PLEASE HELP

[petlover]

I introduced 2 new rats to my older rat over a week ago and things went extremely well.. within a short time they were all happily living together without incidient... Until tonight.. !!
Alfie ( alpha) and Oscar my very timid rat were rolling around fighting screeching which Alfie came off the worse with 2 bites to his back.
I'm so upset about it and dont know what to do.
It has just happened so ive moved Oscar into another cage on his own for now till i figure out whats best to do.
Do i seperate them.? Do i keep them together and hope it doesnt happen again. ?
Nothing has changed with their enviroment and i cant see anything which would of started it off because Alfie minds his own business and Oscar is a very nervous rat
Please advise.?
:cry:
Yvonne :cry:

 

[Cityratt]

Oh Yvonne Im sorry to hear that!
I had a similar experience with my foster boys however it was during their re-introduction (they're brothers housed seperately), and it was REALLY UPSETTTING for me :sad-p:

Hopefully some of the wonderful rattie wisdom floating around here will help you and your boys

 

[petlover]

After 20 mins or so of time out i put Oscar back in the cage with the other two.. There is alot of Testosterone in that cage at the moment. :shock:
Alfie ( alpha) has pinned Fidget ( second in line) Fidget has pinned Oscar who is the one who attacked Alfie earlier.
You can cut the atmosphere with a knife so we have tried distracting the boys with food and they seem to be calming down a little but i can still sense tension in the air.
Oscar has barrackaded the door to their little hut which is a thing Alfie used to do when he lived on his own.. not sure if this means anything.
I dont know if im doing the right thing putting them all back in together.
They were behind the sofa at the time the fight broke out so i couldnt say who is responsible for this kicking off but i am guessing that Alfie has shown dominance to oscar and oscar being the timid rat he is was frightened and reacted in self defence.
I guess im just looking for someone to tell me if i should seperate them or keep them together.. how do i proceed.?
:cry:

 

[mamarat2]

Boy intros are not my forte, but personally if they are fighting and drawing blood I would say its time to go back to square one and back to working on intros during playtimes.

Has anything in the cage changed recently?

Also how old are all the rats? Could someone be hitting puberty (3-8 months range) where the testosterone kicks in majorly.

 

[petlover]

Alfie is around 16 month old now, We got him at 8 month old and hes been on his own until now.
Oscar and Fidget are around 6-1/2 month old.
Fidget is more dominant than Oscar but during the intro's Alfie pinned Fidget and Established he was top rat.
No pinning took place between Alfie and Oscar but we assumed because Alfie has assessed Fidget as the stronger one he only needed to assert dominance with him.
As i said, Until now there has been no incidents between them all, they have lived happily for over a week now until tonight.
I'm keeping an eye on them at the moment but unsure if i should keep them all together while i go to bed incase they fight while im sleeping though i think it would be worse to seperate them at this point.
I may be blowing this out of proportion as ive never seen rats fight and its quite distressing when they do but maybe this is all part of the norm.
The two bites that alfie got were not deep bites but its most definitly grazed the skin.

Yvonne

 

[mamarat]

I wouldn't separate them yet, especially if the fight was outside the cage.

 

[mamarat2]

I wouldn't separate them yet, especially if the fight was outside the cage.

Oops. I missed the part where the fight was outside of the cage. True don't separate them yet, if it happened in the cage, different story.

 

[petlover]

kept them together and watched then for 4 hrs (2am here) although there was still a little tussleing. pinning and chasing by all 3 they seem to of calmed down now...I think that it is mostly hormonal by the 2 younger ones but could be that Fidget is wanting to challenge Alfies dominance and this is causing some stress?... How long does this hormonal attitude last?...We are hopeing to introduce 2 new young males in about 6 weeks time so we hope this may sort itself out by then....Zzzzzz cant see to type now Soooo sleepy ...at least the boys are quiet now

Yvonne and Barry

 

[Fidget]

I would think Alfie pinning Fidget and Fidget pinning Oscar is a reaction to the mayhem that Oscar started earlier?
Maybe Oscar's hormones are acting up and he doesn't dare challenge Fidget so he thought he'd have a chance with older Alfie? Most of the time they're testing boundaries like kids do and the trouble stops when the line is reinforced. I sure hope it is so for your boys and once they get Oscar back in place things are fine between all again.
Is Alfie's back ok?

 

[petlover]

The tusseling seems to have stops for the moment but it went into the late hours of the morning. my husband has just gone to bed so ive taken over watching them.. <yawn>
They are all settled in the house at the moment.
Its confusing really because Fidget even pinned Alfie earlier and yet he rolled over for him earlier in the night.
Anyway Fidget your words offer comfort, Lets hope that the tension ends soon.
Alfie got bitten twice on his back, Hes overweight so we are guessing this was why he wasnt as quick as oscar because oscar doesnt have a mark on him.. Alfie has 2 grazes on his back which are not deep and nothing to worry about i would say though i will keep an eye on it so no infection occurs.

Yvonne & Barry

 

[Fidget]

ah, you're on a much-different time-table there.
It sure can be painful when there's trouble, especially when it comes when you think all is overcome.
If 2 kids are having a tussle it does tend to upset everyone. Doesn't mean that it's all gone to hell in a handbasket. Best to let them sort it out as long as nobody is getting truly hurt I think, sure hope it's that simple for you.
And the sooner they do the sooner you & hubby get some sleep and the less chance of their craziness infecting you too - lol!

 

[jorats]

This is all normal behaviour.
Alfie is the boss... and he's got two up and coming young bucks, maturing and putting out their "I'd like to be boss scent". Alfie has to rule with an iron fist right now or he will lose his status.

Bites on the back is not a sign of an attack but rather a "bad" move. What usually causes back bites and slices is the "sneaky wanna be alpha" gets up on the victim to force a pin down and power groom. The victim if an omega should allow it to happen. Wait it out till it's done. But an alpha and even the beta will not tolerate such disrespect and will move swiftly from under the teeth which can cause a slice or bite on the back. Which then turns into a scuffling ball of fur.

If the bites are toward the butt, then those are mean little jab bites. The victim needs to turn around and pin the sneaky jabby biter, eventually they should learn and settle down but this can go on for another couple of months because of the young boys wanting to go up the ladder.

I would not separate. Not if done outside the cage or even inside the cage.They have to work it out. Unless there a bite to the stomach or testicles then it's more serious.

 

[petlover]

Thanks guys.
I've chewed myself up over this since lastnight. Barry & I took shifts watching them after there altercation lastnight and it seems to have calmed down for the moment.
I guess i can cope with this if i know its normal behaviour but i was worried that i may have to seperate them and this is something i didnt really want to do.
Thanks to you all for replying, You have put my mind at ease... For now
:wink:

Yvonne & Barry