Agressive Rat

[rattieperson7]

I rescued two rats that were previously used in labs, and I've run into some unexpected issues.

One of the rats wasn't very aggressive at first, with only occasional fights with his cagemate. However, after introducing them to my group of four, one became extremely aggressive. I thought it was normal fighting at first, but the rat ended up losing part of his tail in one of the fights, so I separated him.

I had him neutered and tried reintroducing him, but he remained very aggressive toward the others. He's not aggressive towards people, but I think he might need to be housed alone.

I've never had a rat like this before and I'm unsure what to do. I've reached out to a few rescues, but they won't take him because of his aggression. I'll be keeping him alone, but I'm not sure how to make sure he's happy. Any advice would be really helpful.

 

[Kye]

I rescued two rats that were previously used in labs, and I've run into some unexpected issues.

One of the rats wasn't very aggressive at first, with only occasional fights with his cagemate. However, after introducing them to my group of four, one became extremely aggressive. I thought it was normal fighting at first, but the rat ended up losing part of his tail in one of the fights, so I separated him.

I had him neutered and tried reintroducing him, but he remained very aggressive toward the others. He's not aggressive towards people, but I think he might need to be housed alone.

I've never had a rat like this before and I'm unsure what to do. I've reached out to a few rescues, but they won't take him because of his aggression. I'll be keeping him alone, but I'm not sure how to make sure he's happy. Any advice would be really helpful.

How long ago did you get him neutered? How(and where) did you attempt to introduce them? Did you happen to get a video of the behavior, if not can you possibly describe it before the fight broke out? I'm trying to get the whole picture so I can maybe help out.

 

[rattieperson7]

How long ago did you get him neutered? How(and where) did you attempt to introduce them? Did you happen to get a video of the behavior, if not can you possibly describe it before the fight broke out? I'm trying to get the whole picture so I can maybe help out.

I got him neutered about a month ago.

I introduced them with the neutral territory method in my bath tub. There was some treats and I put whipped cream on them to encourage them to groom. It only took a couple of minutes before they started fighting and I thought it was playful/good at first. Then one of my older rats started bleeding a lot from bites so I seperated them again.

I didn't get a video of the behavior before the fight. When they fight it normally starts with the other rat getting puffed up and sidling with my injured rat. It's hard to describe but it quickly turns into them running around the cage biting and pouncing on each other. They will run around the whole cage doing that and won't stop until I intervene. There have been a few times where the other rat leaves my injured one alone eventually but the injured one doesn't stop chasing them around and biting their tail, back or paws.

 

[Kye]

I got him neutered about a month ago.

I introduced them with the neutral territory method in my bath tub. There was some treats and I put whipped cream on them to encourage them to groom. It only took a couple of minutes before they started fighting and I thought it was playful/good at first. Then one of my older rats started bleeding a lot from bites so I seperated them again.

I didn't get a video of the behavior before the fight. When they fight it normally starts with the other rat getting puffed up and sidling with my injured rat. It's hard to describe but it quickly turns into them running around the cage biting and pouncing on each other. They will run around the whole cage doing that and won't stop until I intervene. There have been a few times where the other rat leaves my injured one alone eventually but the injured one doesn't stop chasing them around and biting their tail, back or paws.

I also forgot to ask, how far away are their cages? Putting them next to each other(outside of reaching range) may make it easier for them to get to know each other safely.

This is a very tricky situation and you may never be able to introduce them, while he's solo I would spend as much time as possible with him so he doesn't get lonely.

If you want to keep trying to introduce them I would wait until the injured one is mostly healed then try the neutral space with treats but no whipped cream on them and seperate them the second you see aggressive behavior to avoid more injury(I would wear gloves for protection) and keep trying that even if it only lasts a few seconds, I would try that every day if possible assuming no one gets hurt.

 

[SqueakingJellybean]

I feel your pain. We had a bunch a few years back where one guy had to live alone. He had some health issues, so the vet wasn't confident he'd make it through surgery. We couldn't neuter him, but we neutered our other two boys so they could live with the ladies (we had four from a litter, two boys and two girls, and a fifth-- a boy-- who was someone's poor life choice that ended up with us, all sweet rats). We tried letting him and his brother socialize, but he went back to beating on him. He haaaaated the new kid too, biting off the end of his tail when it hung outside the upper floor and within his reach. New kid was neutered and moved in with the others, so he was out of reach.

I ended up spending more one-on-one time with the cranky boy when the others were in their house. He loved people, but was not so keen on the other rats.

ETA: I agree with Kye. If intros keep going poorly, or if you opt not to try again, spend lots of solo time with him.