cuts.

Question
Hi, I had two bucks that would fight all the time. It got to the stage that they became covered in little wounds. I booked an appointment to have them both neutered. The vet decided only to neuter the smaller of the two so that he would not challenge the bigger one. Since he was neutered the smaller one lost some weight and I assumed this was because he didn't have the urge to make himself bigger to become the alpha. I realised a few weeks ago that he had lost a lot of weight and was very thin. He would take food from me fine, and I suspected he was being bullied by his brother. They were both covered in little cuts again so I decided to get his brother neutered too. A week after that I found the smaller boy dead in the cage. He had been active the night before and I had hoped that by having his brother neutered he would begin to gain weight again but I was too late. Since he died his brother has been scratching a lot, so much so that one side of his body has lots of cuts. Is this stress, or could there have been a problem with both rats that caused the death of the smaller one, meaning his older brother is still at risk? The vet checked him over before neutering him and didn't pick up on anything. I'm just worried.

Answer

Kris

What kind of bedding do you use?  I Know this sounds insane to ask but it may be a link.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that your other rat died from either heart problems or kidney problems. I am guessing that the anesthesia caused problems to an already possibly diseased heart or ailing kidneys and the anesthesia after the neuter just put the disease into full gear which is why he failed to thrive and started to lose weight and eventually passed away.
I am not sure why the vet did not want to neuter both at the same time and what is up with this challenge of his brother thing, but if they were both low on testosterone nobody would challenge each other and they would have just been calm and serene for the most part. I always neuter in pairs if they are aggressive with each other.

Your rat may have dry skin or he may have allergies due to his diet. What does he eat daily?
The cuts are from a possible reaction to an allergen and from scratching which is another reason I asked about the bedding. THere are two reasons really but I will wait to see first.

I do not think the bigger buck is in any danger but he may be lonely. Stress from all of this may wonk out his immune system so I would consider a new cagemate for him once his hormone levels drop and he becomes a prince.  You can get a nice girl for him if you wait 3 weeks after his surgery.  He will love her and she will love him and no worries about little ratlets since he is all fixed up!