# Is this......normal



## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

Ok this has been puzzlin me for some time. Some of my girls get in "mood" or heat and the other(s) get on her like a male would ...... What are they doing it for?! They're all girls and I for the life of me can't figure out why they do it!


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## Darksong17 (Feb 11, 2007)

Haha. That is a bit of a mystery I think. One possibility is that they are just that sexually frustrated while in heat. Another is dominance as humping is often a dominance display as well. Whatever it is, it's pretty amusing XD


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

There is one in perticulare that does it the most and she is constintly picking on one girl in perticulare and I've been thinking about taking here out and giving her a cage to herself.


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

i wouldn't separate them. there are going to be dominance issues and some rats a bit of bully at times, even a lot of the time. but so long as she's not stopping the other rat from eating or drinking and isn't drawing blood then i'd let them just sort it out on their own.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

The one she picks on is a bit on the skiny side.


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

then try to sneak treats in to the skinny one and watch to make sure she's getting to the food bowl. some rats can eat all day and not gain an once and others if they even look at food they plump out; just like humans. that was the way of snicketts and her sister spider. spider is one fat girlie but snicketts always stayed slim no matter how much she ate. and it wasn't like they ate disportionate ammounts either. if you have to set up a camera over the food bowl or stake yourself out in front of the cage for the afternoon to make sure.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

What if I take out the skiny one?? She was fine when it was just her. (I had the other rats I was getting a bigger cage.)


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## Darksong17 (Feb 11, 2007)

Sky14 said:


> What if I take out the skiny one?? She was fine when it was just her. (I had the other rats I was getting a bigger cage.)



Umm... won't she be alone then? I'm confused. I think you are mistakening normal rat dominance behavior for something you need to separate for to be honest. Rats really should not be alone.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

Darksong17 said:


> Sky14 said:
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> > What if I take out the skiny one?? She was fine when it was just her. (I had the other rats I was getting a bigger cage.)
> ...


Your right. But she is really skiny I can see her ribs and she was a semi fat rat before I put with the other two.


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## Darksong17 (Feb 11, 2007)

Sky14 said:


> Darksong17 said:
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> > Sky14 said:
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Hmm. Seperate her for a bit and see if she plumps up. If she does obviously that was indeed the problem. In that case perhaps you should get her a young friend of her own.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

Darksong17 said:


> Sky14 said:
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My mom would kill me!! I've 5 at present and she is always complaining about how that's to many even when we've had bigger numbers in the past!!


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

I will seperate her though and I'll give lots of extra atention.

And treats.


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