I was originally looking into gerbils, but when I saw some fancy rats at the store (window shopping) I knew they were the right direction to go. The anticipation of meeting my adoptees and the excitement of creating a habitat for them was all a flurry of research and youtube videos. I've devoured a lot of threads on this forum and most of the other sources I was directed to (by the Ottawa Pet Rat Rescue).

I'm glad to have some company at home now, and I love that I got polar opposites. I'm going to give it another month or two before I look into more buddies, but I got the double over the single CN so that I had the room for more!