Suddenly territorial?

Samii · Nov 16, 2015

Okay so I came home tonight yo a new issue.

My oldest rat, Luffy, has suddenly become more territorial than usual. I noticed he's held up in one of the boxes in the cage. He won't let me or his cage mate Simon come in and actually bit me when I tried to take him out and assess him. It's very strange. He squeaks and huffs when we come close and he will leave the box just to fight Simon away. I don't get it.

I got him out finally and he seems unharmed. Please help. Should I separate them for the night? I'm not sure what happened to make him so aggressive. I'm worried. He was always a grumpy rat but this is new.

I separated them for tonight. I can't skeep with Luffy's constant squeaking. Hopefully he calms down over night

SQ · Nov 16, 2015

How old are they?
Is there any change in your home? new smells, etc?
New pets etc?
Is there any other change is his behaviour or the way he looks, walks, holds his paws?

dspch911 · Nov 16, 2015

Like SQ said look for behavior changes. Did he actually draw blood when he bite? It's possible he has something going on inside you cannot see and he's in pain.

jorats · Nov 17, 2015

Like the others already asked, we need ages and how long they've been living together...

Samii · Nov 18, 2015

I don't know his actual age, but I believe he's almost two years old. They've lived together since they were young. The only new smell that there might be is peppermint. My mom put some in our pantry to repel moths, I have my rats in my room and the door is always shut. No, Luffy did not draw blood when he bit me.

That night, I separated them and in the morning put him back into the cage. He was acting normal when I put him back in. He's been fine since then, until tonight.

I heard him squeaking again so I turned on the light and he was sitting by the front of the cage licking the end of his tail. I don't see anything wrong with it on the outside. He licks it vigorously like he's trying to get something off of it. It's very strange. I don't think it's broken though as I can't see how that would have happened and he steps on it without causing himself pain. It just comes out of nowhere. That's the first I've heard out of him since the other night. I'm baffled.

Has anyone experienced anything like this with their rats?

Samii · Nov 21, 2015

He bit me again tonight, twice, with no warning. I don't know what's up with him. sometimes he's normal and sometimes he's aggressive. :/

Grumpy rat.