How Do Rats Fight With Each Other?
WouterWhen rats are fighting, they usually engage in aggressive behaviour. These fights may involve shoving, sidling, and pincers. The aggression escalates depending on the reaction of the victim. The end result can be a violent, full-blown fight. Rats often use different strategies, depending on the size and strength of the victims.
Rats do not necessarily want to fight each other. Instead, they try to establish dominance by engaging in dominance behaviors. For example, if a rat is aggressive towards another, it will walk sideways into the other rat and push it into a corner. If the other rat does not respond in kind, it may freeze up and run away, or even push back. A more serious fight between two rats is called boxing. In this type of fight, both rats are cross with each other.
Rats fight to establish dominance and establish a hierarchy. These fights begin as early as three months of age, but they can get more intense as the animals mature. When pets are young, play-fighting is not a big deal, but between six and twelve months, it becomes a major issue. If you want to prevent your pet rats from getting hurt, consider the following tips.
If rats fight, the defending rat must be able to roll over, thus preventing its opponent from moving forward. Using this strategy, the defending rat will attempt to roll over onto its back, while the attacking rat attempts to hit the defender’s nape. When the defender rolls onto its back, it will block the attacker’s movement with its hind feet.
