My 6 month old boy, Gideon, also known as the most adorable teeny black sheep ever
larger version here:
http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2935851930079481592mmrXZoAnyway, my Gideon is 6 months today and has been a nasty little brat lately! He is very sweet and licky to me, but puffs up and tries to pee on other rats during free range time and sometimes in the cage. He does the crabhopping thing and shoves the other boys until they squeak, and has caused my other rats to jump up and bonk their heads
by pouncing them while they're hiding under the bed. He hasn't given anybody major injuries- the only actual cut he inflicted was an ear nip- but he is being a very dominant boy and making the huffy noises at the other boys every single free range time. He calms down if I grab him and roll him over for a moment, but if I don't intervene he will chase another rat around the room for a couple minutes at a time and pounce and lift his leg if he catches them.
I would just neuter him and be done with it, but I have another boy who tends toward the dominant and obsessive marking side, but calmed down after he and Gideon had a long kangaroo boxing session. The other dominant male is less so by far, but is definitely an irritating constant pee-er when he is the cage boss, which he has stopped doing since Gideon usurped him- but he doesn't beat up on the others like Gideon does. I'm worried if Gideon becomes submissive to Obie, then Obie will take back over and go back to peeing on literally every inch of the cage and sneaking up to visitors to pee on them! A neuter isn't an option for Obie unless it becomes truly necessary, not just a way to reduce annoying boss rat habits.
Neuter or no neuter?
