All of the females are looking pregnant now so I moved the males to 55 gallon tank by themselves. There were 3 males in that tank. All was going ok (I thought) for the past 4 days and then this morning as I was changing water and feeding them, I noticed the smallest male had blood by his nose. He usually hides in the tube (now I know why ) I took him out and he's all beat to **** and looking skinny!!! His tail, back, mouth, eye, privates and nose are all open sores like the others tag-teamed the poor guy. I put the guy in an old bird cage (parakeet, are the bars small enough?) and gave him food and water. What do I do with all these bite marks he has?? It doesn't seem to bother him, but I know he's gotta be a hurting unit! There has to be at least 25+ bites just on his rump area alone!
I have triple antibiotic ointment and Iodine (has to be diluted a bit withwater). Is this good enough? How do I do the eye area? It's pratty swollen but it's open yet.
I feel like **** this happened,even though he's just a feeder rat, but he's the daddy to the first litter and is a real friendly little guy...
Thanks, Jem

You need to get the little man to a vet quickly! He may be in shock and needs those wounds addressing properly. Rats live very well together, even males, and in fact need company, but sometimes there are the select few that just don't get on with each other. Sometimes they will fight to establish hierarchy but other times they may just not be compatible companions. You're gonna need to get him a new cage, and give him some recovery time. Keep us updated - even though he is a breeder rat, he is still an animal that deserves the same care as any other animal. Good luck

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

I called and he has a vet appointment for tomorrow morning....The vet told me what to do with the wounds until he can see him.
For now he (Captain Mac is his name now) is cleaned up and resting inside my shirt He ate and is drinking to.

Bitis? Will he be better with a heating pad under his cage tonight? He seems to love it in my sweatshirt but he can't sleep there all night! LOL
I don't have another tank to move him into that he won't get out of. The place called today and told me my reptile tank tops were in but I can't get there for a few days. Some day I hate living in the boonies....I feel so bad that this happened!

By the way, it's a brand new bird cage just that we sold the bird...the cat was stressing the bird out way too bad! I said "old" as in...it was laying around here and not being used

Sorry for the late response - you shouldn't use a heating pad. Rats don't do well in warm conditions, and although he will love it snuggled in your top, where it is warm he will get too hot with a heating pad and it may cause further health problems. Rats generate a lot of heat when curled up together - perhaps think about putting a cuddly toy in there with him for him to snuggle up next to, and later when he is better, maybe get him a companion.

Make sure he has lots of food and water, and lots of TLC - he'll be fine in no time! And don't feel bad - it couldn't be helped, boys will be boys and nature is nature.. these things happen. At least he is getting the proper care and treatment now. Good luck with the vets and send lots of love to Captain Mac from my girls over here - he's a stud to them!

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

This morning Captain Mac is asleep and cuddled up in his tube with some bedding that he packed up in there. He wasn't happy that I woke him up to check him out though His eye looks better but his tail looks kind of rough yet.
He will be seeing the vet soon...I'll let ya know how it goes.

Bitis, I didn't use the heating pad because I wasn't sure if I should. I looked at some pet rat sites and they said they would rather be on the cool side and can overheat, so I didn't use it.

Captain Mac had a good check up this morning. The vet cleaned his sores with antibacterial soap and scrubbed his poor tail. He said to leave Mac with the ladies fom now on so the males don't beat him again. Unless he goes into a tank with males that are smaller than he is. He got antibiotics and was sent home.
He's asleep on my shoulder as I type this after another long day
Jem

glad everything is going well. poor guy went thru alot.

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yes i am a she ^_^

~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
1 Anertherystic Corn (male) Bullet
1 Senegal Parrot (male) Shadow
2 dogs (male) Spot (RIP) and Bear

i hope after this he is a breeder / pet - and no longer considered a feeder animal ;-) - since he has obviously commanded a spot in your heart - (and wallet)

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The keeper of the black widow.

Good point!

I wouldn't advise this - he needs time to recover so for now I would just leave him on his own, and make sure he gets lots of attention, or get a smaller male to keep him company. If you have him in with the female you also run the risk of him bothering them all the time and causing stress to them.

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004