Intro help

[Mariah94]

Hi everybody. I am looking for suggestions on how to do my Intro in a few weeks. I will be adopting a baby, she will be six weeks old when I bring her home. I wonder when I should start introducing her to my girls? My girls are 7 months old and are generally non-territorial and not aggressive.

My plan (once neutral intros are done) is to introduce all three girls into their new cage, which will be the top half of a critter nation. With washed hammocks and toys etc, so it's all new to all three of them.

I've never introduced a baby before, or had a baby this young so I'm nervous. But im also nervous about her being by herself until they can all be together.

Some tips would be greatly appreciated thank

 

[jorats]

First thing I would recommend is to get another baby if that's at all possible. Babies benefit from having other babies to play with. But if that's not possible, you really should wait until baby is 8 weeks old before starting intros. At that point, baby is stronger and faster and can stand her ground and is starting to know instinctively rat etiquette.
The rest is a good plan. Neutral ground, familiar ground, wash cage and move them in.

 

[Mariah94]

Unfortunately another baby is out of the question. Would it be better if I kept baby with mama until 8 weeks? The girl I'm adopting her from would probably hold onto her, this was a rescue who had babies.

 

[jorats]

Oh yes, that would be beneficial.