victoria
Well-Known Member
I have had two groups forever it seems. I tried but had to stop intros in January after a nasty bite, then I found a tumour on Amy's throat and Sophie's tumour burst, then Monty was too sick for the stress of intros. Now I have two medium sized groups - 3 older girls (26-30 months) and a younger boy and 3 girls (7 weeks-18 months) - and was going to start intros on the weekend when Geraldine turns 8 weeks. (All except Geraldine are fixed, she will be spayed soon though.)
The problem is two of my older girls are developing issues. Annabelle definitely has a slow growing pituitary tumour and Oreo has what I believe is a tumour that's abscessed. Annabelle is a little grumpy, but Oreo is still very happy and active though I don't know how long she will stay that way.
The two groups are very different - the oldies have proven very difficult to intro new rats to, while the younger group has been insanely easy to intro rats to. (By insanely easy, I mean one intro and they're living together without a single scuffle.) I have tried to have the two groups meet from time to time on neutral ground but the girls get very aggressive and the younger guys react by trying to dominate them. (Mostly Oscar does the dominating them, he is the alpha of his group and I'm pretty sure he will be the alpha of the larger crew.) They were even aggressive towards Geraldine, who is small, not interested in dominating anyone, and was in heat.
I know intro will be a bit stressful at least, although I'm hoping that because the older group has shrunk by so many so quickly, they will be more receptive to company. I'm worried that intros may aggravate Annabelle's PT, but if I don't do them now I may not be able to for months and then it may only one rat left in my older crew. What do I do?
The problem is two of my older girls are developing issues. Annabelle definitely has a slow growing pituitary tumour and Oreo has what I believe is a tumour that's abscessed. Annabelle is a little grumpy, but Oreo is still very happy and active though I don't know how long she will stay that way.
The two groups are very different - the oldies have proven very difficult to intro new rats to, while the younger group has been insanely easy to intro rats to. (By insanely easy, I mean one intro and they're living together without a single scuffle.) I have tried to have the two groups meet from time to time on neutral ground but the girls get very aggressive and the younger guys react by trying to dominate them. (Mostly Oscar does the dominating them, he is the alpha of his group and I'm pretty sure he will be the alpha of the larger crew.) They were even aggressive towards Geraldine, who is small, not interested in dominating anyone, and was in heat.
I know intro will be a bit stressful at least, although I'm hoping that because the older group has shrunk by so many so quickly, they will be more receptive to company. I'm worried that intros may aggravate Annabelle's PT, but if I don't do them now I may not be able to for months and then it may only one rat left in my older crew. What do I do?
