# Male rats fighting often and hard. How to stop or prevent?



## therathugger

My rats Bug and Sherlock had been fighting. At first it was suttle, almost playful and as the days progressed the boys got worse and worse until tonight. This evening I heard my rats squealing and crashing through the cage and when I ran up to see what they were up to, tufts of fur were scattered about the cage and Bug was pushing down Sherlock and they were both biting. I stuck my hand in and poked both of them in the belly at the same time and said "Stop it!" in a authoritive voice. They both went to oppisite sides of the cage and I checked them both for any major wounds. They were both fine but for now I put Bug in a seperate cage. I dont know how I am gonna go to school if I know this could be going on. When I did stop it with my hands I knew I could get bitten. I dont want anyone getting hurt. If any of ou guys could give ANY advice I would be SO thankful right now!


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## LightningWolf

Thyroid issue? an under active or over active thyroid will cause hormonal issues. Do they get enough iodine in their diet? Flouride competes with Iodine (found in tap water)

If it's Super major, treating the thyroid won't stop all of it, and neutering would help the most and quickest. But I would only do it if you think it is major as in you think they could end up drawing blood or worse.

keep them separate when your at school, or at lease over night. When Storm drew blood on Soda's eye, I put him in their cat carrier over night and in the morning all the boys were sad and depressed. I put them together and the whole day they slept together. So I wouldn't say it's that they hate each other, one of them (or both) probably has a hormonal issue going on. (Storm has thyroid issues, rats who had thyroid issues often if you put them on a flouride free Iodine rich diet it is not unusual for them to get a cyst or abscess on their neck, it's part of Detoxing)


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## therathugger

I probably do not provide enough iodine for the little guys. I never heard of that. I will try introducing some components to their food. My tap water does not contain flouride. Ugh I am going to just seperate them when they are alone until they improve. Thank you so much. I cannot say how thankful I am to you. Thank you!


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## Willieboo

If you think it's getting bad, like LightningWolf said, just separate them when you're away so you can feel better that they won't hurt each other. I would suggest just trying over the next few days reintroducing them on neutral ground. When they're in a cage together, they might become territorial, especially if it's due to hormones. Even if you originally bought them together, it might be beneficial to just take a step back, keep them separated for a little while so they can cool off, and each day just let them explore with each other on neutral ground until you feel like they are on good terms with each other again. Then you can try putting them together in a cage again, just make sure that when you do put them back together, you are available to monitor them for the next several hours. And if you are still unsure, it would be best just to separate them when you won't be able to watch them to be sure that they will be safe, until you are certain that they will not fight. When they're in an open space together, it's much easier to identify any signs of aggression and stop a fight before it happens, then try again the next day. Definitely try to have a towel or squirt bottle on-hand for your own safety when you're monitoring them, so you can split up any tiffs between them without getting bitten. c:> Hope that they return to friendly terms again soon! I wish the best of luck to you and your lovely ratties!


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## LightningWolf

Wait, the tap water has no flouride where you are? Your in the US right? Almost all places in the US add flouride to the water cause it "helps" people (It doesn't, Flouride has no purpose in the body, it's not even used to build teeth enamel like they like to tell you). I would double check that, unless your using well/ground water then that I believe doesn't have flouride.

For Iodine rich foods yogurt and fish are your best options. 

I gave Storm a bit of Sardines today since he has it really bad (he has hormone issues and hair loss) and it's now his favorite food. He ate all of it, even the bones, he even ate Soda's (Soda wasn't too interested in it, he took two bites and decided he wanted some green beans instead). Now every time I walk into the room he thinks I have sardines. You can give Tuna (I was going to) but I heard about a thing, I forgot it's actually name, about toxicity. Basically since Tuna are bigger and live longer they absorb more toxins. Sardines since they are smaller and have naturally shorter life don't absorb as many toxins, reason we got Sardines instead of tuna. Also gives them a chance to get some extra calcium and other nutrients. 

Goat cheese I believe also has Iodine (goat milk, so the cheese as well, has no Lactose in it)


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## Drowsy

North Bend Washington, where the OP is, does not add fluoride to the water. Same for here where I live, Pinellas Park Florida.
Lots of places are being forced by the citizens to stop putting it in the water since it is basically useless. 

But yes, what everyone else said. When I had my last adult rat, Owen, he had some issues. We realized he had too much protein and very little iodine, so we started giving him fresh fish and sardines. c: He loved them. It makes a huge difference!


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## LightningWolf

Wow, I did not know that. Texas is known for having Very hard water (a lot of flouride). Hopefully that will change soon, it does get annoying having to buy water bottles all the time.


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## therathugger

I double checked the fluoridation levels there is no flouride. 

I almost always have some fish around and I have yogurt that I could give him. I believe the harmful thing in large fish you are talking about is mercury. I just tried giving both of the boys some and they loved it to death. Bug stole half of Sherlocks though, the little stinker. Thank you.


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