urgent help

dish · #1 12-31-2004, 11:31 PM

i have 2 rats, one looks like its had chunks taken out of her by the other one. ive watched them and the play prieity rough, thay are sisters. i have seperateded them. i was wandering if anyone else knows what it could be i had a guinea pig that looked simular but not as many marks on him i took him to the vet, he had mites. i was wondering if it could be the same thing the other rat is fine no marks on her at all. if the bite marks wont go away i will eventually take her to the vet but i dont trust vets. can any one help. i live in australia.

Magnum · #2 01-01-2005, 06:00 PM

I am sorry Dish about your rat.

I have no idea, other than it is bites from the other rat. Pepe was my only rat and he never got sick on me. I hope there will be someone else here that can help you. Good luck and please keep us updated on her.

amanda622 · #3 01-01-2005, 06:05 PM

sorry about ur rat too

although that always changes as i take in animals and birds
thats what you said^ do you take in dogs too or know someone that does ??

dish · #4 01-03-2005, 01:58 AM

i cant take in dogs, we dont have a back fence. at the moment i dont know any one that will take in a dog. do you live in australia? i can keep an eye out if you need a home for a dog.

#5 01-04-2005, 01:30 PM

Most likely, you did the best thing by seperating them... some rats don't like other rats, or sometimes they just don't like the same sex... so yeah, seperation is probably the best idea, though if you suspect mites I'd have that checked out before making any permanent decisions.

Painten · #6 01-05-2005, 09:08 PM

The problems with seperating them once is that you wont be able to put them back together again, so you'll alway's have to keep them seperate. I used to have 11 rats in 2 big cages, one for the girls and one for the boys. All got along famously although we were warned about seperating them and putting them back together again.

As said before if you suspect mites then it's best to get them looked at straight away.

Also do they have enough to play with? Any bored animal including rats will naw itself out of boredom. They need plenty to climb on and dangle on, we couldn't find a rat wheel but found a chinchilla wheel for them to run on as well as tree branches to climb on, although be carefull as they will naw on them and some trees are poisonous to them.

I hope that they get better soon. Let us know

ChihuahuaCat · #7 01-06-2005, 01:21 AM

I used to have 21 rats in the same cage and they sure got along fine, even though on was extra mean to us she was fine with the other rats. I also used to have mice and they never got along (unless it was a boy and girl). One of the mice ate the other mouse's eye. My cousin's mice attacked each other too. I do't know if this is the same with rats but I hope this helps!

dish · #8 01-08-2005, 07:30 AM

i have had problems with them from the start. they where both brought from the pe, shop both sisters, both getting along well. classi stopped growing and got a bit sick, then they started fighting. (but no blood). so i seperated them, and brought a mouse. class and the mouse got along well untill she started growing then they didnt get along. so i took class to the vet. the vet said that she will never grow much bigger and she was probably going to die, he said it was a genetic defect. so i put class back in with her sister banger. banger started piking on her again but while they where seperated thay missed each other. it has only been in the last couple of weeks that banger has gotten violent. and the vet was wrong i fed her up and she is almost the same size as her sister and has gotten over her sickness. i had her for 5 months, she was 1 month old when i took her to the vet (i have changed vets). it looks as if she is healing. i dont particularly want to go to the vet i have been there already this week with a guinea pig having trouble with her pregnacy.

Amanda · #9 01-08-2005, 09:01 AM

Sorry to hear you're having problems with your rats. My son has two rats (they are brothers) and one of them is more dominant than the other one. Sometimes they fight because I hear them squealing at night, and sometimes one will have some slight blood stains on his fur but nothing major. I think it's a good idea that you separated them if you suspect that the other rat is biting hard enough to take chunks out of the other one.