# Help, my rats aren't getting along anymore! :(



## nataliebee (Sep 29, 2012)

Hey everyone, I'm having a bit of a dilemma with my 10 month old rats.
I have three rats, two Siamese, and one Black with Irish markings. The Black rat, named Pepper, has always been smaller than my other two (named Kermit, and Oliver). They always got along fine, up until about a month ago when a fight broke out leaving Pepper with a large gash out of his tail. I kept them separated for about 24 hours, at which point I tried to re-assimilate them, hoping that the incident was a one off. About an hour later, another fight broke out this time with Pepper sustaining a bad wound to his lower body.
I now have them permanently separated, I have tried having them together for play time, but they immediately begin to fight. I am very worried now, a month later, about the mental well-being of Pepper. He is all alone in his cage, and at play time. This might sound a bit out there, but I can't help feeling that Pepper has become depressed.
Is it a mistake at this point to get a cage mate for Pepper? Do I run the risk of having more fighting? Should I just let things be the way they are? Or is there a way to safely try and make my rats get along? Any responses would be helpful and greatly appreciated!


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Who's attacking? this sounds like a HUGE hormonal problem. I would suggest fixing the attacker, or all 3 rats. Then putting them back together. I would NOT put them back together in till the attacker is neutered, by the sounds of it one of them could end up getting killed if his hormonal issues get worse. Sorry, but really Neutering is probably the only solution to this. Though it is odd that they are all 10 months old (they are all 10 months old right?) since rats tend to hit maturity around 3 to 6 months, but I guess there are some late bloomers, some rats don't stop growing till over a year old so I guess it wouldn't be that odd for hormonal issues to start at this age.

If they still don't get along after neutering, the attacker will need to live alone for the rest of his life, or be paired with a female and see if that will work.


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