I know neuters help hormonal behavior but I'm not sure my boy's behavior is hormonal. Which is why I thought I'd get more opinions.
I have eight boys, currently none are neutered. I have five that are about 8 months old, one that is 5 or 6 months old and two that I'm guessing are 10 months old but I am not sure at all of their age. Unfortunately the boy I'm talking about, Ray, is one of the boys whose age I am unsure of.
Ray came to me from the shelter with his brother and very sick. For the last month or so he has been completely healthy and his true personality has begun to shine through. Around people he is fine, however he has been turning into a bit of a monster with my other boys. He has always been a hoarder but now it is obsessive, he has to hoard and will lash out at the other rats to try and take their food or if they take something from his stash. He rarely eats anything I give him and would really rather just stash it.
He also, seemingly randomly, will go after another rat to the point of puffed hair and often chasing through the cage. Usually he only does this with my alpha boy and his brother. It will get loud but there has not been any bloodshed. (One of my sweet/clam boys turned up with a bite then abscess on his throat but I can't say for certain how it happened as I didn't see it. I also don't bother to count/include the small shallow scrapes on my hairless boy.)
While I've been waiting to hear my schedule I've been separating him at night, and feeding everyone once he's separate. Then opening the cage back up during the day (after making sure all food is gone) and letting him be with the others. This has been working well, there are no big scuffles during the day as everyone is just sleeping.
However I don't like having him alone so much of the time if a neuter would correct his problems and make him a happier rat. If the neuter is likely to help I will be getting it done, but I don't want to put that through him esp. with his unknown age if it isn't likely to help. What do you guys think?
I have eight boys, currently none are neutered. I have five that are about 8 months old, one that is 5 or 6 months old and two that I'm guessing are 10 months old but I am not sure at all of their age. Unfortunately the boy I'm talking about, Ray, is one of the boys whose age I am unsure of.
Ray came to me from the shelter with his brother and very sick. For the last month or so he has been completely healthy and his true personality has begun to shine through. Around people he is fine, however he has been turning into a bit of a monster with my other boys. He has always been a hoarder but now it is obsessive, he has to hoard and will lash out at the other rats to try and take their food or if they take something from his stash. He rarely eats anything I give him and would really rather just stash it.
He also, seemingly randomly, will go after another rat to the point of puffed hair and often chasing through the cage. Usually he only does this with my alpha boy and his brother. It will get loud but there has not been any bloodshed. (One of my sweet/clam boys turned up with a bite then abscess on his throat but I can't say for certain how it happened as I didn't see it. I also don't bother to count/include the small shallow scrapes on my hairless boy.)
While I've been waiting to hear my schedule I've been separating him at night, and feeding everyone once he's separate. Then opening the cage back up during the day (after making sure all food is gone) and letting him be with the others. This has been working well, there are no big scuffles during the day as everyone is just sleeping.
However I don't like having him alone so much of the time if a neuter would correct his problems and make him a happier rat. If the neuter is likely to help I will be getting it done, but I don't want to put that through him esp. with his unknown age if it isn't likely to help. What do you guys think?
