Sudden cage fighting

Zephye · Mar 21, 2015

So, Bandit and Edgar have been peacefully living together for 2 months now in the bottom of a DCN.
Bandit is 1 yr 8 months is
Edgar is about 6 months maybe.
Edgar is unaltered while Bandit is.
About yesterday they was a lot of screeching and they were rat balling. Bandit (the neutered one) kept side stepping, chasing, puffing, and became very hostile at Edgar. I don't know what could've caused this since they were fine before.
Should I get Edgar neutered? Would this fix things :c since it seems to be Bandit that keeps instigating?

jorats · Mar 21, 2015

I would wait it out a bit longer. If you can afford it, I'd definitely get Edgar neutered as well and get them a girlfriend. lol
But what's probably happening is that Edgar is coming into his hormones and Bandit is working hard at keeping his status. Scuffles in a cage is normal.

Zephye · Mar 23, 2015

It's strange since Bandit is the less 'dominant' rat of the two since he's much older and more laid back due to his neuter. It's weird watching him chase Edgar around. I found a patch of fur missing and a scab on Bandit's shoulder blade though which concerns me that maybe they had an 'oops' during one of these tussles. They still tussle but I've been putting them in time-out when they get into one where it's just loud squeaking/rat balling. It seems to have worked a little since they haven't had an escalated tussle since.