Vicious rat, or just confused? - SNIP TIME FOR CASS!

Shop with us on Ebay
Fins us on Amazon
Advertise with us
The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Great news! Castielle used to be the alpha, hopefully now that Mimo has settled down they will go back to their natural hierarchy and both be happier.
 
:)

I think there has been a lot of progress. They are in the same cage, although Mimo is scared and shy and meek now, and Castielle seems a little bit obsessed with his new power and occasionally gets SUPER puffy and hops/sidles fiercely next to Mimo. Mimo spends his days hiding and will allow soft pets of his little face.

We did schedule a castration for Castielle for next Friday, as they do still have about 2 all-out no-holds-barred ratball fights per day, after which Castielle is removed to the time out cage, since he loves to pick fights. They tend to fight more when there are a lot of hidey holes in the cage, so we removed the huts and left hammocks, tubes, burrowing blankets, hanging foam snuggle nests, etc. We also give Castielle treats when he approaches Mimo and decides not to engage in any alpha behaviors (sidling, puffing, rump nipping, chasing, etc.) and are slowly seeing Castielle become more friendly towards Mimo.

Mimo doesn't have any bite injuries that we can see, but they have both scratched each other on their faces during intense boxing matches. :(

Toward me, Castielle has been a giant lump of sweet fuzz since Mimo got home. No biting, no cage aggression and some of the very first snuggling that I have seen. I am feeling especially fond of him right now because he cuddled under my hand while sleepy and seemed to very much enjoy having his face stroked, neck scratched, ears rubbed, etc.

Now, I'd really love to see Mimo come out of his shell. He is such a beautiful little boy and I feel like he would be very shy and sweet if he decided to like us and feel comfortable exploring the cage rather than hiding and burrowing in blankets. We are both still slightly nervous around both of them - esp. Mimo, who still likes to "mouth" (nibble with mouth open as he sniffs), which I'm scared will turn into a chomp.

What is the best way to woo little Mimo and help him to become a little fuzzy lover instead of a scared, shrieking boy?
 
We are thinking about NOT going through with Castielle's, ahem, castration - he's mellowing out more and more each day, despite some power grooming episodes. Is there any good reason to go forward with it anyway? I'd rather cancel it sooner in case another animal needs that surgery slot ASAP. Can we keep one boy au naturel and snip the other? Will they get along?
 
odoriusagi said:
Toward me, Castielle has been a giant lump of sweet fuzz since Mimo got home. No biting, no cage aggression and some of the very first snuggling that I have seen.
Click to expand...

I guess I was right about him being afraid from being alone all of the sudden!

If he is mellow and occasionally have some power fight, I won't deem it a problem as long as no blood is drawn and he's not being mean to you like Mimo was :)

I can tell things are looking up! :thumb up:

Though tbh, if you can afford the neuter I'd say, go for it!
 
The one absolute positive about going ahead with Castielle's neuter is that if you wanted to add a girl in the future, it would be easy. Otherwise you could wait for a while and see how things shake out...
 
I have seven boys in one colony 4 are neutered and 3 are not. However, 1 more definitely needs it as he has a bad attitude!!! I would definitely consider getting another to add to your colony though if your boy gets so unruly when he loses his friend.
 
If he's mellowing out, you could cancel. But if you can afford it, neutering has it's benefit like adopting a female later on, it can sometimes stop the scenting, urine marking, they smell better, less musky, they produce a lot less sebum so it's easier to groom, they don't usually have penis plugs either. My vet would even say that a neutered rat has less chance of developing a pituitary tumour.
 
jorats said:
If he's mellowing out, you could cancel. But if you can afford it, neutering has it's benefit like adopting a female later on, it can sometimes stop the scenting, urine marking, they smell better, less musky, they produce a lot less sebum so it's easier to groom, they don't usually have penis plugs either. My vet would even say that a neutered rat has less chance of developing a pituitary tumour.
Click to expand...


Hmm, no penis plugs PLUS, less chance of PT HUGE PLUS !!!!! If that can be confirmed I'd snip snip all my boys ASAP!
 
Cass goes in for his neuter tomorrow - please send the little stinker some good, healing vibes! :) The power of alphahood has really gone to his head and poor, sweet, NON BITEY Mimo has scabs all over his little rump.

There have been plenty of down and out ratball fights in the last few weeks, after which Castielle gets placed in time out for being a huge jerk. After we take Cass out, little Mimo licks our hands in thanks!

:thud:
 
Aw, Mimo is getting pay back!! Good luck and well wishes on the gonad removal to Castielle! :heart: :cuddle: Healing vibes from all of us!
 
Little fuzz is at home and the boys reintroduced, but Cass seems to be in a lot more pain than Mimo did after his neuter. Cass is always slightly puffed, shivery, only wants to snuggle and has squinty, sleepy eyes.

No appetite loss (he's a little pig!) and he eats his metacam like a champ. Is there anything else I can do to make him more comfortable?
 
I hope he starts to feel better soon. I gave my boys Metacam for two days and that seemed to get them over the hump and feeling better. Glad to hear his appetite is good- to me that is a sure sign of how he's doing. :)
 

Latest posts

Back
Top