Hey everyone. Giz (my big girl) and my 2 babies (Kix & Ella) have been together after Q for about 2 weeks or so and have been doing GREAT! I did the best Q I could considering I rent the basement of a house and didn't have ANYbody willing to take in my babies for such a long time. Anyway... all of a sudden today I was sitting in the room with them and I heard them just squealing, worse than a play squeak. I ran over there and Gizzy has been grabbing Kix & Ella by the ears and pulling them down the ramps and around the cage BY THE EAR!!! Nobody has ANY cuts and there hasn't been any blood but I'm concerned that someone's going to get hurt and I don't want that. I don't know if it's a dominance issue since Giz is the "big, older" rat. Anyone know what might be going on?! HELP PLEASE!
Behavior issues... HELP
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Sounds like dominance more than anything else. My boys get pretty rough at times, never like that though. Usually if your not seeing any blood or cuts, its nothing to worry about. However, dragging a fellow cage mate around the cage by his/her ears is kind of odd...lol. Maybe someone else will know what exactly they are doing.
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133 Posts
my dominant female rat does the same to the submissive. it's a traumatizing thing to see. i'm still trying to figure out if it's a big thing to be worried about. how old are the babies?
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i dunno what to tell you. i hope it all works out 
. ronny [the mean one] has calmed down alot since i added more things for her to play with in her cage.
. ronny [the mean one] has calmed down alot since i added more things for her to play with in her cage.
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10,640 Posts
its a strange thing to see but some females go thru these phases where they drag their cagemates around by whatever is nearest...fur on the neck, ears, etc. usually up to the hammock. The one being pulled/yanked around makes these plaintive squeaks but never is truly distressed. I think its a carryover from nesting behaviour and baby rats. I wouldn't worry, it'll pass.
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