RE: Introducing Rats To Each Other

Yukari_Angel — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:44:30 GMT

sorry for a long delay, hopefully things worked out and your girls are living happily together.

but for future reference, introductions should be done slowly. This is achieved by having the new rats in a separate cage from the current rats. You can place the cages next to each other (but not close enough for them to reach) after a week or two you can introduce them in neutral territory (like a bath tube). They will probably ignore each other at first and then dominance fighting will occur. The rule with fighting is, as long as there is no blood there is no problem. Let them figure out dominance. do not interrupt unless there is blood.

After this first visit, do not combine the rats just yet in the same cage. You have two choices from this first meeting, you can either (1) put them back in their original cages or (2) switch cages so that the rats can obtain each others scents. After another week do the introduction once more in the neutral zone.

for signs that rats are getting along:

"What I consider signs of acceptance: (1) Stops puffing up and moving towards the new edition sideways (making her self look bigger), (2) grooms the new edition, (3) goes back to exploring the bathroom and (4) only sniffs the new edition when they cross paths.

After this hour (or so) I go and clean the main cage real well, so that it doesn't really smell like any of the rats (an attempt to make the cage a "neutral zone"). Once the cage is clean and free range time is over, the new edition is added to the mischief in the main cage. I watch them for about 30 minutes and again only leave when my "boss" rat continues to show signs of acceptance. "

Also, always make sure that you quarantine the new additions:

"QUARANTINE!

It is always a good idea to practice quarantine when introducing a new rat to your mischief, because the new rat can possibly be caring an illness s/he picked up from the place you got them. By practicing quarantine, you can make sure that your current mischief will not catch any possible illness the new one may bring in, meaning you wont have a bunch of sick rats on your hands to take to the vet and pay to have treated, but instead you'll have one. The most common illnesses passed are respiratory infections and parasites (like lice, mites, and ringworm), all of which can be simple in treating. However, there are some dangerous illnesses that can cause serious health issues, that even when treated at early signs, can kill all your rats and if not that, are EXTREMELY expensive and time consuming to treat. These serious illnesses are Sendai and SDA.

The Perfect Quarantine:

-house the new edition(s) in a rat free home (like a friend or family member).

-keep in quarantine for 3 to 4 weeks.

-change clothing and wash hands in between handling the new edition(s) and current mischief.

-keep an eye on any illness that may show up in the new edition(s)

*note* illnesses can take up to 2 to 3 weeks to show up, this is why 3 to 4 weeks is recommended over the common 2 weeks. If an illness does show up, take the new edition(s) to the vet and have them treated. After the illness is completely treated, wait another week to 2 weeks before introducing to the current mischief. "

Resource: http://dreamchaser023.webs.com/ratinfo.htm

RE: Introducing Rats To Each Other

Juliet — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:17:01 GMT

aww :-(

are the rats of the same gender?

RE: Introducing Rats To Each Other

feathersnfuz — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:04:52 GMT

Have you checked out this SmallAnimalChannel.com article? It has advice on how to introduce rats.

http://www.smallanimalchannel.com/rats/rat-interaction/how-many-rats.aspx

Introducing Rats To Each Other

kk4jas — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:29:05 GMT

I have a rat that is about 4 mo and i got 2 more that are 4mo and 1 that is 2mo all females when i tried to introduce them to my first rat she is mean to them and turns them over and like sniffs them and is very rough to them and it makes them scaired and the cower for a long time. Any Ideas?

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