We recently lost the older male,,,,the younger male (about 10 months old) not neutered, the 2 never lived together,,older fellow was dominate. Young rat seems to miss the older.(They did share a common play area) We wish to adopt/ re-home 2 rats. The question is , should we try and re-home older or younger rats? Example,,,came across an ad for 2, 5 month olds..needing a home,,,almost jumped at it,,,clear the 2 are bonded to each other,,,and are they bonded to the present owner? Would they take to a new rat and owner? Or start fresh with 2 new pups from a breeder,,because the pups may not have any attachment to owner,, and the transition may be less stressful,,Please give me a moment...adopting an older pair, means they have to gain our trust, then the resident rats'....versus 2 new fellows who could probably introduced pretty soon to the resident,,can some body give me help?
Adding new rat, or rats, after loss
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Rats you get from someone looking to give them away to someone 5 months into their lives may not be properly socialized with people. This isn't always the case, but I've yet to adopt rats from their previous owner and had them come to me even sort of trusting of people.
Rats from a reputable breeder will have been handled right from when they were born, and should take to you easier.
Neither one of these are bad options, it just depends on whether or not you're up for extensive trust training if it comes to that.
Also keep in mind that bringing new rats into your home means you will need to quarantine them for 3 weeks or so in a separate air space from your current rat. This means separated enough that they cannot breathe the same air. This is to prevent any airborne diseases getting your current rat sick. Because your house will likely have a ventilation system that connects all areas of the house, this can be tricky.
As far as whether your current rat and new rats will take to each other, this can't really be answered. Other people have certainly integrated rats of all different ages from all different situations but really it depends on the rats. Some just won't take to others. Some will fly through introductions and become buddies. Others, somewhere in between. You won't really know until you try. There's lots of info out there on how to go about doing this. I suggest reading up on that first.
Best of luck
Rats from a reputable breeder will have been handled right from when they were born, and should take to you easier.
Neither one of these are bad options, it just depends on whether or not you're up for extensive trust training if it comes to that.
Also keep in mind that bringing new rats into your home means you will need to quarantine them for 3 weeks or so in a separate air space from your current rat. This means separated enough that they cannot breathe the same air. This is to prevent any airborne diseases getting your current rat sick. Because your house will likely have a ventilation system that connects all areas of the house, this can be tricky.
As far as whether your current rat and new rats will take to each other, this can't really be answered. Other people have certainly integrated rats of all different ages from all different situations but really it depends on the rats. Some just won't take to others. Some will fly through introductions and become buddies. Others, somewhere in between. You won't really know until you try. There's lots of info out there on how to go about doing this. I suggest reading up on that first.
Best of luck
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