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Sorry this might be a little long I tend to ramble but I really need some advice. I have an older rat, Bernard, who is nearing 2 years old. a while ago I got two new babies and today I started intros (I'd like Bernard and the babies to live together). At first I started with bathtub intros and let Bernard meet each baby separately. That went pretty well! Remy is a little more nervous than Oliver and would squeak every once in a while and Oliver ran all around the tub and all over Bernard and Bernard seemed just fine with both babies. While doing to the tub intros I was reading about the carrier method and decided that might be a good idea. I set the carrier in the tub and let all three rats explore it together and they seemed to be enjoying one another. once they had all climbed into the carrier together I shut the door and took them outside for a change in smells and scenery and they seemed to be getting along just fine. I read that car rides are a good idea if you're doing the carrier method so I decided to give that a shot. I drove for about 20-30 minutes and by the time I got home all three boys were asleep together. I bring them inside and let them hang out in the carrier for about another hour and a half and they seemed to be fine so I decided I would try to move them to the cage. When I opened the carried door they all three ran into the cage together and they explored. Now Remy has started to be really nervous around Bernard and he squeaks whenever Bernard touches him. And also when the babies come near Bernard he seems to ignore them and doesn't really wanna be bothered by them and just kinda kicks them away with his back feet. When he does try to interact with them it's usually only to pin them and groom them which scared the living crap out of Remy. Oliver just squeaks and rolls over and waits for Bernard to finish. The two babies (I didn't get them at the same time but they came from the same placce and I believe the same cage? but they're not siblings) are already cuddled up in the corner but Bernard is in the opposite corner just kinda doing his own thing. They've been in the cage for about an hour.
I really just want to know If I should be concerned about any of this behavior or if this is just typical and I'm being a worrisome rat mom.
Bernard
Oliver (left) Remy (right)
I really just want to know If I should be concerned about any of this behavior or if this is just typical and I'm being a worrisome rat mom.

