rats killing eachother?

[serpenteye]

My boyfriend has a few colonies of rats going at his house, and i guess that one of the females killed and ate most of the male that was in with her. Does this happen a lot with rats? I think that he has one male and one female in each box. They had water and food. Any ideas on why?

Thanks very much.
-SH

[jukerca]

made the mistake and put two males together..?not sure with rats but with some other animals they can sense if there sick or week and will dispose of them...the only prob i've ever had was sometimes the mother eating her babies....nun the less i would wack her to make sure it doesn't do it again..plus it would have extra protien right about now eh..

[maritimExotics]

sorry, was logged in under another name (jukerca)? eitehr way good luck with that..

Ryan

[annieb_mice]

There could be a few reasons why the female "attacked" and killed the male. But first... are you CERTAIN she attacked him? Rats will eat the bodies of their bin-mates if they are already dead.
Is there enough protein in her diet? A pregnant or nursing doe may attack and eat other cagemates if she isn't getting enough protein in her diet, though this is a lot more common in mice.
Was the bin large enough for both her and the male and any potential litters? If the doe was pregnant and the male was constantly harrassing her and the bin was too small, she may have finally gotten fed up with him and attacked him.
Perhaps the male died on his own and she took advantage and started eating? This is common among mice if there isn't enough food, water, or if they are fed a low quality diet.
Did she come from a line of "aggressive" rats? Her temperament could be genetic.
Personally, I would wait a bit to determine if she is actually pregnant. If she is, let her raise the litter to the size you need/want, and then kill her. I would not recommend using any of her young, at least not the females, for breeding.
Also... is she aggressive towards you? Has she shown any aggressive tendencies in the past towards other rats? If she is the slightest bit aggressive, I would suggest killing her and getting another female.
Good luck.
Annie B. <:3 )~~