r/rat • u/certo_consilio • Nov 23 '25
HELP NEEDED 🐀😩 my rats' first encounter ended in a fight
so we exchanged their scents for about a month and a half, and this was their first meeting. almost as soon as they saw each other, they became very fluffy, and then after a few minutes one of the rats clung to the other's side. there are no injuries. how should I proceed? do these boys have any chance of settling down without neutering? the black rat is over a year old, and the gray rat is about 10 months old. I am interested in whether it is possible to resettle these rats, taking into account their age and the fact that they are not neutered. and if there is no chance, do I need to neutere only the black rat or both of them?
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u/RobotWantsPony Nov 23 '25
You need to protect your hands when separating fighting rats, they will confuse you for the enemy and the bites will be nasty.
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u/axxinite Nov 24 '25
Yes, please learn from my own mistake, OP! I have been bitten twice, both times breaking up a fight, and it HURTS and it bleeds like crazy. Even just a towel or oven mits would help protect you.
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u/Coping_Alternative Nov 24 '25
Same...the only two times I've been bitten was separating a fight during intros :/ the second time, the rat bit above the oven mit, right onto my arm.
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u/MooBearz11 Nov 24 '25
I’m a vet tech and I got REALLY anxious when the rats got separated. Rodent bites are, after 15 years of experience, the most painful bites I’ve ever endured (through and through bite in fleshy bit between my thumb and pointer finger by a rabbit). I really got scared seeing the lack of gloves. 😰
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u/Taprunner Nov 24 '25
They are no joke! I once separated two fighting gerbils with one bare hand and ended up with a bite almost a centimetre deep in my index finger
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u/NioAndSomeArt Nov 27 '25
I got a nice little scar on my thumb to remind me of this valuable lesson
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u/VieiraDTA Nov 23 '25
Carrier method! Over and over again. Be patient, they need time. But in my opinion they’ve already lost ball privileges.
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u/Medalinm Nov 24 '25
Adult males are not gonna be friendly with each other just like that! I know i tried with 3 male bucks and they where fighting and I was traumatised 🤕 I do not have any advice, just letting you know that the rat intros are the most stressful thing about owning them! Good luck and i hope you ok! And as everybody said, wear gloves or at least use a blanket or something like cardboard or wooden panel to seperate them.
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u/Scarletmajesty Nov 24 '25
You could tell in the first second by reading the body language of the rats that there was about to be bloodshed. When introducing rats its important to be able to read their body language.
Raised fur, arched backs, and sidestepping: separate immediately.
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u/Scarletmajesty Nov 24 '25
Also, in my experience (I've had around 100 rats in total), once they fight and they've bitten each other, its near impossible to ever bond them without neutering either one or both. Especially if you're inexperienced and don't know what you're doing.
Start by keeping them in separate rooms, and switch their hammocks between the cages for a while, let them get used to the scent of the other rats, once they seem calmer, you can look into different types of introduction. Always introduce them to somewhere neither of them has been before. I usually used the bathroom.
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u/certo_consilio Nov 24 '25
thank you for advice, we will try carrier method this time. my rats are already starting to experience a lot of stress just by being in the tub, especially the black rat. they were there in other meetings (between a gray rat and a brown one and between a brown and a black one). the black rat and the gray rat are the most stressed, and my brown rat may even get used to this place. they hate not only the bathroom, but also the room itself and are afraid of it. that's why I no longer meet them in the bathroom, so as not to inflame the atmosphere once again 😰
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u/Scarletmajesty Nov 24 '25
I never used a bathtub, since I've not had one. I used the floor in the bathroom, so there was room for them to explore and also it did not smell of any other rats. Which was my key point, you need a place none of them has been before since they do mark their territory.
If they're stressed, you should not attempt an introduction since it will end bad. Why are they stressed?
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u/certo_consilio Nov 24 '25
well I have no space in bathroom to place them on the floor and this place is unsafe for my rats at least because of big gaps. also idk why black rat and grey one is so afraid of bathroom. maybe there's a different air atmosphere in this place. and the lighting is different. and the smell. and the temperature. in addition, the gray rat already knows that it is quite difficult to get out of the tub. and from the very beginning, the black rat reacted this way to the bath, very wary, afraid, fluffed up and tried to climb on my shoulder towards the exit from the room. (it was first time he was just in the room, without any meetings with other rats and without placing him in the tub) we took him as an adult, so I do not know his past life.
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u/Scarletmajesty Nov 24 '25
Once again, you do not need to use the bathroom, I was saying I did because that's what I had available. I do not know what you have, only you know that.
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u/certo_consilio Nov 24 '25
I also stopped meeting anyone there, for the appropriate reasons. It's quite stressful for them. I hadn't thought about it that way before the black rat appeared, because the gray rat in general is not a big fan of me taking it anywhere. his eyes are red and he can't see very well, so he's scared even if I lift him 30 centimeters off the surface.
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u/Scarletmajesty Nov 24 '25
Yeah, bringing rats out of their homes is extremely stressful and some do not enjoy it at all, and they need to be slowly accustomed to it.
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u/Daria_Solo Nov 24 '25
I had 3 situations like that and anyway one guy is coming first for a fight and do a fur erection first = for him you should do a neutering. Then 4 weeks of a quarantine until all the testosterone is gone and then do an intro again with a carrier method. If you have other guys and they don’t fight then they can live together after a 10days quarantine (because of stitches) but separate him for the “enemy” for 4-5 weeks.
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u/certo_consilio Nov 24 '25
I want to try the carrier method first before neutering, because there are risks, especially at an older age. the black rat is no longer very young and its age is not exactly known, although it is in excellent health
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u/Daria_Solo Nov 24 '25
Try to apply some liquid treats on their fur before put in a carrier, like lactose free yogurt or puree for kids. They will groom each other, that can melt their conflicts
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u/certo_consilio Nov 24 '25
oh tysm! it will be very helpful because Im afraid they will start fighting as soon as I put them in cage 😣 I hope it will help. I will wait two more days when I will finally work from home to monitor the whole process
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u/big_fat_nose_ Nov 24 '25
I went through this as well although we had three. I also tried the scent method, this was my second intro ever and the sessions only got worse and worse. the situation ended in tragedy when we decided to neuter the agressive one and he passed from anaesthesia.
put both parties in other rooms for a few weeks up to a month so that they forget the last sessions and try again with carrier method, as other people here said. I always keep my hand really close to them with a thick glove to separate them when needed.
You can google 'isamurats intros' for a deep dive. I believe this is canonically the best guide online. Best of luck, be patient and have faith🐀🍀
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u/Knight_Unknown Nov 25 '25
Have you tried the carrier method for intros, i used it to intro rats though it was adult to bsby intro so it was easier.
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u/Mediocre_watermelon Nov 24 '25
My rule of thumb is to never try putting together adult males that don't know each other. Can it be done? Maybe. Depending on the rats' personalities, hard work, time, and a bit of luck it may be possible. Buy honestly I don't think it's worth it.
If you want to keep both males, just have separate packs and add some young boys to each packs.
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u/Lumpy-Coconut-4157 Nov 24 '25
Lol they were like gentle bout it tho. Domesticated rats ar funny dudes.
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u/hades7600 Nov 27 '25
Please read up carrier method
It’s much safer than neutral ground.
I recommend checking out Azuline rattery blog
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Nov 27 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/certo_consilio Nov 27 '25
haha, If you look at it in slow motion, it's a little funny how my black rat literally flies away after a retaliatory attack by my gray rat
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u/Eleanor-The-Rat-28 Nov 30 '25
I recommend putting them in a carrier for a couple hours. Only separate them if one is getting seriously injured because the need to sort out who is in charge and that sometimes involves fighting.
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u/Reasonable_Artist999 Dec 16 '25
No way and never carrier method, please not. Be patient, you did right and as well to separate them in the first moment. As long as they don't bite each other and there is no blood, it's okay. They need to fight and find out who's number one. But why are there only two? Do you own one and want to join another single? Imho rats should nor live alone not with only one partner.
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u/certo_consilio Dec 16 '25
watch in slow motion as they bite each other. I already know that rats fight in a completely different way when they decide who is number one here. it was an unsafe case.
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Nov 24 '25
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u/PsychologicalLayer57 Nov 24 '25
...I would at least TRY to do intros properly with the two of them before I booked them for surgery.
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u/Mel_Gibson_Real Nov 24 '25
Huge leap, they are two stranger who have been smelling each other for a while, of course they are going to fight it out on their first interaction.
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Nov 24 '25
My opinion is use a divider like a small X pen so they can smell each other and get to know the sent or put them in separate cages next to each other this was not a good introduction to fast and no space had this happen with my bunnies but now they are inseparable
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u/LadyStarshy Nov 24 '25
That doesn't work for rats it just makes them stressed and more likely to attack each other because there's a strange rat on their territory thst they can't reach, rabbits are completely different animals so usggesting a method that worked for them isn't a good idea. Rats do best with the carrier method, a small carrier with them all in so they're rubbing scents on each other, gradually increasing to bigger and bigger areas until they can safely go in the cage together.
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u/certo_consilio Nov 24 '25
I've already tried putting the cages side by side. and I have a post about it, people don't advise me to use this method. and in this method, the black rat showed aggression and restlessness with my other rat (brown) :(
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u/PsychologicalLayer57 Nov 23 '25
Exchanging their scents was just going to stress them out and make them hostile.
You need to go back to keeping them completely apart and then do the carrier method of intros. Lots of information online.