I’m a glutton for punishment? Not really, I knew Gera needed more buddies. His little Meeko can get annoying and Gera loves to cuddle. I have been doing intros with Gera and Meeko with Doc but it wasn’t going so smoothly. Doc would constantly try to aggressively dominate the boys. So my intros are now with Gera, Meeko, Doc with the Rory and Molly crew, in all 9 rats. My worries were Doc and Rory. Rory can be a little neurotic in his alpha role. But, I was worried for nothing.
I placed all the rats on a neutral spot which caused them to stress and be somewhat fearful of the new place. This works in our favour and forces rats to bond. I placed a big bowl of baby cereal in the middle which was very well received. lol
The intro lasted an hour and with no real issues. Some interesting dynamics… Doc settled right down and respected Rory as alpha. Not once did Doc dominate anyone. He was a good boy. He needed a father figure to keep him calm. He sure had a ball sniffing up all the 4 spayed girls. Bianca, my little hussy enjoyed the attention too. At one point, Rory towered over little Meeko and that totally freaked him out, immediately Max stepped in between Rory and Meeko. Interesting how Max became the peacemaker. Almost like allowing himself to be the punching bag. Gera at first only wanted to be with me. For me to take him away, but eventually he enjoyed all the extra furries around him. Finally at the end, I took them back to their cage one by one, leaving Doc and Molly for last. The two were cuddled together for the longest time. Doc looking at me with his big sad eyes… my heart broke as I could almost hear him say: can I keep her mom? Do I have to go to my cage all alone again? In time sweet Doc, in time you won’t be alone any longer.
In this pic: Meeko, Max and Gera
