Unepuce
Well-Known Member
OK... getting desperate.
I have been trying to intro my 3 guys for weeks now. Picolo and Pollux have been living together since november 2009, with their 3 girlie cagemates who all died in June, so they have been living alone since. A coupe of weeks before all of my girls died, I adopted Mac from my vet. Been trying to get them together for what seem likes ages now - no luck. Mac and Pollux just cannot stand each other.
Background
Picolo is my sweetheart, my heart rat, the oldest of them all at about 28 months of age (was adopted when he was about 3 months old). He is calm, patient, sociable, and found a way through Pollux, which means a lot.
We adopted Pollux when he was 8 months old. He had a history of being aggressive towards his brother and they were actually brought back to the petstore, where they had to separate them. When I took him in, I was told his brother was in the care centre after Pollux actually cut his belly open (sounds horrific, but it was not the "guts out" kinda wound, don't worry), so we knew we might be getting into trouble, but he was huge and beautiful and about to be put in the snake food box, so we took him in. He was an angel up until we got home and put him in his cage - then became very territorial and aggressive, he bit me many times. We got him neutered 2 weeks later and he calmed down after a couple of weeks, so we started intros with my extisting crew and after 2 "moving in" trials , he definitely moved in with them. There were dominance fights between him and each single rat in the cage, but nothing major, so he never had to be moved out and everyone had its turn snuggling with him. He is now very social with humans - he trusts us and kisses us endlessly and LOVES to be scratched. But he is still very dominant with rats.
My vet asked if we could take Mac when he was 1 year and a half. He had just be abandonned because the student who had him couldn't afford the treatment for parasites. I was told he was in a horrible condition - very dirty and covered in lice, he was very very thin, his rear feet were damaged from the bedding and I could hear that so dreaded monkey sound when I met him. Once he was in my hands, he was the sweetest, calmest little thing and eventhough we were not planning on adopting any, I knew I had to take him in, so I talked about him to my BF and we went to see him the next day (that's when I actually met Victoria!) and, of course, he headed home with us a week later since his lungs were clean, his lice were getting under control and the vet had agreed to neuter him, considering all the girls I had a the time. He is the most social rat with humans I have ever met, he really is an angel. He actually asks to be pet, hiding his little head in our hand - he is just plain adorable. BUT - no rat social skill at all. In the past couple of weeks, I have been suspecting he was taken from his mother way too young (the girl got him from a friend) and had never been in contact with another rat thereafter, so once I tried introducing him to me gang, all he did was scream. Thank God, he's getting over this now!
Pollux cannot stand Mac, Mac is terrified of him but will go to him and tease him when he knows Pollux won't attack (during intros on the table when I'm watching and in the cage, standing on the cabin so Pollux can smell him). I tried having the boys together in the Double CN, but after 2 days, I had to separate them - Pollux was chasing terrified Mac all over the cage and I saw what a terrified rat looked like for the very first time. Poor Mac...
Any idea on how I can get Pollux's temper down a little? I don't want to isolate him, but I don't want to punish Picolo either - I can tell he is scared too (Pollux actually took out a large chunk of Picolo's skin on his neck on Tuesday while I was away, probably because Mac was teasing and Picolo was trying to calm him down) and he does get along OK with the girls, and even Mac (a few puffs and curved backs, but nothing very aggressive). I wish I could have Picolo join the rest of the crew, but that would mean either find a solution for Pollux, or isolate him - and I do not wish to do that. HELP!
I have been trying to intro my 3 guys for weeks now. Picolo and Pollux have been living together since november 2009, with their 3 girlie cagemates who all died in June, so they have been living alone since. A coupe of weeks before all of my girls died, I adopted Mac from my vet. Been trying to get them together for what seem likes ages now - no luck. Mac and Pollux just cannot stand each other.
Background
Picolo is my sweetheart, my heart rat, the oldest of them all at about 28 months of age (was adopted when he was about 3 months old). He is calm, patient, sociable, and found a way through Pollux, which means a lot.
We adopted Pollux when he was 8 months old. He had a history of being aggressive towards his brother and they were actually brought back to the petstore, where they had to separate them. When I took him in, I was told his brother was in the care centre after Pollux actually cut his belly open (sounds horrific, but it was not the "guts out" kinda wound, don't worry), so we knew we might be getting into trouble, but he was huge and beautiful and about to be put in the snake food box, so we took him in. He was an angel up until we got home and put him in his cage - then became very territorial and aggressive, he bit me many times. We got him neutered 2 weeks later and he calmed down after a couple of weeks, so we started intros with my extisting crew and after 2 "moving in" trials , he definitely moved in with them. There were dominance fights between him and each single rat in the cage, but nothing major, so he never had to be moved out and everyone had its turn snuggling with him. He is now very social with humans - he trusts us and kisses us endlessly and LOVES to be scratched. But he is still very dominant with rats.
My vet asked if we could take Mac when he was 1 year and a half. He had just be abandonned because the student who had him couldn't afford the treatment for parasites. I was told he was in a horrible condition - very dirty and covered in lice, he was very very thin, his rear feet were damaged from the bedding and I could hear that so dreaded monkey sound when I met him. Once he was in my hands, he was the sweetest, calmest little thing and eventhough we were not planning on adopting any, I knew I had to take him in, so I talked about him to my BF and we went to see him the next day (that's when I actually met Victoria!) and, of course, he headed home with us a week later since his lungs were clean, his lice were getting under control and the vet had agreed to neuter him, considering all the girls I had a the time. He is the most social rat with humans I have ever met, he really is an angel. He actually asks to be pet, hiding his little head in our hand - he is just plain adorable. BUT - no rat social skill at all. In the past couple of weeks, I have been suspecting he was taken from his mother way too young (the girl got him from a friend) and had never been in contact with another rat thereafter, so once I tried introducing him to me gang, all he did was scream. Thank God, he's getting over this now!
Pollux cannot stand Mac, Mac is terrified of him but will go to him and tease him when he knows Pollux won't attack (during intros on the table when I'm watching and in the cage, standing on the cabin so Pollux can smell him). I tried having the boys together in the Double CN, but after 2 days, I had to separate them - Pollux was chasing terrified Mac all over the cage and I saw what a terrified rat looked like for the very first time. Poor Mac...
Any idea on how I can get Pollux's temper down a little? I don't want to isolate him, but I don't want to punish Picolo either - I can tell he is scared too (Pollux actually took out a large chunk of Picolo's skin on his neck on Tuesday while I was away, probably because Mac was teasing and Picolo was trying to calm him down) and he does get along OK with the girls, and even Mac (a few puffs and curved backs, but nothing very aggressive). I wish I could have Picolo join the rest of the crew, but that would mean either find a solution for Pollux, or isolate him - and I do not wish to do that. HELP!
