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So a few months back I had posted about Opie's injury (which was quite severe) and having to separate him from his brothers (Jax and Chibs) after a vet visit and meds to get him on the mend. He is fine now, and has since gotten new cagemates. I wasn't able to figure out who had injured him at the time since there were three of them and I didn't actually see it happen.
Fast forward to a few days ago, I am sitting on my computer and I hear fighting coming from the rat room. So I rush down there and Jax and Chibs are going at it. I made noise to startle them/break them up. Jax was trying to hide, he had jumped on top of a basket I have zip-tied in there and would not come down. After a while I ventured my hand into the cage and he practically flew into my arms and was clearly upset. He had a bite wound on his hind quarters
. Not as severe as Opie's thank goodness, but still bleeding. Chibs was puffed up and pacing around the cage. He let me inspect him and pet him just fine, and he had no injuries. I was able to clean and treat Jax's wound, which closed up nicely within 24 hours and is now just a small scab - no sign of infection.
I'm assuming this is a hormonal thing, but the thing is they both show signs of excess hormones. Unless I'm reading things incorrectly? There is a lot of squabbling, puffing up, rubbing their sides against things (scent marking?), and excess urine marking. Both of them do this, all the time. Jax is especially prone to getting "puffy" when he's interacting with other rats.
So...here's my dilemma. I have them separated for now with Chibs in my spare cage. They are both clearly unhappy about this arrangement and I feel so bad. I absolutely cannot get any more rats, I'm at the top end of my limit as far as time and expenses go. I will absolutely get them neutered if that's what it takes, but it will have to wait a couple weeks since it's expensive (IMO unreasonably so) to have done around here. It would be easier to have only one rat neutered, obviously, but since they're both acting hormonal how the heck do I know which one to get neutered? Should I try having Chibs neutered and see how reintroductions go first?
Fast forward to a few days ago, I am sitting on my computer and I hear fighting coming from the rat room. So I rush down there and Jax and Chibs are going at it. I made noise to startle them/break them up. Jax was trying to hide, he had jumped on top of a basket I have zip-tied in there and would not come down. After a while I ventured my hand into the cage and he practically flew into my arms and was clearly upset. He had a bite wound on his hind quarters
I'm assuming this is a hormonal thing, but the thing is they both show signs of excess hormones. Unless I'm reading things incorrectly? There is a lot of squabbling, puffing up, rubbing their sides against things (scent marking?), and excess urine marking. Both of them do this, all the time. Jax is especially prone to getting "puffy" when he's interacting with other rats.
So...here's my dilemma. I have them separated for now with Chibs in my spare cage. They are both clearly unhappy about this arrangement and I feel so bad. I absolutely cannot get any more rats, I'm at the top end of my limit as far as time and expenses go. I will absolutely get them neutered if that's what it takes, but it will have to wait a couple weeks since it's expensive (IMO unreasonably so) to have done around here. It would be easier to have only one rat neutered, obviously, but since they're both acting hormonal how the heck do I know which one to get neutered? Should I try having Chibs neutered and see how reintroductions go first?