Feeder Rats - more information

Question
Hi,

I just sent you a couple questions about our new pet rats (them being feeder rats, sneezing, etc.). I forgot to tell you their ages, which might be helpful.

The people at the pet store were not sure, but they were listed as "small" rats in the feeder category. One woman said they were 6 months old but seemed to be completely guessing. The other man referred to them as "babies."

If memory serves me correct they are about the size of our last pair when we got them, who were supposedly 3 months old.

I would say Fender and Gibson (our new rats) are about the size of a medium egg (excluding heads and tails).

They are also squabbling a bunch with some squeaking. I am pretty sure this is just little boy (they are male) antics, but my partner is nervous. Again, this is due to our experience with our last pair of male rats who we had to permanently separate at about a year of age due to extreme fighting (vicious biting/blood being drawn/going for the eyes) and who we could not reconcile despite following all the advice given to us by various experts. Is there any chance Fender and Gibson are on this road/is there anything we could do to avoid that? It was very sad to have to separate the last pair.

Thanks again for your help.

Answer
Check out my website and go to the page I made with my boys on it.  I have to update it now that they are 9 months old, but I have photos of them when they were 3 and 4 months old. Your rats sound like they are young, around 3 months, maybe 4.  Sandyscrittercity.com and refer to the page WATCH MY BOYS GROW.   

Also, you asked about fighting.  You will notice my rats always rolling around in a ball, all three of them, or just two.  This is very normal to do. They chase each other and wrestle. Totally normal for them.  

IF you do run into the fighting again  (Sadly, I have a few times) you can neuter them. Neutering is a good way to calm down a hormonal male and a good vet that is very qualified to treat rats is all you need. I can help you find names before you even need a vet.  Remember, even if a vet says they see exotics at their facilyt, this does not mean in any way that they are certified in avian/exotics.  Sadly, if you have 1000 vets that say they treat rats, out of 1000 of them, chances are only ONE is certified in exotics (there are only 130 in the world) and maybe 200 are really truly qualified to treat rats.  200 out of 1000.  Thats sad. Damn sad.  So its wise to prepare for a rat that may need medical care ahead of  time. Secure names of good vets and locate an ER clinic that treat rats. Seems rats get sick after hours and on weekends.

So, should Fender and Gibson  (seems we have guitar fans here?  How about Van and Halen? LOL)
anyhow.....where was I? Oh.....should Fender and Gibson show true aggression, neutering them is a good way to resolve this.