Oscar has his stiches outt :) (picturee)

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I have 5 boys. They are all brothers and 7 months of age. The smallest boy ALWAYS picks and starts fights, we have already had to incidents where he starts fighting with the other boys and has gotton bitten (both times were emergency vet vists), the bites have not been bad tho, nothing a shot won't fix. But last night at 10:00 pm I had all the boys out on the couch ...heard a big squeek (of course it was the boy that fights with everyone and my biggest boy oscar), I was checking them over only to find ar had a BIG deep cut above his shoulder (no blood, just a clean cut). I called the emergency vet lined right away and had him brought down within miniutes. They had to put a gas mask on him, and gie him stitches ...12 :(. He is home now, in his own cage right next to the boys so he can smell them. The vet oncall last night is not my normal vet. I hate to leave my boy in a cage alone, but the other boys will pick at his stitches, so I have him in a cage righ next to the boys and I will take them out together for a few hours a day keeping a good eye on him. In the meantime the day befor ethis happend we made an appoitnment to get our Hunter (the one who starts fights) cllipped. Just 8 more days, lets hope he won't fight after this :(


Stitches
GetAttachment.jpg



Resting, haha

Oscar-1.jpg


Happy to be back home with the boys
IMG_3388.jpg
 
If he's contstantly starting fights, you may want to get him neutered, hormones could be causing an aggression issue with him. Even though he's the smallest of the bunch, it won't stop him from trying to dominate over the others.

Gizmo's constantly trying to flip Chester over and Chester's twice his size and triple the weight (506 grams vs a 1.6lb monster)! Thank god Chester's a big wuss and will flip over to amuse Gizmo.
 
That sucks. I think mike_art03a is right...If he's starting fights all the time and there have been injuries, it's probably hormones and you may need to get him neutered. That's the thing with males: It doesn't matter how big they are, males usually think that they're tough bad boys.
 
I'll also list some of the classic signs before a fight happens, from what I've encounterd with my foursome:

- Sidling: Your little guy will try to shove the other sideways.
- Puffing Up: This is the easiest one to see, he'll look like a giant ball of fur.
- Kicking/Nipping the shoulders: Believe it or not, rats will kick each other. Usually the aggressor will try and flip the target over, mount him and try to kick him in the side or try and nip at the shoulders and sometimes the rump.
- Power Grooming/Barbering: Sometimes the agressor will force a grooming session upon the intended victim when they don't want it. Usually they start pulling at fur forcefully or even cutting it clean ooff with their teeth, most males don't take to that very well and will lash out.

There are other signs, but sometimes fights just break out at random with no indicators.
 
he is getting fixed (neutered) in 8 days (I noted that in the topic post). thanks for the help all the same.
 
What a little bugger. A good snip should do him good but this will change the cage dynamics so keep an eye on who's the next one to become a bully. 7 months is a classic age for this to start. Hopefully it will pass and a good gentle alpha will reign over the colony. I have a cage with 11 males all 10 months old. I have to have at least 6 neutered. We finally have peace.
 
I think if I were moved out I would have alot more ..parents are not a fan of ratties ..lucky I got 9!
 
Ratty Momma, I think people may have suggested you get the little guy neutered because in your original post, you wrote that the "bad ratty" is getting neutered in 8 days. You didn't specify if the "bad rat" was the one who caused the fight (the little dude) or the big guy who did the injuring. I think the others may have thought you mean the big guy is getting neutered rather than the little guy who is actually the problem child.

Not trying to be critical, I just wanted to try to clear up what may have happened :D Sorry to hear your dude was injured, I'm sure that was scary! I'm glad he got good care and he'll hopefully heal up soon. After the neuter(s), hopefully everyone will get along just fine.
 
^ I understand! :)
My poor big boy is doing good, getting the stitches out Friday after Hunter get's neutered! I hope all is well after that ..if not there all gonna get neutered ! lil **** heads :)
 
Gashes like that often don't need stitches...most of those are just through to the muscle layer and separate because the skin tension pulls them apart. Unless it went into the muscle, if it happens again, just clean it up and then wait next time.
 
Yeah, gashes happen. I'm no stranger to them, some warm water and a clean rag cleans 'em right up.
 
I had to get him stitched, his shoulder muscle would come right out when he would turn :( poor boy, only a few more days till he gets his brothers back.
 
Oscar is not the one who starts fights, Hunter is and has been neutered. Oscar was the victim haha
 

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