Introductions real fights or dominance fighting? Please help

[Livyaahh]

Hello

I've been introducing my two new rats Reggie and Rolf to my two resident rats Ben and Jerry for the past week. They were absolutely fine with each other on neutral ground- no fights or anything, but when it came to introducing them again in my room, there was a bit of bullying done by my biggest male Ben, and then today, there was a lot of stress, poofy coats and fights, except I don't know whether they were real fights or dominance fights.

I doubt that they were real fights, as there was no blood spilled, but nonetheless, I'm still concerned.

One of my new two, Rolf, did a lot of chasing, I suspect he was trying to 'ride' them lol, but obviously, the chasee spins around, and then they do that thing where they both stand on their hind legs, with their arms outstretched, in a frozen position. Then the chasee will try to walk away, and Rolf will begin chasing them again and then it carries on until Rolfie gets bored... :/

Then there were also a few times when one rat had the other pinned to the ground, and a few times when the resident rat Jerry appeared to be nibbling another rat, while the new rat just stood there. I didn't understand that one.

Someone please help me

 

[SQ]

It is ok because there was no blood .....
However, you are there and see what it is like, so if you think it is a bit too much,
I would suggest you do more neutral area intros
I assume that all boys are unneutered?

 

[Livyaahh]

It is ok because there was no blood .....
However, you are there and see what it is like, so if you think it is a bit too much,
I would suggest you do more neutral area intros
I assume that all boys are unneutered?

none of them have been neutered. But they are all usually very friendly so I didn't think it was necessary to get any of them neutered

 

[hopefloats]

friendly to you and to other rats are two totally different things.

Rats box in general,it is like a stare off between the rats. It is very common during intros which is what you see when they are on their hind legs. Part of the "I win" for rats is grooming. The will flip them over on their back, and do a grooming session on them. which again is still normal. A humper will chase a rat all over the room to mount him. That can make other rats really ticked off. When the fights are bad, you will know it, it will be a puff ball of rats rolling on the floor. Most of the time you can see tufts of hair flying off.

Every new step that you take in an intro, you will have new fights to contend with. The same thing goes for the cage. You can expect the same thing when they move in the cage.

Puffy rats can be normal during the new intros, when they stay puffy for weeks on end then you have a problem . You will have to watch them closely to make sure they dont cross the line. Generally after a few days it will decrease. Some boys take longer.

But what ever you do, do not stick your hand in a rat fight, keep a towel near by and toss on them.

 

[jorats]

:yeah:

It sounds like it's normal male stuff going on. Keep at it.

 

[Livyaahh]

thank you everyone I appreciate your help.

 

[*Rebel_Angel*]

Good luck!!