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Hello! After many years of wanting rats I finally adopted two males. They are 8 week old littermates. Recently their play fighting has gotten pretty serious and I came back home yesterday to find some apparent bloodshed.
The larger one, Widget, had something coming from his nose--can't tell if it was blood or porphyrin--and had gotten it all over himself during grooming. His brother Timothy had a little cut on his ear and what looks like a small wound on his tail. I separated Widget into the hospital cage and I they'll be seeing the vet this Tuesday at latest. I wanted to wait till they were more settle in to get them neutered, but now I'm thinking ASAP is best. I do have a few questions about what to do in the meantime:
-How normal is it for them to be fighting like this this early? I was under the impression that behavior came a little later in their development.
-I feel bad Widget is in such a drastically smaller cage
Is it feasible for the rats to take turns switching, or is that more stress to them than its worth? I wouldn't want one of them to think they have the run of the Critter Nation and for that to cause problems reintroducing them or something like that.
-Would letting them out to play at the same time be helpful when its time to try to put them back together?
-Any other tips to help them warm up to each other?
The larger one, Widget, had something coming from his nose--can't tell if it was blood or porphyrin--and had gotten it all over himself during grooming. His brother Timothy had a little cut on his ear and what looks like a small wound on his tail. I separated Widget into the hospital cage and I they'll be seeing the vet this Tuesday at latest. I wanted to wait till they were more settle in to get them neutered, but now I'm thinking ASAP is best. I do have a few questions about what to do in the meantime:
-How normal is it for them to be fighting like this this early? I was under the impression that behavior came a little later in their development.
-I feel bad Widget is in such a drastically smaller cage
Is it feasible for the rats to take turns switching, or is that more stress to them than its worth? I wouldn't want one of them to think they have the run of the Critter Nation and for that to cause problems reintroducing them or something like that.-Would letting them out to play at the same time be helpful when its time to try to put them back together?
-Any other tips to help them warm up to each other
?
