My female killed my male!!

[eel88]

Well i have(had) 6 females to one male. I have breed rats in the past, stopped and started again. Recently i built a rat rack to supply my feeding needs. I succesfully breed two females then the third killed my male. I found him dead in the rack. Now i didn't clean her cage( it isn't thursday yet) and i just put him in there. Did she smell something she didn't like or...... What do i do to prevent this in the future. I don't want a lot of males so should i clean the cage before switching or put the female in the males designated cage?

[Royalherper]

I put my females in the male's cage for about a week. Then I put her back in her own cage w/another female or two to keep her company. I don't have alot of experience with rats so I'm not saying this is how its suppose to be done. It works well for me and no rats dead yet.

[MarkS]

I usually just choose BIG males for my breeders so they can't get beat up as easily. (my males seem to get huge fast, I've always got some that I've set aside to raise up for the burms and usually choose the biggest ones for my breeders) The only times I've had females kill the males was when the males were younger and the same size or smaller then the female.

Mark

[Gecko Den]

He must have left the toilet seat up......

[littleindiangirl]

We usually put the female into the males cage to prevent her from thinking he has invaded her territory. Personally, I would have tossed her to the bloods. I love my boys, ain't no hoe gonna mess with them.

[frankykeno]

I use large breeder tubs so everyone goes into a clean, just setup tub for a breeding rotation (usually 1 male and 3 females). That way nobody's scent is down there and there's a nice full water bottle and a big bowl of food to keep them busy while everyone settles in. I recently did have a female go after one of my males and really give him a bad bite. I was considering putting her down as I really dislike nasty rats but decided to try her with a different male. He took her right in hand, flipped her over into a submissive posture on her back and everything's been fine since (he's my prime of life alpha male rat, nobody bosses him around LOL).

[xdeus]

Are you sure she killed the male? Did you see any wounds on her that may have indicated a fight? The reason I ask is that males are usually twice the size of a female and I can't imagine a female killing a male without receiving some wounds herself.

It could be that he died of other reasons and she may have started to consume the body. I could see how that would look like she killed him.

[Freakie_frog]

Rat fights are common in large breeding groups. I have had one or two males come out with little nips or holes in their ears. But nothing like what your talking about. Keep an eye on that female if they get in that habit it might be time to feed her off if you have a big boa. Or put her down and move on.

Best of luck

[K80tik]

He must have left the toilet seat up......

HAHAHAHA........... i agree... male+toilet seat up= instant death

[eel88]

Oh yeah she was feed to my female ball python the next day. See i just started again with the rats so the male was still pretty small and the female has always been aggressive even towards me so she is gone now. When i go pick up my female rtb this week ill grab a few more.