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Hey all, here for a little advice this time. I have recently acquired a trio of Hairless Rats (although I have my suspicions one is in fact a double rex), two Fancies and a Dumbo All three are males, there is no denying that. (Make me slightly jealous tbh ). All was fine for the first couple of weeks, the three of them had the occasional play fight but I kept a close eye on things and all seemed fine. The odd minor scratch but with Hairless I expected them to scratch themselves a bit easier than fully haired rats.
However this past week I noticed these little scuffles becoming more frequent and more intense. On a number of occasions I've had to step in and seperate them. I have sat and watched them but I can't find one that seems to "start it" as it were, although the two Fancies (Basil and Jasper) seem to start things either with each other or with the Dumbo (Baldrick). I have yet to see Baldrick start this behavior. Baldrick more often than not seems to be the victim in this. (Not that Basil and Jasper pick on him per say, but they give each other as good as they get where as Baldrick doesn't seem to put up much of a defense.) It is Baldrick I am most concerned about as he seems to be getting the raw end here. Even now I've just come up stairs from painting to get them out to play I've found that Baldrick now has a rather large cut by his front leg which I've just given a quick bath with some warm salt water.
I got these boys from my work place as I fell in love when they came into us. We originally had four but one was sold to go with a haired friend which left these three. Now I may have been thinking with my heart more than my head when I got all three of them, however now I feel I must make the best of what I can. They are my responsibility and I'm not going to ignore that. As far as I am aware they have been together from a very young age, at the most 6 weeks. They're now coming up for about 12 1/2 weeks.
Housing wise they're in a large four story cage. Floor size is 68cmx42cm with a hight of 105cm. They have plenty of places to hind and quite a few toys as well. Add to this they all come out for at least an hour a day.
Any thoughts on this matter would be appreciated. Although I've worked with rats in a store environment for some time these boys are my first rats I've kept myself.
Thank you for any help.
James
(Basil, Jasper and Baldrick will thank you to.)
However this past week I noticed these little scuffles becoming more frequent and more intense. On a number of occasions I've had to step in and seperate them. I have sat and watched them but I can't find one that seems to "start it" as it were, although the two Fancies (Basil and Jasper) seem to start things either with each other or with the Dumbo (Baldrick). I have yet to see Baldrick start this behavior. Baldrick more often than not seems to be the victim in this. (Not that Basil and Jasper pick on him per say, but they give each other as good as they get where as Baldrick doesn't seem to put up much of a defense.) It is Baldrick I am most concerned about as he seems to be getting the raw end here. Even now I've just come up stairs from painting to get them out to play I've found that Baldrick now has a rather large cut by his front leg which I've just given a quick bath with some warm salt water.
I got these boys from my work place as I fell in love when they came into us. We originally had four but one was sold to go with a haired friend which left these three. Now I may have been thinking with my heart more than my head when I got all three of them, however now I feel I must make the best of what I can. They are my responsibility and I'm not going to ignore that. As far as I am aware they have been together from a very young age, at the most 6 weeks. They're now coming up for about 12 1/2 weeks.
Housing wise they're in a large four story cage. Floor size is 68cmx42cm with a hight of 105cm. They have plenty of places to hind and quite a few toys as well. Add to this they all come out for at least an hour a day.
Any thoughts on this matter would be appreciated. Although I've worked with rats in a store environment for some time these boys are my first rats I've kept myself.
Thank you for any help.
James
(Basil, Jasper and Baldrick will thank you to.)