Aggressive Penny

[Lithade72]

Penny is eight months old, the sister of Bear, and the daughter of Rosie. I have noticed as of late that she has been much more aggressive towards all of her cage mates than usual. I have seen her power grooming, as well as biting the others. She and Lena are the reasons I haven't been able to bring Pancake back into the big cage since her spay. They get so rough, especially with Pancake... always Pancake.

If anyone could, please help me understand why Penny is acting out, and why Pancake gets harassed. Thanks so much.

 

[Godmother]

Has Penny been spayed? I wonder if Pancake smells different enough since her spay that they are treating her almost like a new rat.

It's a tough situation when one rat is a bully. Jorats has a few tricks up her sleeve for dealing with that kind of situation, e.g. the Dominance Pinch. See the sticky under the Behaviour section.

 

[Lithade72]

Awesome. Thanks.

 

[jorats]

Ugh... I deal so much better with naughty males than naughty females. They seem to have much more going on in their brains than just the over active hormones.
You'll need to watch her closely and see if anything sets her off.
Has there been any changes lately?

 

[ClownCarOnFire]

I want a female named Penny, not if they're gonna be moody though! ;P

Good luck to you, I wish I could help!

 

[SQ]

Have you checked out the more obvious possibilities such as cage size, mites, health issues ...
Is it possible that she wants to reinforce her place in the social hiearchy?
As jorats asked, have there been any changes? What sets her off?
Have you tried gradual intro steps to get Pancake back into the group?
How long was Pancake removed for?

 

[Lithade72]

The only changes have been a food switch, and Rosie and Pancake having surgery. As I have been watching Penny with the other girls, I can't see anything that "sets her off", other than just she pounces on whoever passes by. She may be trying to reinforce her status I suppose, but is that okay? I know it's natural, but I guess I'm hoping for a more friendly setting in the cage.

The cage size should surely not be a factor as I have physically been inside this cage. They have plenty of toys, and sleepy holes. Medically everyone seems to be tip top, and no signs of mites.

Pancake was in the recovery cage for a full week with Flower. I have had no trouble out of anyone as far as doing this to Flower, and Pancake is only roughed up largely by Penny and Lena. Those two have had a problem with Pancake since she got here. :roll:

I am presently experimenting with the situation. Pancake just got her stitches out today, so I placed her and Flower back into the big cage. I watched as Lena and Penny went at their usual chasing, pinning, power grooming, biting, and overall harassing of Pancake. I then took Penny and Lena and put them into the recovery cage. Penny is giving Lena a hard time, but everyone else seems more than happy with the arrangement. Being as the recovery cage still smells like Pancake and Flower, I'm hoping that will give a jump start on the re-intros. It will also make Penny and Lena the "new comers" when they are placed back with the rest of the group. Or does this sound like a bad plan?

Thanks for all the support.