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One of my females has some scabs on her back. There are a couple fairly small shallow sores on her back from behind her ears to the top of the curve of her back. Could she be fighting with another rat or could the male be hurting her to show dominance? I know too much protein can also cause sores but I don't think she's getting too much. She gets dog food with about 25% protein that is mixed with a seed & grain mix. She is the only rat I own with this problem. If anybody has any ideas please let me know

Thanks!
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Anna

The Zoo
Corns
1.0 Snow - Cornelius
1.1 Ghost(pastel) - Eek & Boo
1.1 Amel - Parker & Scarlet
0.1 Hypo - Nikko
0.1 Anery - Missy
0.1 Hypo Motley - Cordelia aka Cordy
Boas
0.1 Columbian (BCC) - Bella
Lizards
1.0 Leopard Gecko - Leo
Rats
0.1 Dumbo Agouti - Moon
1.0 Silvered Black - Pluto
1.0 Powder Blue - Corner
Plus the breeders
Cats
1.1 Siamese - Blue & Fiona
0.1 Gray DMS - Druscilla aka Dru
Horses
1.0 Thourghbred (Hunter/Jumper) - Morgan's Majesty aka Cody

>>One of my females has some scabs on her back. There are a couple fairly small shallow sores on her back from behind her ears to the top of the curve of her back. Could she be fighting with another rat or could the male be hurting her to show dominance? I know too much protein can also cause sores but I don't think she's getting too much. She gets dog food with about 25% protein that is mixed with a seed & grain mix. She is the only rat I own with this problem. If anybody has any ideas please let me know

How long has this group been set up? I would think that there is some dominance stuff going on. If none of the sores are bad I would let them work it out between themselves.
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Sonya

Failure is not an option. It comes bundled with the software.

Could be mating bites as male rats often bite the scruff of the female's neck to keep her from running out from underneath him. The male may be more rough than others or she could be more resistant. However if the bites are not serious and don't get infected, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

They have all been together for a while. They are on their second or third litters now and I think my friend put them together as soon as they were big enough to breed. The females have probably been together since they were babies. I was thinking it might be some kind of "love bites", but I like to ask. I will keep an eye on them and update if there are any changes.

Thank you!
-----
Anna

The Zoo
Corns
1.0 Snow - Cornelius
1.1 Ghost(pastel) - Eek & Boo
1.1 Amel - Parker & Scarlet
0.1 Hypo - Nikko
0.1 Anery - Missy
0.1 Hypo Motley - Cordelia aka Cordy
Boas
0.1 Columbian (BCC) - Bella
Lizards
1.0 Leopard Gecko - Leo
Rats
0.1 Dumbo Agouti - Moon
1.0 Silvered Black - Pluto
1.0 Powder Blue - Corner
Plus the breeders
Cats
1.1 Siamese - Blue & Fiona
0.1 Gray DMS - Druscilla aka Dru
Horses
1.0 Thourghbred (Hunter/Jumper) - Morgan's Majesty aka Cody

This may be a Dog Food Allergy reaction after long or short term injestion/delayed Allergy reation. Which causes the rat to scratch alot creating scabs. Has she been scratching frequently? Although groups squabble, rarely does it lead to injuries that bleed or scab. Pull them off the Dog Food and see if it clears up. Are you feeding them fresh fruits and vegetables in the diet also? This will add to any supplemental loss in diet which may also cause skin irratation. And what type of substrate are you using?