Fighting

Question
I have two intact male rats (Sweens and Darko). Their entire lives they've been very cuddly and close, rarely fighting. As their third cage mate (Bandit) grew up (he was ~ 4 months younger), they all started boxing more often. I assumed they were just sorting out their hierarchy. Sometimes it got pretty severe and Darko suffered a nasty bite to his paw. I tried separating them but they would cuddle up through the bars and both became less active, so I put them back together.

Bandit passed away recently and since then Sweens and Darko have been really having at it. I'm talking full on rocking the cage screaming fights. Their cage is large with a huge number of hideouts so I don't think it's a space issue. Maybe they're rearranging their hierarchy?

I'm wondering if there's any way to pacify them. They spend 90% of their time snuggled and playing and the other 10% fighting so loudly that it wakes me up.

Answer
Hi,
Sweens and Darko are probably sorting out who's boss.
You could try to feed them TOGETHER because if one doesn't have food the other will fight for it.the fights seem more then sorting out who's boss would suggest that you start all over like you would if one of them is a new rat. Do a day then a week having them in a sepperate cage getting each other's smells,but they now each other so this might not be much of a help. Unfortunatly males especally ones from different litters fight. To break up their fights I would use a water bottle sprayer to startle them and then do I very loud firm: "NO!"
They will eventually calm down. There really isn't much you can do to stop them because they do have their own mind.
Hope this helped
Emma
If you have any more questions please don't hesitate to ask!
Sorry for some mis-spellings when I try to fix them I have to retype the whole thing again!