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Old July 4th, 2006, 01:36 PM
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Angelica Angelica is offline
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Question My rat has become aggressive, please help!

I have 2 lovely rats which I recently had to separate because Mojo was bullying Kenco, (stopping him from coming out to play and constantly biting him so hard that Kenco would squeal very loud), but now Mojo has become really aggressive and seems to just run around the room looking for things to bite! I have rat-proofed the room so its not too bad except that he then comes up to me and searches for a bit of flesh to sink his teeth into! He has done this the past 3 nights and I am running out of ideas so does anyone have any info on how to re-tame a rat or anything similar?

Cheers!

Last edited by White Wolf; July 4th, 2006 at 11:18 PM.
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Old July 4th, 2006, 02:10 PM
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LavenderRott LavenderRott is offline
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I don't know about rats but when a dog has such a complete change of temperment it is usually due to a health problems.
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Old July 4th, 2006, 04:18 PM
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LibbyP LibbyP is offline
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I dont know anything about rats, are they boys or girls? Maybe your one is just maturing? Hope everything works out okay I'm sure it doesn't tickle when he bites
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Old July 4th, 2006, 05:05 PM
gholy gholy is offline
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Is there something else wrong?

Is the rat eating and defecating properly? Perhaps there's an underlying health issue making him act out aggressively.
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Old July 4th, 2006, 06:01 PM
HunterXHunter HunterXHunter is offline
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What are their sexes?
Did you get one of them recently?

I had a hamster when I was really young (gr. 6?) and one day my dad bought me another hamster. Soon, they were fighting (or so I thought) and then one day I woke up to take a look at them and I thought one hamster ripped the other one into pieces! (I wasn't wearing my glasses, and I just woke up) It scared the sh!t out of me, but when I looked closer, they were 6 baby hamsters
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Last edited by HunterXHunter; July 4th, 2006 at 06:04 PM.
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Old July 5th, 2006, 11:51 AM
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Angelica Angelica is offline
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They are both boys, he seems to be eating and defecating normally, I think it is the fact that I separated them to protect the little one... as he used to take out his aggression on the little one now he has to take it out on someone else!

He acts perfectly normal when I take him out but after a bit he just comes over and tries to find some part of me to bite! And not lightly either, he always draws blood the little
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Old July 5th, 2006, 11:52 AM
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Angelica Angelica is offline
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Sorry only just read that bit about the hamsters, aww bless!!!
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Old July 5th, 2006, 03:50 PM
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Angelica Angelica is offline
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Exclamation He's getting worse:(

I sat with Mojo yesterday with a long-sleeved top on and all my flesh covered and he was okay for about 40 mins but then he seemed to have some sort of psycho moment, jumping round madly and then running round trying to find things to bite... He then bit my top, trying to get through to my arm underneath, I lifted my arm up and he was actually hanging on by his teeth! I put him away and when I got him out tonight he was ok for only about 2 minutes and I was sitting with a towel over my legs and bare arms today and he ran over and bit the towel and dragged it off me and then came back trying to bite my skin! I really don't know what to do with him, could neuturing be a solution if it is his 'male dominating hormones' making him need to have something to bully? Please help!! :sad:
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Old July 5th, 2006, 04:19 PM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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It doesn't happen very often, but some male rats get very pumped on testosterone upon sexual maturity and can become aggressive.

Neutering is the answer.
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Old July 5th, 2006, 04:25 PM
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Angelica Angelica is offline
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Thank you Lucky Rescue, I was wondering about neuturing though... is it likely to hurt him/is it very dangerous/is it a very common procedure?
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Old July 5th, 2006, 04:33 PM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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I had my own rat neutered. He remained totally sweet until he passed away. Just make sure the vet has knowledge of operating on rodents and knows what kind of anesthetic to use - usually isoflurane, but I think there is one even better now for very small animals.

My rat didn't even have stitches, just glue, and was fine in a few days. I just had to use pellets as bedding until the incision healed, since the aspen shavings I normally used may have stuck to the cut.

Neutering/spaying can also reduce or eliminate the incidence of tumours in rats.
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Old July 5th, 2006, 04:47 PM
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Angelica Angelica is offline
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Cheers mate, very grateful! xx
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