Tension in the group?

[Riana]

When I had the boys out last evening, something strange happened. Loki, who I would say is 'second in command' began picking on Rose, who's the alpha. He was fairly relentless with this, he would follow Rose around wherever he went. There was a lot of standing on hind legs, power grooming, mounting, and body-blocking, and rose puffed up like a porcupine. In general, the boys do a lot of playing rough, knocking each other down and power-grooming, holding the other down, and the occasional mounting, but I've never sensed any anger in any of this.

I'm a little bit worried. Is there something going on within the group that could turn out to be dangerous? Loki's 6 months old now, so could it be that he's trying to work his way to being the alpha?

The only two things I can think of that may influence this is I just started Loki on baytril yesterday afternoon, after he was lethargic and hiccuping. I just called the vet to get some more, I'm going to put the other two, Guild and Freyr, on as well since they're sneezing. Loki seems to be feeling a lot better already. The other thing is they haven't been getting out for as long a period as they have in the past... each time I try to keep them out for a longer period of time, I'm called away for something or another from my parents.

Any suggestions would be great. I'm a little confused about this.

 

[jorats]

This will always happen once in a while, rats will scuffle but they usually settle down again. Loki must be feeling really good to be going up against Rose.
6 months is the right age for a young lad to want to try to become alpha.

 

[SQ]

The younger boys are now teens so more hormonal, challenging the social hierarchy etc. As long as no blood is shed, it is normal. If it gets too aggressive, a neuter should help.

Also, when rats do not have a large enough cage, fights may break out due to the over crowding. Since your cage space is too small and they are not getting out a lot, that may be part of the problem.