[Pacmunchkin]

Last night we had to put our Finn to sleep leaving Jake on his own. Both are (were) 18 months old.
He's been really depressed today and we are wondering how long before we should look to find him some new friends to keep him company.
We were wondering whether getting them quite soon, before he can have change to get used to being on his own
or
should we wait and give him some time to grieve and wait until his behaviour is more normal?

Also:

Is getting two young rats better than one?
Would adopting a rat that is a similar age be better.

 

[AdequateRat]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Rats are significantly much happier in pairs or more, as they need the social interaction from their own kind. (They need someone to cuddle, play with and groom at night/or when you're out.)

Adult to Adult introductions are the most difficult.
Your best bet would be getting 2 younger rats.

Your resident rat would be less aggressive to younger rats and getting two allows for the two little ones to play with each other.
Say you just got one young rat, he might be bored as he may not have anyone to play with as your resident rattie is older now.

I don't really know how long you should wait, as I have a mischief of 8..
In my opinion, I'd go out as soon as possible as your buddy will want someone to play with.

But I really don't know when the best time would be.

 

[Rhonwen]

I can only give advise based on my own experiences, but my older boy HATED being by himself.. He was so lonely, that when I got two youngsters he was overjoyed and it made intros incredibly easy. And getting a pair of youngsters will ensure that you don't have to go through this again in x amount of time when your current boy passes, leaving behind the younger fella.

Most folks will tell you that getting younger males to intro to an older male is best.

 

[Pacmunchkin]

One other thing I'm wondering.
Should we take a carrier full of the old rat things, so that the new rats smell less different to our old boy.