fallblossom
Senior Member
Over a year ago I owned a rat who hormonally aggressive. He repeatedly attacked his sweet submissive brother leaving open lacerations behind (he ripped my hand open too) so the boys were separated and my submissive rat got a new baby cagemate whom he loved until the end and vice versa.
My question is if the aggressive rat had sons at that time, would he also have been hormonally aggressive toward them? How do rats in the wild handle hormonal aggression and not kill their sons? A rat's goal for mating is to have his genes carry on and killing his sons would defeat the purpose.
My thinking is a rat in the wild isn't separated from the female when she is pregnant which translates to him knowing the babies are his. On the flip side introducing the aggressive rat who had been separated from his sons would make him inclined to ask, "Who the heck are these baby rats and who is the father", while looking around with his front paw and pointing to all the other males saying, "Is he the father? How about him? How about that ugly scruffy dude over there? OMG maybe it's that beautiful shiny boy in the igloo. Ahhh!"
My question is if the aggressive rat had sons at that time, would he also have been hormonally aggressive toward them? How do rats in the wild handle hormonal aggression and not kill their sons? A rat's goal for mating is to have his genes carry on and killing his sons would defeat the purpose.
My thinking is a rat in the wild isn't separated from the female when she is pregnant which translates to him knowing the babies are his. On the flip side introducing the aggressive rat who had been separated from his sons would make him inclined to ask, "Who the heck are these baby rats and who is the father", while looking around with his front paw and pointing to all the other males saying, "Is he the father? How about him? How about that ugly scruffy dude over there? OMG maybe it's that beautiful shiny boy in the igloo. Ahhh!"