Pet Forum / Mammals / Rats / December 2004

Oh yep... those nasty hormones causing much too much stress on these males.
I had two boys neutered. I had Chase neutered because he would attack our
hands, especially if it smelled of other rats.
I had Oliver neutered because he caused much too much havoc in the cage. He
would bite and over dominate his cagemates, to the point that at least two
of his cagemates were petrified of him.
Neutering both fellas completely removed the nasty side of them. Chase
became a darling and Oliver is the sweetheart in the cage, all the cagemates
love him now.
From what you described, neutering is really the only option in my opinion.
He's just not capable of dealing with the stress induced by hormones. From
the character you are describing, he will probably remain this way every
time a new rat joins the colony or if you change things around or new smells
are around him. He may become a bit more docile once he reaches 18 months,
but don't hold your breath on that one.
The procedure is not so invasive and they recover immediately. There has
been problems with infection afterwards so perhaps ask for antibiotics too.
My vet has performed many spays and neuters and has never lost a rat to
those procedures. If you have a good trusting vet, go for it. He will be
like a young pup again.

i've had excellent results with neutering aggressive rats. they've all
been able to live with other rats afterward, and they stopped biting
me as well.

--
petey was a pit bull
http://shattering.org
x-no-archive: yes in headers

I know exactly what you are going through, Tania, as Fudge started acting
the very same way around the beginning of November.  Everyone lived in
harmony until he hit ten months and then all hell broke loose!  As you may
remember Alvie died  a few weeks ago leaving me with just Fudge and Alvie's
brother, Max.  As it stands I have had them seperated for a couple of weeks
after Fudge attacked Max so viciously he left him with a gaping wound on his
belly.  I have been thinking about getting Fudge castrated in the new year
as I've had such success with it before.  I would definitely advise you to
go for it - he'll be like a different rat afterwards!

Tracey

I just recently had my Cookie neutered -he was a sweet and affectionate
little boy, but once his hormones kicked in it was crazy.  Have you ever
seen the coffee addict on Mad TV?  He was wound up and jerky like he had a
pot of coffee.  His poor cagemate had bites all over him -he never attacked
me, but if I took something from him he would grab my arm and nibble and
squeak at me like he was mad.  He was intense.  But we had him neutered and
after a few weeks he became more relaxed and more affectionate again.  It
was definitely worth it -his cagemate doesn't have the bites on him anymore
and he's much happier with a kinder and gentler Cookie.
I have another group of males I should have had neutered-they have never
allowed Cookie and his cagemate Radar to join their little ratty games
(sorry for the joke), one of them is more territorial than the others.  I
have learned to not put my hands on them when they are struggling with each
other and fighting-I've been bitten twice severely.  If you have to break up
a fight throw a towel on them.  It's much easier on the hands.
Good luck and let us know what you decide.
-Lisa