OK you guys were right, it doesn't work to try to rush things
I had everyone but Hope out in the room and for the most part, it didn't go too badly. BUT... there's that but-
Teddy took issue with Vincent, which I'd anticipated. I did NOT however, anticipate that Vincent would fight back.
Poor Vincent was stuck in a little corner inside the fairy princess castle with Teddy pacing around him, threatening him and making sure he stayed put.
For his part, Vincent was ready to stand up for himself but clearly preferred not to have to fight Teddy.
They both puffed up- now, does puffing up always mean aggression, or can it also mean fear? because Vincent was fear pooping like mad, but Teddy was not.
Vincent was the most puffed up, Teddy didn't really puff up all that much, he just looked aggravated, not really terribly upset.
he had some hair sticking up but he didn't look like a giant fluff ball- Vincent did though! I felt so bad for him.
Since no one was getting hurt, I let them stay like that for a bit, and when I was able to distract Teddy, I scooped up Vincent and put him back in his cage.
The only other rat that showed any sign of distress was Brenna. This is interesting, since Brenna (and occasionally Smidgen) sometimes have issues with Teddy. Most often it's Teddy chasing the girls.
Rarely Evie will chase Teddy and Teddy will chase her, but those are very brief exchanges and never end in any violence, just some little pushing and shoving matches that are also very very brief.
SO! I put Vincent back into his cage- and then decided since the group was out to play, I"d let him check out the big cage.
He was very happy to do so, til he came upon Hope, whom I'd totally forgotten was still in there :emb:
Vincent was pretty scared, but Hope did exactly what I expected her to do, she pushed against him, the same way she does with Owen (who adores her!! LOL) and that was about it.
she just wants the boys to know that in spite of her lumpiness and her age, she can still boss them around if she wants to! but she doesn't hurt anyone. Not any more anyway, she used to nip the boy's butts but she's stopped doing that.
OK so after this, I put Vincent back in his cage and he went inside a hammock to rest and regroup.
A short time later, I opened the cage to check on him and give him a treat. He didn't show any interest in the treat so I put it down.
I had my hand in the cage for awhile so he could sniff it butttttttt... when I moved my hand near him, he nipped me.
I thought maybe he just didnt' realize it was a hand, or maybe he smelled food on me, so i washed my hands and came back,
slowly put my hand back in the cage, made a fist with my thumb tucked in, and moved it close to Vincent
so he could sniff it
he nipped at it
I moved it closer (sounds stupid I know, but with my girl Evie, who is also a PEW with poor eyesight, I do this and she realizes its my hand and licks me or, more often, pushes my hand away LOL)
he just nipped me harder. No broken skin, didn't even hurt but startled me a bit
Is this just new home jitters or should I watch him for possible cage aggression?
he did spend some time in a less than ideal situation where he wasn't getting proper care and handling, so I am a bit more cautious with him because of that.
he's great with me and when he's out of the cage, he loves to be held and be in the bonding scarf.
I was able to pick him up later on without any trouble but I think he needs to be approached a lot more slowly than the others.
so, what do you think?
I'm thinking I should go back to the bed for a longer session or two at least.
and then I"m not sure what- take most of the stuff out of the play room before I put them in there, or try them on a table top or something else first?
all in all, it went well. It was pathetically brief but at least no one got hurt
:giggle:
