Puffed up boys...normal part of jostling for alpha?

[hprats]

This has been bugging me for the past week...my three boys, all around 6 months and 400 grams have been getting into scuffles and puffing up a lot. They never did this at all before. I saw it once, at the beginning of intros between Fred and the bunch, Peter got all puffed up right before he went for Fred and drew blood with 4 different bites, mostly around the scrotal area, so I associate it with that...

But yeah, the three of them are all doing it, but their scuffles never draw blood, or even leave scratches I can find. They just seem to give each other bites that don't break the skin, pinning, boxing, and that side ways shoving thing they do.
My guess is they're just jostling for alpha, now they're all big boys.

But I wanted to check, in case this is an early sign that one or both will have to be neutered?

 

[jorats]

Is your cage big enough for 3?
If so, any chance of mites or lice?
All in all, it's perfectly normal for boys to continually challenge each other. You might have a quiet cage for 6 months and then bang, one wakes up on the wrong side of the hammock and feels the need to let the buddies know. They might even draw blood but it's still not serious... normal family feuds.

 

[hprats]

Yeah, my cage is okay for up to 7...and I have four in there. My older boy, Neville, has been the alpha, I think, all along. He's pretty low-key though, I think he's just been using his size/age advantage...he's been in some of the fights too, but his are shorter and he never puffs his fur.

They were treated for mites or lice last week...I cleaned the cage thoroughly with bleach, and cleaned all the bedding in their cage (fleece and cotton), and they're getting the second treatment next week.

They are mostly pretty happy together, and really sweet with me, even if I get right in the middle of their rat fights.

 

[jorats]

Ah ok, I bet they are just fine and really only playing.

 

[hprats]

Sweet. I'm buying a new phone...if puffed up meant raging hormones and more than one neuter in the near future, plus who knows what else with Neville, I couldn't buy it in good conscience haha.

Thank you!