This is a bit long, sorry!
A few years ago I got my first pair of rats from a breeder. They never bonded properly and ignored eachother nearly all of the time, although they never fought. They always slept separately, didn't groom eachother, etc.
One of them died young, so I got two more to keep the remaining boy company. The remaining boy died shortly after, and the two I had left fought very badly in their old age, where there was bloodshed and screaming. (one had a suspected brain tumor, due to an odd gait, bulging eye, and sudden behavioural change... although at no point did I suspect he was in pain, as he was still active and inquisitive, wasn't squinty, didn't brux, etc)
I didn't castrate them as they were so old and everyone I spoke to (multiple vets and a couple of respected rat breeders) agreed that the symptoms pointed to a brain tumor and so castration wouldn't help, but I separated them for about a month and reintroduced them from scratch. (I know this was not the best idea, but at the time, I didn't know what else to do) After this, they never had any more issues and bonded very closely.
Then I got two more boys from a rescue, and they both fought. It happened when they were about 1 year 6 months old, when I was on holiday, and the pet sitter didn't notice the massive amounts of blood in the cage. (needless to say, I was not happy!) The boys were wounded (although they healed very well) and I separated them. I asked for advice from vets and the rescue, and they all said that they would be uncomfortable with getting them castrated. (they were also very, very small, and both had visible tumors at this point) They passed away a few months later.
I now have a group of 5 boys which are 6 months old, and multiple ones are fighting. There has been no bloodshed yet, although there are tiny cuts on their ears. They scent mark, wag their tails at eachother, chase eachother, etc. I'm thinking of getting at least two castrated, possibly 4. (there is only one which doesn't seem to be hormonal at all, and two which are not too bad at the moment but are getting worse) They have standard coats, but you can visibly see a decent amount of buck grease on them. They still sleep together, groom each other, etc.
They are all cleaned out regularly, kept in a liberta explorer, given 24/7 access to fresh food and water (as well as various tidbits) and their cage is full of things for them to do, on top of free range time (usually an hour or two a day). I also teach them tricks to try and keep them stimulated, give them puzzles and other ways for them to work for their food, etc. (they also have food readily available so they don't have to work if they don't want to, although they seem to prefer the puzzles anyway) There are no female rats kept in the house, and none of them have ever been mated.
I'm happy to castrate my boys if it comes to that, but I don't want to put them through an operation if it's my fault that they're fighting, and there's something else I should be doing. Is there some magical testosterone suppressor people put in their diets? Guided trust exercises? Have I just been unlucky?
As I say, I am 100% happy to castrate them if it is what is best for them. But I know that if I castrated them and one of them died because of this, and I later found out that there was something else I could have tried, I wouldn't forgive myself for it. If anyone has any advice or input, I would really appreciate it.
Thank you.
A few years ago I got my first pair of rats from a breeder. They never bonded properly and ignored eachother nearly all of the time, although they never fought. They always slept separately, didn't groom eachother, etc.
One of them died young, so I got two more to keep the remaining boy company. The remaining boy died shortly after, and the two I had left fought very badly in their old age, where there was bloodshed and screaming. (one had a suspected brain tumor, due to an odd gait, bulging eye, and sudden behavioural change... although at no point did I suspect he was in pain, as he was still active and inquisitive, wasn't squinty, didn't brux, etc)
I didn't castrate them as they were so old and everyone I spoke to (multiple vets and a couple of respected rat breeders) agreed that the symptoms pointed to a brain tumor and so castration wouldn't help, but I separated them for about a month and reintroduced them from scratch. (I know this was not the best idea, but at the time, I didn't know what else to do) After this, they never had any more issues and bonded very closely.
Then I got two more boys from a rescue, and they both fought. It happened when they were about 1 year 6 months old, when I was on holiday, and the pet sitter didn't notice the massive amounts of blood in the cage. (needless to say, I was not happy!) The boys were wounded (although they healed very well) and I separated them. I asked for advice from vets and the rescue, and they all said that they would be uncomfortable with getting them castrated. (they were also very, very small, and both had visible tumors at this point) They passed away a few months later.
I now have a group of 5 boys which are 6 months old, and multiple ones are fighting. There has been no bloodshed yet, although there are tiny cuts on their ears. They scent mark, wag their tails at eachother, chase eachother, etc. I'm thinking of getting at least two castrated, possibly 4. (there is only one which doesn't seem to be hormonal at all, and two which are not too bad at the moment but are getting worse) They have standard coats, but you can visibly see a decent amount of buck grease on them. They still sleep together, groom each other, etc.
They are all cleaned out regularly, kept in a liberta explorer, given 24/7 access to fresh food and water (as well as various tidbits) and their cage is full of things for them to do, on top of free range time (usually an hour or two a day). I also teach them tricks to try and keep them stimulated, give them puzzles and other ways for them to work for their food, etc. (they also have food readily available so they don't have to work if they don't want to, although they seem to prefer the puzzles anyway) There are no female rats kept in the house, and none of them have ever been mated.
I'm happy to castrate my boys if it comes to that, but I don't want to put them through an operation if it's my fault that they're fighting, and there's something else I should be doing. Is there some magical testosterone suppressor people put in their diets? Guided trust exercises? Have I just been unlucky?
As I say, I am 100% happy to castrate them if it is what is best for them. But I know that if I castrated them and one of them died because of this, and I later found out that there was something else I could have tried, I wouldn't forgive myself for it. If anyone has any advice or input, I would really appreciate it.
Thank you.