I feared this might happen, given the dominant natures of both Topaz and Honey-Jade...but the family group has split. :(

At first I thought it was Topie being aggressive. Two days ago while cleaning their cage I noticed that Honey Jade had NUMEROUS scabs on her back. Bite wounds...and given their past scuffles it was more than clear that Topie had inflicted them. So I quarantined her in her own cage overnight.

As I discovered, however, she wasn't the only aggressor.

Last night while I was watching TV in the bedroom (my husband and I have different taste in TV shows) my husband called me out to the living room and told me that someone was bleeding all over the girls' tank.

!!

That someone was Amber. The last centimeter of her tail had been degloved (the skin and fur removed with only the bone left--it's a natural defense mechanism) and was bleeding profusely. From the blood marks in various places in the tank it was obvious that she had been chased...and from the copious amounts of blood on Honey's jaw, it was clear who was doing the chasing.

So now it was Honey's turn to be removed. I put her with Topaz, but it was to be a VERY brief reintroduction. Topaz was clearly frightened, her ears folded back and thumping her hind foot. In the FIVE minutes I had them together Honey attacked her mother twice.

So to make an already long story short(er), Honey is in her own cage, and Topie is in her own cage. I left Amber with Citrine, as the two seem to be doing fine together. In fact, it was Citrine that was trying to clean up Amber's wound after the attack (there was a little blood on her fur too).

To a lot of gerbil trauma lately. Thankfully degloving injuries are not serious. They just bleed...a LOT.

Three different rats.

Three totally different personalities.

Remington, of course, is my sweet little man. He is truly a mama's boy, and doesn't even like my husband touching him (he will accept treats, however). I've heard talk of "heart rats", ratties that just scritch their way into your heart and are truly loving creatures. Rem-rem is indeed one of those special rats. :)

Fennel has really come out of her shell. What was once a skittish (but curious) rat has now become a full-blown rat adventurer...and a MAJOR kisser. I dunno if my skin is especially salty or what...but rarely a night goes by when she's not giving me little rat kisses.

...case in point. :P

Cammie is not nearly so outgoing as her sister, and in fact would much rather be left alone. (hence the Ice Queen moniker) She's a bit controlling, and will occasionally grab Fennel by the ear to try and drag her back into the cage. With her teeth.

I'm hoping it's just a phase.

My husband and I picked up our two new girls last week...and I have to say that I am very glad that we were able to take them. They are beautiful little girls.

Meet Chamomile (left) and Fennel (right). Right now their cage is right next to my recliner so they can get used to being around humans. Their previous owner, as I mentioned before, was allergic and rarely interacted with them, so they're a bit on the skittish side. I'm slowly bringing them out of their shells, however.

Right now Fennel is the most comfortable with being outside. She lost her left eye to injury when she was younger, but that certainly hasn't hurt her personality. Already she's giving me little rat kissies. :)

Chamomile (Cammie for short) is still nervous. She is also very much a nipper, something that I'm trying to break her of as soon as possible.

Neither of them like to be picked up so far (again with their lack of human contact), and both appear to have upper respiratory issues. I'm trying them on tetracycline first, and if that doesn't work I'll get them to the vet for some Baytril.