Hi there, I’m a new rat owner as of about 2 ½ weeks ago – I’ve had gerbils, hamsters, and mice, but never rats. I’m so excited to have them! 
A little history… I have 2 females, an albino (Grace) and a brown & white hooded (Ari).
Grace was the more curious and outgoing one when I first brought them home. She climbed all over the 3 story cage. About a week or so ago, I noticed Grace wasn’t using her left back leg at all. No bruising, swelling, deformity, etc. She just wasn’t using it. Over the past week, she’s started putting more and more pressure on it, but still not 100%. Also, she hasn’t grown at all. She’s tiny. She eats and drinks ok from what I can tell. She’s gotten much less active, I think I’ve only seen her to eat and drink the last couple days. Today, I noticed that her head is always slightly cocked to the right and she puts more weight on her right side when she walks, making her pretty clumsy looking. She uses her left side, but I think she’s leaning to the right. It’s really weird.
Ari… she’s obviously the dominant one. She’s grown, put on some weight, very active. She’s all over the place. But she bullies Grace SO much. If Grace is up, Ari is pouncing on her, pulls her from ledges in the cage, steals food from her. Never draws blood or anything like that, but there’s an awful lot of squeaking when she decides she needs to ‘interact’ with Grace.
Couple questions. I know Grace needs to see a vet, she obviously has a problem. Do you guys have any insight into what her issue is? Also, do you think I need to separate them? I know rats play and I know it’s natural to have a dominant in the cage, but Ari seems super rough on Grace.
Any suggestions or insight would be truly appreciated!! Thanks for reading!
Liz
A little history… I have 2 females, an albino (Grace) and a brown & white hooded (Ari).
Grace was the more curious and outgoing one when I first brought them home. She climbed all over the 3 story cage. About a week or so ago, I noticed Grace wasn’t using her left back leg at all. No bruising, swelling, deformity, etc. She just wasn’t using it. Over the past week, she’s started putting more and more pressure on it, but still not 100%. Also, she hasn’t grown at all. She’s tiny. She eats and drinks ok from what I can tell. She’s gotten much less active, I think I’ve only seen her to eat and drink the last couple days. Today, I noticed that her head is always slightly cocked to the right and she puts more weight on her right side when she walks, making her pretty clumsy looking. She uses her left side, but I think she’s leaning to the right. It’s really weird.
Ari… she’s obviously the dominant one. She’s grown, put on some weight, very active. She’s all over the place. But she bullies Grace SO much. If Grace is up, Ari is pouncing on her, pulls her from ledges in the cage, steals food from her. Never draws blood or anything like that, but there’s an awful lot of squeaking when she decides she needs to ‘interact’ with Grace.
Couple questions. I know Grace needs to see a vet, she obviously has a problem. Do you guys have any insight into what her issue is? Also, do you think I need to separate them? I know rats play and I know it’s natural to have a dominant in the cage, but Ari seems super rough on Grace.
Any suggestions or insight would be truly appreciated!! Thanks for reading!
Liz