dominant brother

Question
I have two male sibs, 3-4 months old.  One has been attacking the other daily.  There has been some blood drawn recently.  The other rat always behaves submissively, yet still gets nailed.  The submissive rat seems to be having upper respatory issues and I'm taking him to the vet Mon.  Do I need to seperate them or neuter one?  Should I wait till the submissive one gets healthier and see if the aggression stops.  I would hate to seperate them as I like that they have eachother--but they really don't seem to like each other much.  Any ideas?  Thanks Sandy

Answer
Yes, you need to separate them.

One of two things is happening here,
The subordinate became ill with Myco and the dominate is picking on him because he is sick, or...
The subordinate has been stressed out from being picked on and this has allowed his immune system to be compromised, leading to a bout of active Myco.

Whenever blood has been drawn, separation is a must.

Research "surgery for rats" before considering a neuter for the aggressive male. Rat surgeries are different then dog or cat surgeries.

spazrats
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