I really need help.

[Lourice]

we did another intro tonight, and it went horribly wrong.

we did it in the bathtub because it worked before, but this time it was bad. my rat Louis just seemed very uncomfortable the whole time, and him and maurice got into a bad fight within like 3-5 minutes.

Louis bit off a pretty big piece of skin from Maurice's neck. it looks so bad i can barely stand to look at it. it's about a quarter inch by a quarter inch. i'm so scared, i don't know what to do. i don't want maurice to die.

should I take him to the vet? i put some special powder on it, it's romanian and i don't know what it's called, but we use it on wounds all the time and we've used it on him before and it's very good.

ugh. it just made me so extremely sad. i don't know what to do. i can barely afford the vet if i had to take him. i really just want him to be okay.

 

[victoria]

Is it bleeding?

 

[Lourice]

Is it bleeding?

no. there's a little blood, but it's not bleeding. however there is literally a piece of skin missing.

 

[mamarat]

Just make sure the area is kept clean and watch for an abscess. They usually heal pretty fast from those bites. Good luck with your little sweetie.

 

[victoria]

Is it something like this? viewtopic.php?f=20&t=28561

 

[temblabamomo]

If it is no longer bleeding it should heal up quickly. Like others said, keep it clean and watch for abscess and infection.

 

[lilspaz68]

Tension skin slices look very scary but don't bother the rat much at all, they heal eerily fast as well. Don't worry. No vet required.

 

[Lourice]

Is it something like this? viewtopic.php?f=20&t=28561

yes it's very similar to this.

i've been cleaning it with this disinfecting liquid that also numbs the wound, i've used it on my dog before and it's in an area that he can't reach so i'm not worried about it being bad for him, and the wound looks really good. it's healing eerily fast, like everyone said, and i'm a little less freaked out about it now.

i gave him a new towel, just in case to prevent infection as much as possible, and i hope everything will continue to go well.

i just had a bit of a panic attack yesterday because it just looked so horrible.

thanks again everyone!

 

[Lourice]

also, needless to say, i think i'm done with introductions. i can't bear the anxiety anymore. if i can afford to get them neutered, i'll try it again. but while they still have balls, they're not going anywhere near each other again. i'm too scared.

 

[jorats]

also, needless to say, i think i'm done with introductions. i can't bear the anxiety anymore. if i can afford to get them neutered, i'll try it again. but while they still have balls, they're not going anywhere near each other again. i'm too scared.

I really hope you get them neutered. Rats really need to live in a colony. They are a social animal and to be forced to live alone is not natural to them.
You'll be amazed at the change once they are neutered. Everyone will be happy again!

 

[Lourice]

also, needless to say, i think i'm done with introductions. i can't bear the anxiety anymore. if i can afford to get them neutered, i'll try it again. but while they still have balls, they're not going anywhere near each other again. i'm too scared.

I really hope you get them neutered. Rats really need to live in a colony. They are a social animal and to be forced to live alone is not natural to them.
You'll be amazed at the change once they are neutered. Everyone will be happy again!

really?

i am seriously considering neutering them. unfortunately i do have to wait until about october, but it's on my list. especially after this incident. do i need to neuter both, or just Louis the little mean one? he's the one who nips the most as shows signs of aggression. he's definitely the one i will neuter first, but do i need to do both.

also, is it not better to have them beside each other in separate cages than it is to have nothing at all? because i do feel bad that they need to live alone, for now, but i try to keep my guilt at bay with this justification. ahhaha

lastly, Louis is for sure a very anxious rat. he's very jumpy and doesn't trust anything, really. will this get in the way of intro's after i neuter him/them?

 

[Lourice]

also i was thinking is i get them neutered and they STILL don't get along, could i just get them each a girl to live with? i know it's easy to introduce males to females, so would this work?

 

[hopefloats]

I can say that after a neuter they are in fact a totally different rat. I have had some of the meanest boys ever to other rats. All those mean boys are in a group of 29, 5 and a group of 16. It is because of their neuters. It is extremely rare to have a jerk rat after their neuters. Especially to other rats. It just may take a few weeks for them to simmer down from it.

 

[jorats]

What you could do is that when both are neutered, you could get them a girl but have them all live together as a group. When adding girls to the mix, the boys tend to leave each other alone. Plus with the neuter, they become pretty loving.
Until then, yes, I'd have them living next to each other.

 

[lilspaz68]

Start with neutering Louis and see how that goes, it might be all you need to do Neutering usually takes care of things like this and you end up with sweet, unstressed, soft lovely boys.

 

[EDK]

Look at it this way, when I first started noticing problems between my three boys (whom grew up together) I pinned out 2 culprits. One boy, Gyro, had a record for biting and causing blood. Nes was constantly bullying my alpha rat Gizmo during play time as well as Gyro. So forcing my hand I got them both neutered. They both immediatly began to relax around each other. Nes stopped bullying and pinning my other boys, Gyro never bit anyone again. However a 2 more weeks later, Gizmo I noticed, was being over dominant with Gyro and Nes. He was pulling fur out of Gyro's face while chasing him and pinning him, and constantly pinning Nes down and chasing him as well. He never caused blood, but he was stressing the other two boys out. So baddabing baddaboom Gizmo got neutered about 2 weeks ago from last Monday. He's stopped being over dominant now I've noticed, maybe a pin once a day to groom his brothers, and no more cheek hair pulling (least I think so because Gyro's facial fur is growing back).

The point is, I thought I should just neuter the bigger trouble makers and that would solve the problem. But sadly another problem arised with the ones that weren't neutered. I wouldn't take chances, get them both neutered to avoid any poltential hostility. And you can look on the brighter side to this when its done, 1. they will most likely be relaxed around each other, 2. you could get females to be with them to make things a little more relaxed, 3. even if they don't get along and are forced to be seperate, females can still join them yes! It's a win win, I'd give it a shot on neutering both

 

[Lourice]

I can say that after a neuter they are in fact a totally different rat. I have had some of the meanest boys ever to other rats. All those mean boys are in a group of 29, 5 and a group of 16. It is because of their neuters. It is extremely rare to have a jerk rat after their neuters. Especially to other rats. It just may take a few weeks for them to simmer down from it.

Really??? Ugh that makes me so excited!! I'm going to neuter them as soon as I possibly can

 

[victoria]

Neuters make a huge difference, even when males aren't aggressive. It really calms them down, gives them less to worry about.

 

[Lourice]

Holy **** okay so I woke up this morning and his neck is swollen. I think he gas an abcess. What do I do?? tomorrow is labor day and the vets office is closed its scaring me and i dont know what to do

 

[*Rebel_Angel*]

Abscess' are easy to take care of just compress it everyday with warm water!
Hope he heal's soon!