# Rat injured in fight, should I separate them for good?



## anzukurumi (Jul 3, 2017)

Hi! Sorry if this has been asked a lot.

My 5-months old male rats Walnut and Apricot were in a fight yesterday, and Apricot got hurt, so we separated them immediately. There wasn't much blood, but he has a big gash on his back. He seems to be fine, eats his food, moves around etc, we took him to the vet and they told us the injury will heal on its own. 

My questions are, can fighting be prevented somehow? Is separating them for good the only solution now?

They have been living together since they were babies, and usually they get along fine, they snuggle and sleep together, groom and play with each other, and they're friendly toward us and our other rats. 
They also get about 1 hour of playtime in my room every day.

They had occasional aggressive fights before, because their cage was a bit small, we moved them into a roomier cage (60cm x 45cm x 60cm size) a month ago and they stopped fighting and seemed happy, but then yesterday's fight happened. 

I don't want to keep them apart, they seem sad without each other. But I also don't want them getting hurt, and I'm scared the violence might escalate... 

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Any advice would be appreciated.


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## Coffeebean (Jan 6, 2017)

They're at the age that hormonal problems can show up in some male rats. Do you see any other signs of hormonal behavior like piloerection, sidling, chasing, huffing, boxing, mounting? Rats don't normally draw blood on each other, and in a male rat 5-6 months of age, the odds are very likely to be hormonal aggression.


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## anzukurumi (Jul 3, 2017)

Thanks for the reply!

Yes, they've done the boxing (both of them), mounting (Apricot), sidling&kicking (Walnut mostly), the fur puffing I've only seen once or twice, but I distracted them before things could get worse.

So if it's hormones, do you think it's possible to let them live together once they're older and calmed down a bit?

I know some people neuter their rats, but that's a bit difficult for me, because rats aren't popular pets where I live, so finding an animal hospital that does neutering for small animals would be really hard.


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## Coffeebean (Jan 6, 2017)

I haven't heard anyone mention their male rats calming down with age, and I unfortunately (fortunately?) don't have personal experience with it, so maybe someone else will know. The way other people have talked about it, it always sounded like hormonal males really prefer being away from other rats through old age. But outside of neutering your best option to keep them from hurting each other again is separating them and just keeping them as happy as you can with lots of things to play with. Assuming they're nice to you, just give them lots of one-on-one time.


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## anzukurumi (Jul 3, 2017)

Thanks! 
Yeah, I guess I'll be keeping them separate then.
They love being handled and I try to give them as much attention as I can, so that's good at least.


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## HobieFinchArthur (Jun 18, 2016)

I used to keep male rats and most of them did calm down after getting over the 6 month stage, but I would definitely not keep them alone until then, as they really do need rat company for their health and wellbeing. I find that after a few weeks alone it becomes really hard introducing males because regardless of age they get super territorial and defensive, so probably would do more harm than good.

Definitely have a ring round of the vets in your area (and further afield if you can) and ask about neutering if you haven't already as it really does make a difference. I had a group of 3 boys who all had to be neutered after one lost his eye in a fight, and have never heard a peep out of them since. 

Maybe if you're really stuck with them and they continue to cause serious injury to each other if re-introduced intact, the best thing to do would be to re-home one and get the other some younger more submissive rats as company for the other? Or if you can keep 2 groups. Most won't fight like that to the point of serious injury unless they both want to be alpha, so I don't know if keeping them un-neutered together will work.

Really hope it works out for you, I know what it's like to have the constant squabbling and have neutering as a no go/last resort! But in hindsight would have done it much sooner and spared Arthur his right eye!


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