[Grotesque]

Did the quarantine... did the cages face to face, did the introduction in neutral territory... then did the bathtub thing. Put them in a fresh cage that was cleaned top to bottom... brand new bedding, toys... the works!

Everyone did their little dominance thing and was pretty much getting along except Mocha is attacking the new rat (about 8 weeks old). She is drawing blood.

I took the baby out of the cage for now to try to get her leg wound to heal. What do I do next? Mocha is going to kill her!!!

 

[Jessiferatu]

I've read on here several times that females should be at least 12 weeks before introductions to older rats, so maybe that's why. I know with Sookie, I wasn't positive of her age and the initial introductions I tried ended in some hardcore scuffling between her and May-May. I waited another 2 weeks and tried again, and that time it worked out just fine. You may have to wait and try again when she's older.

 

[Grotesque]

Did you put the cages face to face or do anything specific while she grows up more?

ETA: I got her too young... she was a pet store rat who was too sweet to turn down. She was about 5 weeks back then. She has been in various stages of quarantine/intro for about 3 weeks.

 

[Jessiferatu]

Nope. In my experience putting the cages close together doesn't do anything to help, in fact it just seems to make everyone crazy because they can see and smell each other but not touch each other.

I do a hands-on introduction in my bathtub to start with. I put towels down so everyone is comfortable. I keep my hands nearby but I don't break up squabbles unless they're getting too rough, or someone is puffing up and hissing or just generally being a foofy aggressive fool. If this initial introduction goes well we move to a bigger space - so ideally the entire (rat-proofed) bathroom. After that goes well we move to the free-range area. Then the cage.

It's worked for me with most of my rats. I'm not an expert and I'm sure someone will tell me I'm doing something wrong, so if you're not comfortable doing what I do, then don't. But I really think age is an important factor when introducing females.

 

[Grotesque]

Makes perfect sense to me! I'm going to try that but I'll give her a month to grow up a bit.

 

[Jessiferatu]

Did you put the cages face to face or do anything specific while she grows up more?

ETA: I got her too young... she was a pet store rat who was too sweet to turn down. She was about 5 weeks back then. She has been in various stages of quarantine/intro for about 3 weeks.

Ok, yes. So you should definitely wait then. I know it sucks because she's alone but she's better off with just you for a while vs. being injured or possibly killed by your other rat.

 

[Jessiferatu]

Makes perfect sense to me! I'm going to try that but I'll give her a month to grow up a bit.

Sounds perfect.

 

[Phile]

Nope. In my experience putting the cages close together doesn't do anything to help, in fact it just seems to make everyone crazy because they can see and smell each other but not touch each other.

That syncs with my experience. I eventually (temporarily) gave up on introducing my babies to my older female. The older one was pretty wigged out a lot of the time when the cages were next to each other, with no obvious improvement over time. Once the youngest baby hits 12 weeks or so I'm going to start trying again--the older rat will be alone soon (sis is sick) and I'm hoping that (in combo with the older babies) will make a difference.

 

[Isamurat]

Ive introduced female babies younger than this but do tend to wait until they are 8 weeks at least, up to about 10 weeks, however i do carrier method intros. So this uses a much smaller space which tends to reduce the injuries a fair bit (most injuries occur when a rat tries to escape being dominanted and the other rat grabs them to restrain them). If you read the carrier method sticky that shows the approach i use. I also know a lot of people, many experienced breeders and owners that use that approach to introduce young girls to adult females.

 

[Phile]

My babies were getting bloodied without any sign of a fight/flight response--totally caught em unaware. The idea of a cage-match scenario seemed way too dicey!

 

[Grotesque]

I briefly tried the carrier but it did turn into a death brawl quickly. Seriously... my Mocha is a maniac.