Keeping brothers together

[April]

Due to an unexpected litter (their Mama was supposed to be male and a friend for my older male) I have 2 male babies that I plan to keep.

My question is how well siblings get along together after they are grown? I intend to keep them living together, and hopefully add them to their Papa's cage when they are a bit bigger (they are currently 3.5 weeks old)

Do siblings who have grown up together generally stay good friends? Would it be better to not put them with their Papa?

I also plan on keeping Mama and 2 of her daughters from the same litter. The other 3 daughters have a good home pending. Will the "smell" of females around cause the boys to act erratically? I don't intend to have any altered.

Thoughts....suggestions....?

 

[Joanne]

I wouldn't hesitate to keep siblings together. And putting them with their Papa is fine as long as you do proper introductions first so they get to know each other before they live together.

As far as keeping two intact sexes in the same home:
If one of THE most experienced people here on the forum can have an oopsie litter, I think you are asking for trouble by keeping two intact sexes. As well, the boys will be much more combative with each other if they can smell females in heat. I DO NOT recommend it. It's fine if one or both of the sexes is neutered however.

 

[jorats]

It is not usual to have males dislike each other, especially siblings. We do hear a lot of the discord among males because people talk about it cause they need help. I've had tons of males get a long and not need any interventions. Usually litter mates stay pretty bonded. As they grow up, there will be some sibling squabbles which is perfectly normal, let them sort it out and go back to a happy colony.
I'd definitely introduce them to Dad when they are about 8 weeks old. Make sure to follow proper intro steps.

 

[hopefloats]

I have a few group of brothers. Loki and Templeton, Ludo and Al, and the 8 shakespeare babies. For the most part they get along like siblings. Love each other one minute and fighting the next. I love keeping my family rats together they seem to always have a close bond.

 

[Zooy]

I kept my boys together and they were like 2 peas in a pod. But not all siblings are the same.

 

[Dazzle87]

I only had one male unable to live with his brothers, and it was cured with a neuter (hormonal aggression).

I also would really suggest getting one or both sexes altered. If you go with the females, it will prevent mammary tumors and uterine issues, along with pregnancy. If you go with males it will prevent hormonal aggression, along with pregnancy.

 

[SQ]

I had 2 brothers that got along well except when girls went into heat ... then their hormones would act up and the more dominant boy would beat up his brother.
(I had taken in some rescues and they had not yet been neutered and spayed.)
Your two brothers should be fine together.

I would suggest that you either spay all girls or neuter all boys.
Rats are very smart and very motivated and people are not perfect.
It is just too dangerous to keep two intact sexes in the same household.

 

[April]

I thought I would try to add a pic of my 2 boys and their papa.

Papa's name is Tuffy and he is blue-grey with white.
The yellow hoodeds name is Creme, and the solid grey one is Sterling.

If was trying very hard to get a good pic of Sterling. He has very unique coloring (to me anyway). His top coat is grey, but his undercoat is white. It's very difficult to capture using a camera phone, and without rubbing his fur backwards.

This is Tuffy. I've not seen another rat with his same markings either. These are baby pics from when I first got him.



These are pics of the 2 juniors - Creme and Sterling.



Now one of Sterling by himself. The color seems a little closer on this one, but it's a little fuzzy. Sorry, hard to hold and snap at the same time.


And, just because this is so easy, and I had a baby pic of her with the same file, a pic of mama. Her name is Taffy.

 

[jorats]

Very sweet!