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Re: Squabbling Rats

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moonglow minnow

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Jan 3, 2010, 4:36:03 PM1/3/10
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Jennie Kermode wrote:

> I realise it's natural for rats living together to fight and
> establish dominance. As long as I've known them (four months now),
> they've wrestled, and Oreo (who is slightly larger and stronger) will
> turn Guinness onto her back to signal dominance. What concerns me is
> that lately this has been getting more aggressive. It's started to
> include biting, and Guinness has gone from making unhappy submissive
> noises to actually squeaking in pain. It's not all one sided, though -
> Guinness has sneaky ways of getting even, like waiting until Oreo is on
> the lower level and then tipping water over her.

Are you certain that Guinness is squeaking in pain? There are some
submissive rats that actually squeal with pleasure, especially if
they're being tickled or powergroomed. Is there blood being drawn? Are
there attacks to the neck or genitals? If not, it's usually still play
tussling and the best thing to do is leave them to it.

I would check for little scratches around the face and shoulders,
though, which may indicate mites or lice which cause rats to become
grumpy with each other. The safest and most effective treatment is
Revolution (selamectin), which needs to be acquired from a vet. The
second best is ivermectin - insist on a topical or oral treatment rather
than the injection. If you need help with dosing or figuring out how to
find ivermectin without seeing a vet just ask. Freezing bedding for at
least 48 hours before use (or switching to fabric or a paper pellet
based bedding) can prevent future infestations.

minnow >^..^<
--
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Maxwell Hammer

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Jan 3, 2010, 5:11:50 PM1/3/10
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moonglow minnow <tahee...@charter.net.invalid> wrote in
news:7qcgu4...@mid.individual.net:

> Are you certain that Guinness is squeaking in pain? There are some
> submissive rats that actually squeal with pleasure, especially if
> they're being tickled or powergroomed. Is there blood being drawn? Are
> there attacks to the neck or genitals?

Heh. Jenny has BDSM rats. That figures.

Max

moonglow minnow

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Jan 3, 2010, 6:05:21 PM1/3/10
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It's actually pretty common. Being pinned and powergroomed is actually a
comforting thing to rats lower on the dominance scale, as it reinforces
that when things get scary they can rely on the higher-up rats.

And it's been scientifically proven that rats like to be tickled. They
just have to use their teeth to tickle each other.

minnow >^..^< crazy rat lady?

TenshiKurai9

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Jan 9, 2010, 2:00:07 PM1/9/10
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On 2010-01-03, moonglow minnow <tahee...@charter.net.invalid> wrote:
> minnow >^..^< crazy rat lady?

While still being a crazy cat lady.

-TenshiKurai9

moonglow minnow

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Jan 9, 2010, 2:48:05 PM1/9/10
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I seem to take in the ones who need me regardless of species. Too much
of a softie, I guess.

minnow >^..^<

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