[lilspaz68]

Fievel I just found dead.

I am guessing Zim killed him. I just went into say hello to them, and the hammock was all ripped out of it's clips (well, two parts was, not the whole thing.) and Fievel was dead. Zim has been the dominate of the two I always noticed, but I didn't think it would turn to killing, as it was never in a worrisome matter, or so I thought, these are my first rats, so maybe I missed the warning signs.

RIP Fievel:

Now, a question I have, would this suggest not to introduce another Rat?

Not at all, they are babies. Dominance is not an issue at this age. Why do you think Zim killed him? Its VERY rare that any rat would kill another. Poor Fievel could've had a seizure or a heart attack or a stroke which sadly can happen with badly bred rats, and with unknown genetics these awful things happen...I take it you got them from a petstore?

I AM sorry for your loss, its terrible to lose one so young

 

[lilspaz68]

So sorry to read about this.

I agree with lilspaz and Vladina--I've never really seen aggression of that type in young rats. (And, also, there would have been obvious evidence of a fight...I'm assuming you didn't see any blood or wounds on him?) You should be able to fairly easily introduce another young rat to Zim, and I'd definitely recommend it sooner rather than later. You might want to get the new rat from a different place, perhaps, since there might be a genetic defect at play as well.

Unless there was a ratty burial. Rats have an instinct carried over from their wild ancestors to "clean up" a dead body, so that predators aren't attracted to the colony. This can happen in domestic rats, not every often but it does, but always remember the rat was dead already not killed.