# Fighting Getting Worse & Smelly Cage?



## tristin (Feb 11, 2007)

(1) I have two rats that are somewhere between 2-3yrs old. About a month ago both sisters started fighting to the point where I had to separate them at night because the screaming would keep me up. I was told the aggression might be because of territorial issues, especially if I had a smaller cage. Three weeks ago I bought a tri-level cage hoping it would end the fighting. However, the fighting has gotten worse. Their bellies are covered with bite wounds as well as around their necks and even around the mouth. It breaks my heart to hear them scream at night. I have no idea what to do or why they've recently started being so aggressive towards each other. Any ideas on what is happening and how I can fix it?

(2) I used to clean my old rat cage once a week and never had a problem with it being smelly. When I got my new cage I cleaned it for 3 hours with soap and hot water. After 2 weeks of having my new cage, it began to smell horrible. The odor is so bad that even if I clean it one day, it smells just as bad the next! I moved the cage to the other side of my room so I could breathe while doing homework, but I can still smell it. *gag* I don't know if this is a coincidence of a new cage or if it's something else. Has anyone ever had this problem before?


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## DonnaK (Feb 8, 2007)

Does there seem to be an instigator, or are they both as bad as each other? Is it possible that one of them might be a bit unwell and not so patient having the other around?

Other than that, I'm at a loss for ideas. If they've been together all this time, I don't understand why they would suddenly stop tolerating each other. I'm sure others will have more ideas...


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## pieopah (Dec 4, 2006)

is it possible that one of the rats has some kind of distemperment...?...thats what it sounds like to me....you should try researching rat distemperment and see what you can come up with...i have heard of this somewhere before.....or maybe one of them is getting cranky in her old age...i would keep them apart for now you dont want one of them to get a infection....
this also could explain the smell..i imagine like most other animals when rats are sick they emit ..well a sick odour....
have you changed your bedding recently?
i use carefreash and ever sinse i started using it i have found my rats cage smells worse quicker than when i was using aspen...
hope everything works out for you
cheers


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

What cage did you buy? Some are known smelly troublemakers.

Scabs on mouth and neck? Hmmm...personally it sounds like they have mites and need to be treated. Do you see the actual biting going on? A lot of people are fooled by the mite scabs being bite wounds.

And the fighting was fairly recent? I think your girls have mites, and they are itchy and miserable and cranky, so they "fight". If you notice a sudden change in behaviour with your rat check to make sure their health is okay, its one of the first signs.

I have some foster boys right now that came to me with a bad case of mites
Webster's scabs on his shoulders








Marty's scabby face (you should see his chin )


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## fallinstar (Nov 26, 2006)

my new cage seems to be very smelly as well i used to clean it 3 times a week and it would smell loverly and fresh! now i can scrub the cage and change everything 4times a week and within an hour u cant tell ive done anything! (xcept theres no poops) its a jenny rat cage btw!


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