# Reservations About Getting Males



## rattie4135luv (Feb 18, 2009)

I have my girl ratties and now my son wants to get his own pair of male ratties. I am a little nervous about this. I know that males can become agressive when their hormones kick in. Are all males like this? I know if it were up to me I would get them neutered, problem solved, but my husband thinks this is crazy and will not even consider it. (I know, I know, I should just get rid of the hubby) LOL Is there a way to tell when they're babies how they will be? Does handling them for hours a day make a difference? Can everyone who has males and females in a household please give me some advice and reassurance? He wants a russian blue dumbo rex or velveteen and a dumbo PEW. Big and squishy! (If this makes any difference) Thanks for your help everybody! 

If any rescues near NJ have any russian blue dumbo rex and dumbo PEW neutered that would just solve my whole dilemma! LOL  Thanks for listening!


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## Corpseflower (Jun 12, 2009)

My boys aren't mean at all.  I think most animals are just what you make them, if you're mean to them, they'll be mean back. I'd say just handle them often and give them lots of affection and they should be fine.


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## ratscribbler (Jan 31, 2009)

I actually got male rats because they're supposed to be more mellow and cuddly than females. 

From what I've read, male aggression is mostly a concern if you're going to try to introduce a new rat to a male colony. My guys aren't aggressive or mean towards me or my husband at all. They fight with each other sometimes, but it almost always seems to be brotherly tussling.


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

Yea aggression can happen at their "teenager" stage and no it doesn't happen to all rats. I don't think any amount of handling would stop it occuring with it being a hormone related problem. However, I also don't think it's all that likely really and if you did have any problems then neutering is most likely to solve the issue. I wouldn't neuter a rat unless it was for health problems (my Spike had a testicular tumour) or aggression issues that couldn't be rectified.


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## AMJ087 (Aug 27, 2008)

I have had males and they all have been neutered adn very very sweet. However Ive never had two males together. its been a male adn female pair. They are both altered and get along great.


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## Maple (Jun 9, 2008)

It would be fine to put two boys in the same cage because they actually need a cage mate...
just make sure,if you think the boy rats are pretty aggresive and they might fight then you should introduce them to each other in the bathtub or something....


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

*Ratties rock the world* - introductions should *always* be done properly and nothing should be predicted about what could happen. Rats shouldn't just be put together and that's the end of it. See the sticky on introductions and quarantine in the general section.

Males can get along just fine together.


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## 3pidemic (Feb 22, 2009)

I think it'll deal a lot with the indivdual rat (where they came from, what their situation was like, etc), but sometimes you run into hormonally agressive males. Both of my boys are intact and aren't very hormonal at all. Dramamine can get a bit nippy with food, but he's a big fat face, that just gets to excited about eating and Thorazine is actually a lot cuddlier and kissier than my girls. Yes, the boys rough-house a bit more, but they don't fight and they were introduced to each other a few months apart. I've actually had more problems with girls and agression/intros than boys.


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## elizabethrae. (Dec 24, 2008)

I'm curious about if having females in the same house would affect the behaviour of unaltered males. Does anyone keep both unaltered males and females? Does proximity of their cages matter or does just having them in the same air space set off a change? I would imagine that aggression would become more of a problem.


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## 3pidemic (Feb 22, 2009)

Both of our girls are spayed, while our boys are intact, but we're long term petsitting our friends four unaltered girls. The cages are only a few feet away from each other and I haven't noticed any change in the boys behaviour from before the girls arrived and after. For the most part they don't seem to care, but then again my boys are big laid back lazy ratties.


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## littlematchstick (Apr 12, 2009)

elizabethrae. said:


> I'm curious about if having females in the same house would affect the behaviour of unaltered males. Does anyone keep both unaltered males and females? Does proximity of their cages matter or does just having them in the same air space set off a change? I would imagine that aggression would become more of a problem.


I have both boys and girls--both un alterted. The cages are only about a foot from each other-with their food stuff seperating the cages. My girls and boys don't really like each other, they spat through the cage sometimes. My boys don't really get along very well, but thats my fault because I didn't do proper introductions- I'm currently reintroducing them the proper way. But I don't think their problems have anything to do with my female rats at all, its likely either from me not introducing them properly or my older boy being aggressive.


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## Dexy (Aug 11, 2008)

I have had had 9 male rats so over the years and none of them have become at all aggressive in their 'teenage' phase. It _can_ happen and if it does it _can_ be purely hormonal and not based at all on how they have been looked after - but I think this is really pretty rare. As long as they are brothers there's no reason for them not to be best of friends for life or to be any more feisty than a girl rat would be.

I have never had girls in the same house though as it just sounds too risky - especially if you're putting a young child in the mix, who could forget to close a cage door properly or be persuaded by a friend that the girls and boys should play together?!


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