[Destrega2002]

Alright... should I rename my white rat Jinxy and my black rat Buddy to Itchy and Scratchy? They seem to enjoy fighting... a lot... nothing serious they've been living together for awhile and they've always done this. I let them out, and they follow each other, fighting... fighting... fighting... little Stewie jumps in sometimes, pins em both and they continue... fighting...

fighting...

(moments later..)

Im laying down on my bed relaxing while little Stewie grooms my eyebrows... they jump up on my stomach, and fight there.... hmm.... there's a pattern here. I think I should make them stop watching wrestling on television. They can't possibly be still establishing a heirarchy.... its umm been a good while... could they still be working on dominance?

Oh yeah, heres a picture of Buddy napping on Stewie... thats how Buddy sleeps half of the time. Hilarious that I caught him using the lil guy as a pillow. Degrading 8O :lol: 8O

 

[OnlyOno]

that's adorable. is it bad luck to rename a rat like it is to rename a boat or a horse? that's why i'm so slow about naming enw animals. haha, my first child will be like 4 before she has a name...

 

[Destrega2002]

I agree about the child naming thing, I would die if my kid had a common name.

 

[fallinstar]

my mom named me nicola cuz if i didnt like it theres so many abrivations and which name did i change it 2 not nicky but nixy!! random

 

[twitch]

some rats will bicker about who's boss their entire lives. others will accept the king or queen until the king/queen are dead. they won't even bicker about it when the k/q is sick and not feeling well enough to enforce anything. this seems to be the way with my cage. it wasn't until lyiint died that pocket took over and it wasn't until pocket died that dust took over after defeating snicketts. though she and snicketts would bicker from time to until they both died. spider took over after that (after beating iedani back) and though she's sick now no one is challenging her. mind you they may be a bit busy trying to establish who's second after iedani left (violet and twix seem to be vying for he position the most but kakushi gets in there every now and then too) and bribery trying to find his place now that he moved in with the girls.

so your boys may be just rough housing with no real intent at challenging position or they may not be happy that THEY are not leader and will try from time to time throughout their lives. so long as no one gets hurt (as you say they don't) then i'd get a bag of popcorn and learn to enjoy watching the free wrestling match *grins*

 

[Destrega2002]

Thanks for the responses, I still can't tell which one is the most dominant rat because they wrestle so often and they each seem to win a fair share.

I also think this might have something to do with Buddy being a hyperactive, fit, messy rat and Jinxy being a slower, fatter, nitpicky rat. They probably irk each other.

I think I own the rat version of the Odd Couple...


(Offtopic and unratrelated... )Oh yeah and fallinstar my mom named me Kris... this is why im obsessed with names lol. I hate it when I'm in a room and someone says Kris. Like 20 people, male or female turn their heads... it stinks. My goofball of a cousin named her son Semaj........... I felt sorry for him, but then, it's her son so *shrug*

 

[ManBeard]

Ive never seen a clear winner in a rat fight. Mine seem to wrestle for sport more than anything else.

 

[Destrega2002]

Well... found out one reason they wrestled so much, they keep trying to mount each other and have their way with each other. Eh, anything to keep from being bored I guess. I think they realize there aren't any girl rats coming, ever. lol

 

[OnlyOno]

lol, that's awful. poor things.

and in the stand-up rat fights between my two, picasso ALWAYS wins. it's to the point that if mozart steals a piece of food from picasso, all picasso has to do in glance in her general direction and mozart is on her back squeaking. pathetic thing, lol. gots to love them for who they are though.

 

[ratvocate]

cracks me up! I love their funny personalities don't you? !

 

[Destrega2002]

Since I posted this, I've noticed that the fights seem to have intensified. I've noticed that while my black/white rat Buddy has my ****** Jinxy pinned, both squeak. Buddy is usually nibbling and Jinxy began to grab a chunk of Buddy's loose skin and pulls at it while he's down. Just a second ago I heard what I thought sounded like a squeal instead of a squeak and I had to run over to break it up... (I nabbed em both with each hand while they were boxing, they were both surprised) now I'm pretty sure they don't hate each other, I mean if they did would they sleep on top of each other?

Still haven't seen any wounds... yet.

Oh, they've also taken to fighting the little guy Stewie more seriously, they don't let him win anymore, lol.

 

[DonnaK]

Since I posted this, I've noticed that the fights seem to have intensified. I've noticed that while my black/white rat Buddy has my ****** Jinxy pinned, both squeak. Buddy is usually nibbling and Jinxy began to grab a chunk of Buddy's loose skin and pulls at it while he's down. Just a second ago I heard what I thought sounded like a squeal instead of a squeak and I had to run over to break it up... (I nabbed em both with each hand while they were boxing, they were both surprised) now I'm pretty sure they don't hate each other, I mean if they did would they sleep on top of each other?

Still haven't seen any wounds... yet.

Oh, they've also taken to fighting the little guy Stewie more seriously, they don't let him win anymore, lol.

You could try changing their toys, or adding more. See if you can create a distraction from all the fighting, and something better for them to chew on than each other.

 

[Destrega2002]

Thats the thing, they only fight during outside the cage time. Maybe I need a bigger cage :-/

 

[DonnaK]

Well, if it's the space that's causing them to fight, I imagine a bigger cage would just make them fight more in the cage?

Do you give them stuff to play with/climb on when they are out of the cage? I think there's always going to be a certain amount of wrestling, as that's just what rats do, but if you can provide plenty of distractions it might help?

 

[ManBeard]

Last night I finished a popsicle and slid the stick through the bars for the girls to chew on. World war three broke out.

 

[Destrega2002]

Don't you love the noise they make when fighting? I'm glad it isnt any louder than it already is...