Advice on introducing young juveniles to babies...

[JenD]

Hi. I'd love to hear advice on making the intros between two groups of boys. The older two are 14.5 weeks and younger two are 6.5 weeks. Can you guys walk me through it a bit for the best way to do it at this age. Should I bring the carrier cage with the babies downstairs and put it next to the big cage? Or should I just swap bedding and then in a day or two, put them in the bathtub (neutral location) for a bit? This is my first time with something like this, so I'd welcome lots of advice and details. I so want this to go well and am expecting it should because they are all so young...

Thanks in advance for the advice!
Jen

 

[jorats]

At their age it should be fairly easy. I would have the babies living next to the older boys. So they know there are more rats in the home. After a few days, I would take them all out on neutral ground, someplace where none of the rats have been before. Watch them play, hopefully they will and you continue to take them out together for about a week. If all goes well, you start to take them out on their regular play area... do this for a few more days, if all the rats are happy and playful together then it's time to scrub down the cage and move the babies in.

 

[ashana]

I agree with Jo,

At 6 weeks the babies still smell like babies so the older (yet young) boys will not feel threatened by them.
Just using neutral territory at first should be enough to get them use to each other and then it should be smooth sailing from there..

 

[JenD]

Thank you I will give all that a try & hope that soon they will all be buds :hugs:

Jen

 

[JenD]

Well, we made the intros and it went REALLY well! :joy: I'm sure it's mainly due to the young ages of all involved. We put the cages next to each other for a couple of days and they were all very curious. Then we did the intros in a neutral location and I think the babies were excited to be back with more ratties So we moved them the next day to free play on our table twice a day (morning & evening). The boys actually normally have their cage open all day (they're up on a wide coffee table), so they come in and out as they please and are very good about it and happy. The babies get excited when they see the big boys roaming around. They venture to & on top of the babies cage (which we keep locked all the time).

So the next step will be to clean and disinfect the big cage and put them all in together. There are no signs of aggression or upset. The usual butt sniffing is going on and some mild squeaking with some grooming, but they're climbing all over each other and seem used to each other already. The babies are a bit more playful, but the juvies seem OK with it. And I'm thrilled that the babies are using the Wodent Wheel. Rudy will go in and I hope he & Chaulky will starting doing some laps!

So how long should I keep up this twice a day playtime before we move them all in together (at least during the day - should I clean the cages and let them explore each other's cage, but separate them at night? Or just continue the playing on the table for a whole week before putting them in together full time?) I don't want to rush anything at all, but they seem to be handling it very well & the babies are in a carrier cage so I'm sure they'd appreciate the space in the palacial mansion so they can spread out a bit... :happydance: Thoughts? Thanks, Jen

 

[Tarah]

I've never had a problem intro'ing babies to other babies/juvenilles.

Congrats with the awesome intro!

 

[jorats]

How did I miss this post?

How has it been going? I would bet by now they must be living together? Yay for easy intros!

 

[JenD]

Hi Jo! I've been mia for a while, but it's going great! They are all together and so far, so good. They sleep together, on top of each other, under each other, side by side, you name it! Once all four were in the comfy cube together - it was sooooooo cute!

And I have to say that I think the babies did wonders for the juvies, who seemed somewhat nervous or unsure before. I can see why people say rats are happiest with buds and in our case, they needed more than just one bud! The juvies got more affectionate and kissy and the babies seemed to have changed them for the better - they're more secure and happy now - yeah! :bunnydance:

I also see that the two juvies still battle mainly with each other with lots of squeaks. Rudy is just incredibly verbal. The babies hardly play battle at all and are very quiet, though they will peep when being groomed. I'm kind of on the fence about neutering - was going to do it for sure, but now am feeling more comfy about their rat language, but I do feel I have to keep an eye on the juvies as sometimes it just seems intense to me so I hope they make the hormone transition ok. Otherwise, it's off to snipsville for them!

But thanks for asking, Jo! Thanks to the help from you and the others on this board, it couldn't have gone better! And now I'm a momma of four furry ratties :heart:

 

[jorats]

That is excellent.
I really love your description of the boys and their need for buddies. May I use it in the future when someone requires proof that rats need buddies?
Rats do so much better in groups but we always push to get at least one buddy...
I'm so glad your boys are happy together. I'd hold off on the neutering too. Looks like everything is working out great.

 

[JenD]

Absolutely! Feel free to quote me on the happiness and wonderful change in our juvies anytime - esp if it means more ratties will be adopted into homes :hugs:

I keep thinking about that recent post from someone here who adopted a few and was then berated for having more then 2 or 3! How rude & As if! We are proof of the more the merrier!

Oh - and I thought of you last night and this morning - another cool thing the babies did for the juvies was to show them that the dreaded wodent wheel wasn't out to get them :evil: Not only did I move the wheel into the cage yesterday after just using it during out of cage time, but they were clocking some miles in it last night and then this morning, one of the juvies was even napping in it :nod: Oh yeah! Gotta keep them trim!

Thanks for the help guys! We're so happy with our little family!!!