Unepuce
Well-Known Member
I'm really sorry for the long post, but this needs background... :?
Charlie was surrendered to Victoria as a "very aggressive rat who has always been handled with gloves". He went through 2 homes before ending up with Victoria and turned out to be a scared boy, with not one once of aggression in his body. He is socialized in the sense that he is not scared of us and REALLY enjoys petting and scratching (and I mean REALLY REALLY REALLY enjoys it, he litterally melts! :cheeky: ). From what I see, he has never had friends before, and he is terrified of other rats.
I took Charlie home along with Jay, a younger energetic happy boy, who loves humans and enjoys the company of other rats, and who was surrendered to the Montreal SPCA shortly after Charlie went to Victoria. Two weeks after their neuter, eventhough Charlie was still jumpy around Jay, I felt confident enough to move them together into a huge rabbit cage that both really loved. The first week, I filled the cage and houses and hammocks and Jay lived on one side, Charlie on the other. The following week, I only put one bigger house a some hammocks (Charlie doesn't use hammocks), and I saw them sleeping together for the very first time! :heart:
I then felt Charlie was ready to meet more friends and started intros with the rest of my crew. All seemed fine and normal - Charlie didn't interact much and froze/fled a lot, but there were less and less puffiness and pushing from the others, so I moved intros into the bigger play area and eventhough I knew Charlie was isolating himself most of the time, I thought I could try the big move in.
Oh boy. :wallbang:
It's been two weeks now. With a lot of puffiness and shoving from the boys, and screaming in terror from Charlie. Don't get me wrong, I do see improvements or else I would have separated him already, but I am at my wits end with what to do now.
Charlie is so scared of other rats it breaks my heart. He is jumpy when Jay comes near him, but sweet Jay knows how to work his way into the house Charlie occupies and ends up sleeping next to him when he is set to do it. I even saw him jump in to defend Charlie a few times - I just love that sweet young boy! :heart: In these last two week, I have also seen Charlie slowly warming up to the girls - Princesse is being very quiet around him and will go to him very slow, Victoria is a little more of a bully, but she is trying to stand still for him. My other boys though - boy o boy! They litterally hated Charlie from day 1 of the big move in, but Hunter is mellowing down a lot eventhough is still gets puffy at shovy at times. Tanner puffs and pushes, but I caught him sleeping either in front of Charlie's house or on the side with his head through to doorway. Chester is my big issue - he couldn't care less about Charlie at first, but now he flat out flees at him and attacks him on scent. :gaah:
Charlie's attitude is always the same: this is my house, you are not coming in, if you are, I will be VERY tensed and defensive, if you insist, we will be boxing, and if you get whatsoever aggressive, I will run out screaming. He sends out signals that my crew just cannot stand - but when I am around and tells him what to do (relax, ignore him and he won't know what to do next, so he will leave you alone), he relaxes enough to do the right thing and the intruder leaves on his own. I think he is slowly learning the trick, but he is still too scared apply it consistently.
I tried Rescue Remedy, but it only looks like it's getting Charlie drunk (he relaxes and wobbles) but as soon as I try putting him back in the cage, he panicks. Right now, we are at the point where I take everyone for out time to clean cages and play with them, and when I take them back in, Charlie flat out jumps at me and refuses to stay.
HELP! Should I continue with getting him to face his fears or should I separate him? I have a few scenarios in mind, but I am very reluctant to separate my crew. But of course I will do it if I have to...
Charlie was surrendered to Victoria as a "very aggressive rat who has always been handled with gloves". He went through 2 homes before ending up with Victoria and turned out to be a scared boy, with not one once of aggression in his body. He is socialized in the sense that he is not scared of us and REALLY enjoys petting and scratching (and I mean REALLY REALLY REALLY enjoys it, he litterally melts! :cheeky: ). From what I see, he has never had friends before, and he is terrified of other rats.
I took Charlie home along with Jay, a younger energetic happy boy, who loves humans and enjoys the company of other rats, and who was surrendered to the Montreal SPCA shortly after Charlie went to Victoria. Two weeks after their neuter, eventhough Charlie was still jumpy around Jay, I felt confident enough to move them together into a huge rabbit cage that both really loved. The first week, I filled the cage and houses and hammocks and Jay lived on one side, Charlie on the other. The following week, I only put one bigger house a some hammocks (Charlie doesn't use hammocks), and I saw them sleeping together for the very first time! :heart:
I then felt Charlie was ready to meet more friends and started intros with the rest of my crew. All seemed fine and normal - Charlie didn't interact much and froze/fled a lot, but there were less and less puffiness and pushing from the others, so I moved intros into the bigger play area and eventhough I knew Charlie was isolating himself most of the time, I thought I could try the big move in.
Oh boy. :wallbang:
It's been two weeks now. With a lot of puffiness and shoving from the boys, and screaming in terror from Charlie. Don't get me wrong, I do see improvements or else I would have separated him already, but I am at my wits end with what to do now.
Charlie is so scared of other rats it breaks my heart. He is jumpy when Jay comes near him, but sweet Jay knows how to work his way into the house Charlie occupies and ends up sleeping next to him when he is set to do it. I even saw him jump in to defend Charlie a few times - I just love that sweet young boy! :heart: In these last two week, I have also seen Charlie slowly warming up to the girls - Princesse is being very quiet around him and will go to him very slow, Victoria is a little more of a bully, but she is trying to stand still for him. My other boys though - boy o boy! They litterally hated Charlie from day 1 of the big move in, but Hunter is mellowing down a lot eventhough is still gets puffy at shovy at times. Tanner puffs and pushes, but I caught him sleeping either in front of Charlie's house or on the side with his head through to doorway. Chester is my big issue - he couldn't care less about Charlie at first, but now he flat out flees at him and attacks him on scent. :gaah:
Charlie's attitude is always the same: this is my house, you are not coming in, if you are, I will be VERY tensed and defensive, if you insist, we will be boxing, and if you get whatsoever aggressive, I will run out screaming. He sends out signals that my crew just cannot stand - but when I am around and tells him what to do (relax, ignore him and he won't know what to do next, so he will leave you alone), he relaxes enough to do the right thing and the intruder leaves on his own. I think he is slowly learning the trick, but he is still too scared apply it consistently.
I tried Rescue Remedy, but it only looks like it's getting Charlie drunk (he relaxes and wobbles) but as soon as I try putting him back in the cage, he panicks. Right now, we are at the point where I take everyone for out time to clean cages and play with them, and when I take them back in, Charlie flat out jumps at me and refuses to stay.
HELP! Should I continue with getting him to face his fears or should I separate him? I have a few scenarios in mind, but I am very reluctant to separate my crew. But of course I will do it if I have to...
I did know Charlie needed to face the boys, but didn't think of the "clicker effect". I will get some chezzies today and start the behavior therapy. Why didn't I think of this before??? Well, maybe because of my lack of sleep, and the fact that I was given away to a competitor at work and have a hard time accepting, and that I get VERY emotional with my rats issues. ((sigh)). 
