# At what age do male rats start to urine mark? Age of neuter & pee marking behavior



## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

*At what age do male rats start to urine mark? Age of neuter & pee marking behavior*

I know neutered male rats stop or considerably decrease pee marking behavior after they get neutered. On average a neutered rat will pee mark 80% less after being neutered. In other words, neutered rats pee mark only on average at 20% of what they used to PRIOR to their neuter. My question is WHEN do rats start pee marking? At 5 weeks? Later? Sooner?. I have 1 neutered male who was neutered at 8 weeks: he NEVER pee mark at all- not even once. I have two other neutered males, who were neutered at 11 weeks and they do pee mark a little. Could the difference in the age at which they were neutered account for the difference in urine marking behavior? Or is it only a coincidence?


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## JAnimal (Jul 23, 2014)

My rats are not neutered. All four marked from day one but two stopped after about five days. The other two who were my first rats stopped at around 4 months. I think that the new rats already knew that the house smelt like rat so they figured they would have to mark less.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

JAnimal said:


> My rats are not neutered. All four marked from day one but two stopped after about five days. The other two who were my first rats stopped at around 4 months. I think that the new rats already knew that the house smelt like rat so they figured they would have to mark less.


Thanks. I've never heard of intact rats who stopped pee marking after a few days...could it be because you are free ranging then and not cleaning their pee markings at all? What about them pee marking on you, did they stop that too?


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## JAnimal (Jul 23, 2014)

It was all on me (yay...). I do have a fair bit of animals in my house so they could have been smelling that. Or maybe they knew that I was the older rats human and they wouldn't really get anything out of that. Or they are just really weird rats.


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

I do not have any neutered boys. My boys are very different, some like never mark and others do so a bit and then I have one guy who does it nonstop lol and alot of factors play a role in why they do and how much. So i think deciding what is normal is difficult 

I think it is important to note the difference in just peeing vs marking. Some rats have a whatever attitude and will just pee wherever. Marking is distinct though where it can be just some dribbles of urine, it often also includes them rubbing themselves over it as well and sometimes even they get really into it and rub it all over and scratch up the floor trying to work it in good.... lol

I have never gave much thought to paying attention to when they start. I would assume it may begin when they first get really interested in the ladies. While babies are capable of mating, from my own experience they don't really start seeking out the girls and throwing themselves at them like horny dorks until they are older. It can vary but usually around 8-12 weeks. I think older is more common. Like I have a rat room with both sexes cages in it. During free play time some of the older boys will go hang out around the girls cage but my 8 week old babies right now have no interest. But I never really notice any heavy marking really at these younger ages.

I will say I notice the marking behavior really kicks in around 4-7 months. Which is about the same time they go through their hormonal shift. Which is what also causes hormonal aggression.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

moonkissed said:


> I do not have any neutered boys. My boys are very different, some like never mark and others do so a bit and then I have one guy who does it nonstop lol and alot of factors play a role in why they do and how much. So i think deciding what is normal is difficult I think it is important to note the difference in just peeing vs marking. Some rats have a whatever attitude and will just pee wherever. Marking is distinct though where it can be just some dribbles of urine, it often also includes them rubbing themselves over it as well and sometimes even they get really into it and rub it all over and scratch up the floor trying to work it in good.... lolI have never gave much thought to paying attention to when they start. I would assume it may begin when they first get really interested in the ladies. While babies are capable of mating, from my own experience they don't really start seeking out the girls and throwing themselves at them like horny dorks until they are older. It can vary but usually around 8-12 weeks. I think older is more common. Like I have a rat room with both sexes cages in it. During free play time some of the older boys will go hang out around the girls cage but my 8 week old babies right now have no interest. But I never really notice any heavy marking really at these younger ages.I will say I notice the marking behavior really kicks in around 4-7 months. Which is about the same time they go through their hormonal shift. Which is what also causes hormonal aggression.


I wasn't able to compare pre and post neuter urine marking in my rats because I had my breeder do the neuters for me. Thanks, your answer makes perfect sense to me


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## Nieve5552 (May 20, 2014)

Only one of my first pair of males consistently scent marked, but now he doesnt do it at all, so seems like they dont do it when quite old (2 yrs and 3 months).
One of my second pair of males began to mark around 3 months of age I think? He is currently nearly 7 months old now and does it consistently. The other male (7 months old too) did not mark that much, but he was neutered 5 days ago and is still marking here and there.


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