Monkeydoodles
New Member
My wife and I are new to rat ownership, and are having an issue with our two boy rats, Merry and Pippin (6 months old). The background is as follows. We adopted our rats a little over two weeks ago from a shelter specializing in rodents. They are two from a large batch of former lab rats.
The issue arose after several days in their new home. Merry and Pippin would get into altercations involving a lot of squeaking. Being new rat owners we didn't recognize it for what it was. We had read that rats will engage in good-natured 'wrestling' and assumed that this is what they were doing. However, the situation has since escalated. The wrestling has devolved into outright chases, with long whiny squeaking from Pippin. Whenever Pippin leaves his chosen shelter (a sputnik), Merry will find him and they will have a little nose-off. Without fail, Pippin will turn tail and run, with Merry in hot pursuit. Pippin will retreat to his shelter, and if he cannot, Merry will clinch Pippin in a rat-ball. Even when Pippin makes it to his shelter, sometimes Merry will force his way in and fight Pippin.
We are very worried for Pippin at this point. He is missing tufts of fur and he has a little wound at the end of his tail. He cowers in his shelter all day. From taking Pippin out of the cage to play we have come to know him as an active little rascal who loves to explore and cuddle. It's a stark contrast with his behavior in the cage. I cannot let Pippin live out his life this way.
It seems like Cain and Abel would've been a more appropriate pair of names...
Does anyone have any advice?
Thank you for reading
The issue arose after several days in their new home. Merry and Pippin would get into altercations involving a lot of squeaking. Being new rat owners we didn't recognize it for what it was. We had read that rats will engage in good-natured 'wrestling' and assumed that this is what they were doing. However, the situation has since escalated. The wrestling has devolved into outright chases, with long whiny squeaking from Pippin. Whenever Pippin leaves his chosen shelter (a sputnik), Merry will find him and they will have a little nose-off. Without fail, Pippin will turn tail and run, with Merry in hot pursuit. Pippin will retreat to his shelter, and if he cannot, Merry will clinch Pippin in a rat-ball. Even when Pippin makes it to his shelter, sometimes Merry will force his way in and fight Pippin.
We are very worried for Pippin at this point. He is missing tufts of fur and he has a little wound at the end of his tail. He cowers in his shelter all day. From taking Pippin out of the cage to play we have come to know him as an active little rascal who loves to explore and cuddle. It's a stark contrast with his behavior in the cage. I cannot let Pippin live out his life this way.
It seems like Cain and Abel would've been a more appropriate pair of names...
Does anyone have any advice?
Thank you for reading