We've put Witter and Jim together for at least 20 minutes every night since Tuesday. Wednesday we moved from the tub to the bed, and that was pretty uneventful.
Last night on the bed, tho, Witter started nipping at Jim--he'd bite, hold on, drag him a bit. He didn't really try to make nice with him, and we cut it short. Before we ended the session, tho, we did notice Jim wasn't exactly afraid of Witter. He was still going up to his side, crawling over his head and peeing on him, as well as crawling over and beneath Witter. We were trying to figure out what it meant.
Today, we figured it out. We put them together on the bed; Jim greeted Witter by crawling over his head and peeing on him. Witter would groom Jim; Jim would either push Witter away, or squirm away, then start climbing over and below Witter.
Also, Jim was not at all afraid, and at times, it almost looked as if Witter was trying to get away from Jim. There was more nipping and grabbing, by both rats.
Suddenly, Jim mounted Witter--a big power move. He mounted him again, then a third time. It was obvious: They both want to be the Alpha.
We let them continue, and to me it seemed their play was a bit more heated. Jim did groom Witter, just a bit, and it was on Jim's terms--not Witter's. Evenually, they both started ignoring each other and we ended the intro session.
***
One thing we'll have to be careful of if we do cage these two together is, basically, adolescence. From ages 3 months to six months or so, male rats get a huge flood of testosterone flowing. This can lead to extra aggresion from a male rat.
Keep in mind Jim is about three months old, just about the time for him to start asserting himself. Witter is certainly bigger than Jim, but they both have razor-sharp chisels for teeth--a real fight between the two of them could be very tragic.
We could have Jim neutered, but we'd like to avoid that if at all possible. After all, Witter still has his testicles. Neutering Jim would put him at a disadvantage.
It's very possible we may be faced with some difficult decisions in the next three months.
Posted by Publius at February 13, 2004 08:59 PM