Hello Everyone!
I have six female rats in two groups:
Group 1: Delilah, Arya, Brienne and Sansa (my original four rats)
Group 2: Gilly and Cersei.
I acquired Gilly and Cersei about two months ago now and they are lovely girls. Problematically though, my original group includes one very territorial rat (Delilah, the eldest at 2 years and 8 months) and one rat who, though not aggressive generally, nips toes and makes intros difficult (Arya). Gilly and Cersei proved to be quite territorial themselves. Brienne and Sansa are both very young (5-6 months), so I didn't anticipate many issues with them.
I've taken things EXCEPTIONALLY slowly, because I know what Delilah can be like with new rats. I'd done the bathtub, switching of toys, putting their cages closer, eventually transferring Gilly and Cersei to the bottom half of my CN and all the usual things. Yesterday they finally went in together after a group jaunt in the tub and some monitored playtime together.
Everyone was perfectly fine (Delilah is a bit sulky and has secreted herself away from the others but she hasn't been aggressive at all and they haven't been aggressive toward her), but this morning I awoke to Brienne (one of the younger ones) and Gilly having a a big fight. It looked like they were just boxing at first, but it got pretty intense and they knocked each other off one of the shelves. I broke up the fight only to find that there was blood on them and that Brienne has a very shallow scratch on her back and a deeper cut near her front paw (which I have now cleaned). I've separated those two rats in different parts of the cage. Gilly and Brienne are both now hiding. Cersei is still in with the others and Gilly is relaxing now with Delilah.
I'm not sure what to do. Cersei is being friendly enough, licking Brienne where she was hurt and Gilly is fine with everyone else. I'm worried about retracing my steps, because the last rats I did that with it ended up causing more problems for. ): It's very odd, because Brienne is a relaxed, non-aggressive rat normally and I had zero problems introducing her with Delilah and Arya a few months ago (I guess perhaps because she was even younger then).
Any advice would be very much appreciated! Thank you!
I have six female rats in two groups:
Group 1: Delilah, Arya, Brienne and Sansa (my original four rats)
Group 2: Gilly and Cersei.
I acquired Gilly and Cersei about two months ago now and they are lovely girls. Problematically though, my original group includes one very territorial rat (Delilah, the eldest at 2 years and 8 months) and one rat who, though not aggressive generally, nips toes and makes intros difficult (Arya). Gilly and Cersei proved to be quite territorial themselves. Brienne and Sansa are both very young (5-6 months), so I didn't anticipate many issues with them.
I've taken things EXCEPTIONALLY slowly, because I know what Delilah can be like with new rats. I'd done the bathtub, switching of toys, putting their cages closer, eventually transferring Gilly and Cersei to the bottom half of my CN and all the usual things. Yesterday they finally went in together after a group jaunt in the tub and some monitored playtime together.
Everyone was perfectly fine (Delilah is a bit sulky and has secreted herself away from the others but she hasn't been aggressive at all and they haven't been aggressive toward her), but this morning I awoke to Brienne (one of the younger ones) and Gilly having a a big fight. It looked like they were just boxing at first, but it got pretty intense and they knocked each other off one of the shelves. I broke up the fight only to find that there was blood on them and that Brienne has a very shallow scratch on her back and a deeper cut near her front paw (which I have now cleaned). I've separated those two rats in different parts of the cage. Gilly and Brienne are both now hiding. Cersei is still in with the others and Gilly is relaxing now with Delilah.
I'm not sure what to do. Cersei is being friendly enough, licking Brienne where she was hurt and Gilly is fine with everyone else. I'm worried about retracing my steps, because the last rats I did that with it ended up causing more problems for. ): It's very odd, because Brienne is a relaxed, non-aggressive rat normally and I had zero problems introducing her with Delilah and Arya a few months ago (I guess perhaps because she was even younger then).
Any advice would be very much appreciated! Thank you!
