introducing Dylan to out other2

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julia - 16 Apr 2008 22:14 GMT

Like the previous post, we went to buy rat pellets from the pet shop where I
bought Jimmy and Sid for my husband for Christmas. There was one male rat
alone and looking very sorry for himself. We spoke with a shop assistant who
said that he had been there for around 3 months, in that small tank with no
friends and no stimulation. The next day and after much discussion between
us, we went back to the shop and my husband bought Dylan for me. He's such
a sweetie. At he moment, he's living in a hamster cage, until and if, we can
get them all together. Jimmy, the dominant male, is itching to get to dylan.
the only time they came face to face on neutral territory they had a brief
rough and tumble, whereas when we introduced Sid to Dylan, he sniffed him
and licked his ear. We did expect this to happen. Dylan is really placid and
used to being handled by the kids who work in the shop. Sid is a bit of a
torment but also not really the start of any aggression between the
brothers.
Question is after all this..what's the next step? we have read that taking
them all for a ride in the car bonds them, and putting baby food on their
backs encourages grooming. We're also advised that cleaning out the big
cage and re-arranging the things will create a 'new' territory prior to
putting thme all together...
We would really appreciate advice on the next step..

Thanks,

Julia

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Marlo Miller - 24 Apr 2008 21:34 GMT

Well, this is what we've done for introductions. Neutral territory.
Cover their backs in vanilla so they are confused by the smell. Referee
the greetings. If they get too mean, break it up, but as I learned, NOT
WITH YOUR BARE HAND! (Very stupid of me, I still can't feel the end of
my finger.) A good way to break up fights is to spray them with a water
bottle. We took advice from the dog whisperer and started spraying
Bernard at the very instant he began getting aggressive by sidling up
sideways to the other boys. On the other hand, they need to have some
rough-and-tumble to establish pecking order. Do introductions over
several days or weeks, rather than just throwing them all together in
the same cage. When we first introduced our first rat Chewie to the
other two girls, she was very aggressive. It took several meetings,
then when we finally put them all together in a cage, my husband stood
guard with a water bottle. Chewie finally settled down and by morning
they were all sleeping together. My super-aggressive boy Bernard, the
one who bit me, is still living by himself and I'm not sure he's ever
going to get along with the others. We backed off of intros but we need
to start trying again.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
-Marlo

> Like the previous post, we went to buy rat pellets from the pet shop
> where I bought Jimmy and Sid for my husband for Christmas. There was
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>
> Julia

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Pet Forum / Mammals / Rats / April 2008

introducing Dylan to out other2