Territorial marking?

[TheBatcave]

Hello! I bought my two lovely boy rats (Bruce and Robin :love2: ) from a petshop here in England last Friday. Everyday I let them roam around a smaller room where I normally draw, use my computer and put my pets cages (There's the ratties' cage and my mouse's cage) for I spent a big amount of time here. Everything is going fantastic and my boys have settled in smoothly!. I have noticed, though, that my most social boy basically walks over my stuff that I leave on the floor accidentally (such as socks or my phone) and pees a little bit on it. I haven't potty trained them but if they want to do their ''bussiness'' they go to their open cage and do it, which is something that I appreciate haha
I thought maybe it's just marking stuff as his? Thanks for reading! ^^

 

[TheBatcave]

Also I think I posted this in the wrong place? Sorry for that, I'm new to the forum ^^

 

[hopefloats]

They are leaving a trail has nothing to do with actually peeing. Most rats never pee in a litter box that is what the fabric for. Most will always mark but neutering can reduce it.

 

[TheBatcave]

Oh I see, thanks for the reply! So... do boys normally benefit from neutering? They don't seem to be agressive towards each other or to me or my mum in any way, though they're still young ^^

 

[Sheldon]

They generally just relax a bit after a neutering, even if they didn't have issues with aggression. It can definitely reduce the amount the mark territory as well.

 

[jorats]

I do want to add though that some males continue to mark even after a neuter. Some rats rely on marking to help them remember the way back home or remember that a certain spot has been visited by him before. It's instinctual and part of their nature. Most people keep their rats in one easy to clean area. I have a rat room. I let them play and roam for 2 hours a day and then I clean everything up once a week.

 

[TheBatcave]

I also have a rat room so I don't mind the marking And since I don't have plans to mixing the boys with girls I think I'll avoid the neutering, I don't want them to go through unnecessary operations if they don't need it really