Intros

[jorats]

Alright so we went out of the bathtub and back onto neutral ground tonight, and they fought. Maurice bit Louis on the belly, we had some blood on the floor and on my arm where he ran after. it was scary we aren't sure what to do now. do we go back to the bathtub? they were both so terrified in there, i hate seeing them like that. i don't know what to do anymore. Should I just let them live next to each other for longer?

also, today when we put louis in maurice's cage, he puffed up. should I wait until louis can go into maurice's cage without puffing up? we are desperate at this point.

I'm pretty sure these rats are older than 3 months. They must be about 4 to 5 months if not more. Can you show us a picture of the boys?
The bathtub is neutral ground. you want them in a scary place so they bond together. Definitely go to the bathtub again.
Any chance you can have them neutered? It does wonders to a male.

 

[Lourice]

Alright so we went out of the bathtub and back onto neutral ground tonight, and they fought. Maurice bit Louis on the belly, we had some blood on the floor and on my arm where he ran after. it was scary we aren't sure what to do now. do we go back to the bathtub? they were both so terrified in there, i hate seeing them like that. i don't know what to do anymore. Should I just let them live next to each other for longer?

also, today when we put louis in maurice's cage, he puffed up. should I wait until louis can go into maurice's cage without puffing up? we are desperate at this point.

I'm pretty sure these rats are older than 3 months. They must be about 4 to 5 months if not more. Can you show us a picture of the boys?
The bathtub is neutral ground. you want them in a scary place so they bond together. Definitely go to the bathtub again.
Any chance you can have them neutered? It does wonders to a male.

I hate the bathtub as much as they do they're so terrified in there and I don't want to traumatize them or something. however that IS the only place they didn't fight... if they hiss, what should i do? is that a sign of 'we're about to fight' or 'stay away from me'?

I tried taking pictures of them today but they move so fast hahah

Maurice:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 1402_n.jpg

Louis:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 3804_n.jpg

I would get them neutered if I could afford it.
does neutering them change their personalities at all?

 

[Lourice]

You can't really tell but Maurice is bigger than Louis. Ironically, I wish I could put them side by side. ahahha

 

[jorats]

I could tell right away that Maurice is bigger. I'd say he's older by perhaps a couple of months even.
The hissing is usually used for a sign of fear and a warning to the bully. Which one does the hissing?
Neutering doesn't change their personalities, what it does is takes away all stress so they can be who they are meant to be. Makes them into loving pets.

 

[Lourice]

I could tell right away that Maurice is bigger. I'd say he's older by perhaps a couple of months even.
The hissing is usually used for a sign of fear and a warning to the bully. Which one does the hissing?
Neutering doesn't change their personalities, what it does is takes away all stress so they can be who they are meant to be. Makes them into loving pets.

Maurice does the hissing. We always thought that Maurice was the aggressive one because he's usually the one that gets Louis, first on the leg and then on the belly, but Louis is the one who puffs up. Maurice doesn't really puff up. Louis even puffs up when we let him go in Maurice's cage, while Maurice just eats Louis' food and runs around. so I'm not sure what to think of it. :\

i have a little bit of good news, though. I got Louis a new cage because I figured that if I am going to have to keep him in there for even a few months, I want him in a cage that was bigger than the one he was in. And I keep the cages next to each other, and lately I feel like they've been interacting through the cages. Louis has space to climb on the side of his cage now, and him and maurice do it in a playful way, not in an aggressive way. And sometimes i hear them running back and forth, as if playing with each other through the cages. none of them are puffed up or angry, and it seems they're more curios.

I'm going to give it a few more days before I do introductions again, because of last time and how louis got bit on the belly. i don't want too much stress for him. and next time, I'll go back to the bathtub, although it's hard for me to watch them in there. i hope it helps.

 

[jorats]

Try a table top intro. That's what I do with mine, much easier and not deathly scary for rats but scary enough since it's high and new.

 

[hopefloats]

Try a table top intro. That's what I do with mine, much easier and not deathly scary for rats but scary enough since it's high and new.

I agree. No hidey houses and tons of food. Boys love food

 

[rattums]

How long should you have your rat for until you try intros?

 

[jorats]

How long should you have your rat for until you try intros?

It all depends on age and how fast they adapt. I like to do intros straight away.

 

[rattums]

How long should you have your rat for until you try intros?

It all depends on age and how fast they adapt. I like to do intros straight away.

So I just got a new rat (since Sally passed away, R.I.P. :heart: ), and I'm intro-ing ??? (new rat) and Caramel (old rat). So anyways, they've been in the bath tub together, and have been perfect. They haven't fought, and they've bathed each other and played a bit. So yay, good so far! :dance:
Does this mean that I can put them in the same cage tonight, or separate?
Please let me know a.s.a.p., thanks! :cuddle:

 

[hopefloats]

You have to remember to give the new rat time to adjust. You also need to give her time alone to ensure she isnt sick and wont make your older rat sick

 

[rattums]

You have to remember to give the new rat time to adjust. You also need to give her time alone to ensure she isnt sick and wont make your older rat sick

Okay!
I've put her in the cage just like 5 minutes ago, she seems to be perfectly fine. They've gotten along perfectly! :joy:

My mum just told me that she just discovered that we don't have a bottom to our old cage... and that's where I was going to put Sandy. :gaah:

Also, her name's now Sandy! :heart:
No longer '???' :lol:

 

[mrnixonpants]

I've done intros three times and currently have a group of four rats (three neutered males and one spayed female). I've just rescued an intact female who will be spayed after the holidays. I'm a little nervous becasue I've only done intros involving one rat to one rat and two rats to two rats. Never a group of rats to a single rat. How will this change the dynamic of intros? Should I introduce each rat to her seperately? I'm worried ploping them all into the tub may be too much for her with all four of them. Anything I should know in general about introing a group to a single? Or about introing an intact female to three neutered males and a spayed female?

We're not to intros yet we're still in QT but I'm the type of person who likes to have a plan in place for things...
Thanks for the help!

 

[hopefloats]

You should intro the groups together with the lone rat. Most rats dont really get bothered by how many rats are there. Just go slow and do them as you would any other intros. Girls can go a few ways they can be very accepting or a little terror. You will know once you start intros with her. If you need help just post your thread in the behavior section.

 

[jorats]

I agree with hopefloats.

 

[mrnixonpants]

Thanks. I'll let you know if I have any troubles.

 

[amity]

I didn't want to start a new topic since I don't have an issue per se, just wanted to make sure everything was going right.

I got 3 young boys off kijiji with the intent of intro-ing them to Zephyr, who has been alone for about a month now since I got him from animal services. I'd guess him to be between 4-5 months. I got the new boys a couple weeks ago and they are now around 2 months old. The only other into I've done was two older girls to a juvenile female, which was about as uneventful as it could possibly get.

I started intros with the boys today and just want to make sure I shouldn't be worried. They were certainly interested in each other. The behaviour I was most concerned about was the smallest boy, Hercules, getting on top of Zephyr and literally piggybacking around on him. It was cute, but Zephyr pinned him (as well as one of the other baby boys when he joined in) a couple of times. NO squeaking, NO blood drawn, which leads me to believe I shouldn't be too concerned. Is this an okay reaction?

 

[jorats]

Sounds like it's going pretty good. Hercules was mounting for probably dominance but it could still be a play thing for him. Zephyr is being a good alpha.

 

[amity]

Thank you for the reassurance jo!

Hercules was mounting for probably dominance but it could still be a play thing for him.

This is actually quite hilarious, because Hercules is the runt and noticeably smaller than the rest. I'm guessing he really took the name to heart!

 

[jorats]

I'm guessing he really took the name to heart!

:laugh4: