I have a white albino dumbo named Socks. I had an old berkshire named Cocoa who was a little aggressive, but not much. He often, often, OFTEN fought with Socks. (Cocoa was a petstore rat, so I didn't breed him, but I got him to be cage mates with socks. See, I live in a smaller town, so I have to go out of town to get bred rats, so if I'm not getting breeders, I'll just get petstore rats.)

Since many of my boys have fought before, I didn't pay much attention. Until Socks started looking thinner and beat up. "Sibling Rivalry," I thought to myself, giving the rats MORE food so they wouldn't fight. (I don't know if that was the best thing to do, but I've never had this happen before.)
Days passed and every day Socks looked a little more ruffled. Not hurt, but ruffled. You know? He didn't look quite himself and he was still a little thin.
Then, at night, the rats kept me awake at night fighting. It got really bad, and I was starting to get worried.  I didn't know what to do and I didn't know about this forum. (I found this online searching for rat stuff.) So, I watched them fight and separated them as much as I could.
Then one morning, I woke up and saw Socks. He was missing a toe, and there was a dried blood scab where most of his toe used to be. He had two bloody nicks in his ear, cuts all over his tail and there were several bleeding gashes on his back. He could walk, but he was limping, and it obviously hurt for him to be held. I freaked out.
I put Socks in a separate cage. He stopped bleeding soon and his wounds turned to large scabs, and some of the hair around them fell out and was pulled out in the fight.
The first thing I did was give Cocoa to a good home. I couldn't keep him if he was going to hurt his cage mate, so I gave him away to a friend.
Then, I focused on Socks. He was getting better and he gained the weight back fast. In a little less than a week, most of his scabs disappeared. The only thing left was his hair.
And now that is almost all grown out. So his plush white coat is thick and soft once more. The nicks in his ear and his missing toe will always be there, but at least I still have my Socks.

You may be wondering why I posted this... 
Two reasons-

1) I wanted to express my joy that Socks is healthy, no longer limps, and is completely better with his new cage mate 2 month old Coke.

2) For anyone who has an aggressive rat, and thinks that they may be aggressive, DON'T keep him with other rats! There are dire consequences. Socks could have been killed. I rescued him just in time. Keep your aggressor in an isolated cage. If you can't keep him like I couldn't, get him a home. A great home is a family who only want one rat instead of two.
I'm sad that I had to give away Cocoa, but I'm glad that Socks is okay.

And that's my story for today. lol 

Emily

I'm also a bit confused...why couldn't you keep Cocoa??  Did you try introductions first?  That might have helped in this kind of situation if you did that first before moving Socks in with Cocoa...Well I'm glad Socks is ok excpet for his few  battle scars...Still confused about the situation though....

It took four weeks for my 18mon to accept two 8week olds.
It wasn't always a pretty sight to see the babies pushed hard or flipped but that's just how it goes sometimes.

As for Socks and Cocoa..
How long did the intros go?
How did you introduce them?

sarahem007- Socks wasn't just being pushed and flipped- he was bitten until he bled. I introduced them gradually over a few weeks on my bed and in the bathtub. I switched their cages so that they would get used to each other's scent. Then, after all this ordeal, I changed out the litters in one of the cages and put them in there. I think that's the right process. That's what I've always used before...

Reverend Sin- All my cages are for temporary cages. (I'm also a babysitter for my friends' rats and a temporary foster owner for rescue feeders) I'm not allowed to keep more than a few long term rats at a time, and I have four right now.  (I still live at home. I'm 16.) I don't breed often, as I only have a few rats. I always get a list first, so somtimes I breed only a couple times a year. My parents will not allow me to go out of town often, so I only get breeder rats when i'm already out of town, so if I can't go out of town and I don't have any babies and I've had a rat die (which isn't often, thank goodness, but sometimes they die from old age) then I get a companion for my breeder rats cause I don't want them to be alone, even if that rat is a petstore rat.

Phew! Sorry for the long entries; I just get carried away sometimes, lol, so... yeah. My life is sort of confusing.

Em

possibly, but I didn't want to take the chance with Socks... he was pretty hurt, so I found Cocoa a good home and that was the best I could do at the time.

Really? Except Cocoa was already nearly a year old, so he didn't have much longer to live cause he was pretty old... 
But does neutering really help? 

Yes, neutering can and does help.  Not in all cases, but when the aggression is hormone related, it can make a difference.

Like Menagerie said, a year old certainly isn't old.  I'm also curious as to how long your rats usually live to?