.. and now my first rat-to-rat bite.

[anaphylaxis]

Okay, I knew Elfy was exhibiting a lot of dominant behavior, and there was stuffling, but there didn't seem to be any REAL problem.  They were grooming each other and sleeping together; everything seemed okay from the start.

These two rats would be submissive to anyone, I thought.  Well, today I found Never with a bite wound on her foot.  There's all this blood, and I've never seen anything like it.  I feel awful.  It's clotted, but she's biting at it and leaving little tracks.  I put Blu-Kote on it just because it was the first thing I thought of, but I think I'm going to give her a little soap-free bath to help get off the blood-chunk she's grooming.

Somebody please tell me what to do here, with her foot and with the pair of them.  Obviously they're separated right now, and I put her in a really clean cage.

I'm really sorry, I had no idea.  I don't know what happened.  

[anaphylaxis]

Okay, I've been using Neosporin and the bleeding has stopped.  I don't think she's limping anymore, either.

I just don't get it.  Both of these rats are SO sweet, but together there's a total dominance thing going on.  I've never seen anything like this in girls.  

I'm gonna have to start calling Elfy Dr. Jekyll.  

(TEK's Never is so sweet though you could just fall over and die.  I feel so bad that I put her in danger.)

[anaphylaxis]

Why hasn't anyone replied to this?  Did I do something awful?

The two girls are still separated, but the cages are right next to each other.  Never's toe is looking much better now.

Elfy shows a LOT of interest in Never through the cage bars, but I don't know if she wants to play or if she wants to eat her.  I'll assume I'm going to have to try some more hyper-supervised bathtub play before anything else, but I'd really appreciate some advice.

The lack of replies is convincing me that I'm too horrible to bother with. :P~

[stodda29]

You're not horrible...I've just got no experience with rat-to-rat bites, so I can't offer much except that it's good you got it all cleaned up and that she doesn't seem to be permanently damaged.  I'd definitely supervise them when you put them back together, though I'm afraid I can't offer any better advice than that.  I haven't yet encountered this with my girls, and I don't know what I'd do if I did.

Sorry not terribly helpful...

[kicki]

Girls can be like that... instead of having one BIG fight about who's in charge, they can bicker their whole life.  

There are no garanties it will not happen again, and bloodshed should not be accepted but there is not much you can do about , really.
Supervise them, let them spend time together only when you are close. Then, if it seems OK, try putting them together again and hope for the best.

I keep my oldest girl in a separate cage over night sometimes when she seems too stressed out by the young ones. If I fail to do so, one of my small girls will probably get bitten and I feel like the worst mom in thew world for not keeping her safe.  

Other days they are friends, sleep together, groom eachother and so. IOn a way it would be easier if they fought all the time - that way I would know for sure...

But rats do heal well, just keep the wound clean and it should heal in a few days.

[elegy]

how long had they been living together? if it wasn't long, maybe go back and do intros more slowly? lots of playtime together, etc.

as to her foot- i've always found keeping it clean and a little bit of neosporin a couple times a day will heal it up fine, but if you see any signs of infection, get her to a vet.