The school girls meet the rat pack!

[hopefloats]

Just so Spork knows, I have been terrified all morning long about starting intro's. You are not alone! I tried to have the home court advantage on mine today. I wanted to do the bathtub with water trick, but I had concerns about watching 11 rats in the bathtub, and drying off the same amount alone. I know they dont like outside so i went out there.

I put the school girls out first. Then I put the one i thought would be the problem. Easier to break up a fight, with fewer rats on the table. Generally I put the alpha out last, but pika is just cocky, so I did her first.

She did great with them.

I slowly brought out the girls in order as to who i thought would be mean. pika, isis, mally, skittles and bindi. They did great!


School girls with my 5 resident girls!

Isis, I just love her light hood

The whole gang, with Ms. Pika trying to escape as usual.

Some shots of the school girls!

I watch out for, grooming and how the new one takes it. I also think if they are peed on that is a good sign too LOL The school girls took both like a champ, they sit there and let it happen which will make my intro's a 1000 times easier.

After a few minutes on the deck, i move them to my table, it was more humid out there than i thought

They have been there for a while now, except pika, she refuses to stay anywhere so after she jumped on me like 15 times, I put her on her normal table for out time.

all these rats I have and only one is a jumper it amazes me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57htCHX4HgE

Here is a little video of the meeting. I am a huge advocate for doing intro's outside. It does help with attitude towards the new rats. it give you the advantage without drenching rats lol

they are doing really well still. I know I will have some scuffles on the next steps the play time table, which i am about to do

 

[eagle]

I :heart: easy intros, I hope they continue to be easy.

 

[lilspaz68]

This looks very good!! :thumbup:

 

[hopefloats]

So far so good. They are on the play area now, i am really leaning more towards letting them get their fighting out of the way now a days lol I used to break them up and protect them. I am growing with intro's! It helps knowing my rats as well as I do...

This video is a bit long, but it is a very good intro so far.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTE0vXM7ou8

 

[hopefloats]

This looks very good!! :thumbup:

It does! i am very happy with it.

I am getting cages switched for the 4 th time this week lol so i can have them separated in the same cage..

I like the video i posted, the most recent one. It amazes me how far I came from when I first came to the forum LOL i have been trained well.

 

[mamarat]

The intros are going really well. I like that video too, really shows them working it out.

 

[hopefloats]

I have the 3 level FF split off at the bottom section in which it is the girls final home here. This is their 3rd home in this house, partially because i wasn't prepared and had to struggle to get them in a cage. I used plexi glass to cover the hole, i am hoping it will help them all cope and deal being able to see/smell each other still. I know my girls will pick on them for 3 days at least then they will stop. The boys, could care less. You can see that the school girls know that because they will seek them out to sleep with.

I will let them out a few more times on the table today hopefully the weekend can move them in with out the divider.

I will say with taking my sisters ff cage and scrubbing it, I will be making that a 3 level cage too, i think cage wise for rats, this is one of my favorites now. I still hate not having double doors but i dont think i will move them back in the FN at all.

 

[hopefloats]

I have them out again, Bindi is still a puff ball, and isis is biting them :emb:

I think she knows the pull Templeton has, she seems to run to him to hide behind LOL

I guess they both know

 

[mamarat]

Awww!!

 

[jorats]

Awww...looks like things are going good. Where you in chat while recording that? lol

 

[hopefloats]

Awww...looks like things are going good. Where you in chat while recording that? lol

LOL yes, you can hear the chimes, you can also hear the noise from my text message :dance:

Their play time table is my desk with computer and the table next to it, so you hear it in most of my videos if I am in there.

I finally put marker on their tails. at night time, you cannot tell the school girls apart from Isis, her hood is so light inside you can hardly tell she has one. I am trying to see if both are getting picked on or just one. nothing major but they are getting pinned by 9 rats so this may take a while for them all to get their share of pinning in :whip:

 

[hopefloats]

So the rat I thought would be the meanest, Mally, is the one who can sleep in their part of the cage with them without a peep of screams. They even allow her to groom them.

I put them on the table, let them eat together, pull the cage up, if they start fighting in there, then I take the cage away. Today, since eagle was coming, i just put them all back in the cage. only one little scream fest from them..


Pika has been perfect, she is not as evil as i thought i guess. Isis, skittles and bindi have been totally pinning them and making little rat balls. Mostly out of protest on the school girls side. Since they are not getting even a slight mark, i havent been doing to much to intervene. since they are not actually biting them, rather than trying to make them submit to them. They are little dopeys, they scream for no reason. I know with dopey, i was to let them be, so i am with them. My girls are bullies though......

hopefully they can relax and be buddies so far they seem to be doing ok.....


one of the school girls sleeping next to the not so evil pika, templton, and my skittles

they do generally well on the play table, the cage is a bit of a scream, but I know that is to be expected. It is still hard to keep that in mind.

They have been named after Beatles songs, my 14 year old's doing. Lucy as in lucy in the sky with diamonds and Eleanor as in Eleanor Rigby, which I dont know lol

I guess she didnt like my names, lunch and recess LOL which is why I dont name most of them here....

 

[jorats]

Lol...much better names.

 

[hopefloats]

Oh come on jo! lunch and recess was great names LOL now you see why my daughter watches my names so much LOL

I think it is official. they are moved in with my group! happy dance. Of course with the screams I was doubting myself as usual. It is still pretty difficult to judge if it is normal "hey this is our cage but we will let you move in only if i can pin you" or if it is a problem. these two are total screamers, they make dopey look like a quiet rat. The boys could care less. The rats I thought would be ok, isnt and the ones i thought would be the problem, are just fine. I am seeing it isn't so much of what you actually see or hear, but how they are doing it. Like are they biting? or how mean they are they when they are pinning. I saw some ugly rat balls but it was mainly out of the school girls protesting them being pinned by skittles. Since I didnt see her bite her at all, i let it go. That is hard for me to do. I did do the dominance thing over Isis a few times, she is really something else, she was picking on them the most. but now it is a little back arch when they walk by and then she goes off on her own.

Lucy and Eleanor are walking around the whole cage now, only occasional scuffles. I did opt out of intervening at all with a majority of the scuffles because they were not actually biting the girls but just pinning them or trying to. I have notice the school girls are starting stuff too, but my girls lol are quite set in their ways LOL.

it is funny how the screams go from constant to not at all. Which is where we have been all day. I see them working it out still which is still amazing to watch. the school girls have made it through with out one scratch, which is the other reason I just let them go at doing what they needed to do. They do go up to my girls to make them groom them, my snotty girls just ignore them completely. I know have an unexpected mixed sex group of 11..... and i swear if i see one more that needs help, i am going to fly away. i am full the super pet cage is retired, for the 1000 time. But they are no longer in a glass aquarium! and they found hammocks thanks to eagle's road trip!

 

[jorats]

See... you are now an intro pro.

 

[hopefloats]

It is official intro's done. Today the girls are wondering around, hardly any noise at all and they are loving lee's hammocks! So six days for girl intros........

 

[hopefloats]

Girls are nuts. Well Isis is, all has been quiet, but Ms. Isis, gets a wild hair in her butt then starts to chase one of the school girls around. It isnt just Isis, this one is a bit of a problem starter

So they both get a time out

Now they are both sleeping in a box, quiet, not so tough when they are on a chair with only a box :cop:

 

[jorats]

Awww.... that is too sweet. And a good idea!

 

[hopefloats]

I left them there for almost an hour. Wanted to make sure they had some sniffing sleep bonding time. I haven't seen them fight since but the day is still young LOL.