Terrified Rat!

[KingKrazy]

So...

This is a peculiar situation for me because a while back, I got 2 new female rats.  Everything was really good with introductions and they have been comfortable in each others' cages even.  They seemed to be getting along really well, and I was planning on bringing in the new large cage for all 4 of them to inhabit.

But, recently, one of my older rats has become mortified of one of my new rats.  I haven't seen my new rat do anything particularly aggressive or violent towards my older rat, but the younger one is definitely showing dominance.  Keep in mind when I say older and younger rats, I mean 11.5 and 10 months old (so only 1.5 months apart).

Do you think my older rat will get over her fear (because I think it just encourages the younger one)?  By the way, they each have a cage-mate which they have been with their whole lives, and the newer rat in this situation is the dominant in the cage as well, but the older rat who is scared is not the dominant rat in that cage.

The younger, dominant girl does not "mess with" the dominant, older girl (she probably tried, haha).

So, now I'm waiting, obviously, before I cohabit them, because she literally RUNS... fast... and jumps off of anything when she sees the younger rat!  Any suggestions?

[AvaAdoreSmashing]

You could try setting their cages next to each other so they can both feel safe in their own cage while interacting. Did you do the whole cage swap thing so they could get used to each others scents?

Id try the cages next to each other a few inches between, to keep from toes getting bit if it ends up being a issue with aggression.
Maybe the scared one just isn't prepared to be meeting new friends so she's nervous/scared?

At the moment are all 4 just free ranging together?

[KingKrazy]

You could try setting their cages next to each other so they can both feel safe in their own cage while interacting. Did you do the whole cage swap thing so they could get used to each others scents?

Id try the cages next to each other a few inches between, to keep from toes getting bit if it ends up being a issue with aggression.
Maybe the scared one just isn't prepared to be meeting new friends so she's nervous/scared?

At the moment are all 4 just free ranging together?

Their cages have been side-by-side since quarantine was done, which was quite some time ago!  I also did do the cage swap thing a little while ago, and yes, they are free-ranging together, and have been for awhile as well.  Everything was going good... I'm hoping something just happened recently and my older rat will get over it!

Recently today and late last night, it seems that the frightened rat's cage-mate (the most dominant of the 4) has been sticking up for her.  Whenever all 3 are around, and the younger-dominant rat starts chasing the older-passive rat, my older-dominant rat chases the younger-one and "shows her who is boss"... I hope this helps as well!

[ema-leigh]

The rule is no blood, no foul.

Its possible that she was ruffled up a bit, and what you see as fear is her showing respect for the other rat. However rats dont hold fear for more than 20 mins - so you can get them to accept pretty much any situation. If they are not harming eachother or having frequent scuffles, then I'd let them live together for long periods of time (1-2 hrs at a time to start) and I would watch them closely. You've quarentined and done intros so everything should work itself out.