slowwdownsugar
New Member
Hi everyone. I have a few things that I definitely could use some opinions on, so I thought it was a bit more general. I adopted my first pair of rats, Rufus and Cas, back in January 2011. Unfortunately I had to euthanize Rufus earlier this week because he became very ill. They were brothers and this is the first time they've ever been separated, and I can already tell it's been really hard on Cas to be on his own. He gets plenty of attention every day but I know he's missing the companionship of his brother, so I've decided to adopt two new little friends for him that I'll be able to bring home in about three weeks.
I'm familiar with the quarantine and introduction processes, but here is my real question. I'm considering purchasing a Critter Nation cage as an upgrade from my current one, which is the Super Pet's "My First Home for Exotics" cage. He and Rufus always loved it, but especially with the addition of two more rats I thought an even bigger cage may be more enjoyable for them. Do you think that all of these changes could affect Cas more negatively than they will positively? With Rufus being gone, new rats coming in, and a new cage, I don't want to make things more difficult on him by causing too much of a culture shock, in a sense. However, since everything in his cage would have to be cleaned thoroughly before adding in new rats anyway, I also figured it may essentially be the same thing. Cas will be 2 on December 23rd, and I wasn't sure if it'd be better to keep him in the cage he's been in since I first brought him home. He still has a lot of life left in him, which is why I think the new ratties will be great for him, either way. I just wondered if anyone had similar experiences like this, or had any opinions or advice to offer in this situation.
Thanks everyone!
I'm familiar with the quarantine and introduction processes, but here is my real question. I'm considering purchasing a Critter Nation cage as an upgrade from my current one, which is the Super Pet's "My First Home for Exotics" cage. He and Rufus always loved it, but especially with the addition of two more rats I thought an even bigger cage may be more enjoyable for them. Do you think that all of these changes could affect Cas more negatively than they will positively? With Rufus being gone, new rats coming in, and a new cage, I don't want to make things more difficult on him by causing too much of a culture shock, in a sense. However, since everything in his cage would have to be cleaned thoroughly before adding in new rats anyway, I also figured it may essentially be the same thing. Cas will be 2 on December 23rd, and I wasn't sure if it'd be better to keep him in the cage he's been in since I first brought him home. He still has a lot of life left in him, which is why I think the new ratties will be great for him, either way. I just wondered if anyone had similar experiences like this, or had any opinions or advice to offer in this situation.
Thanks everyone!
