Ok, so I had two initial rats both a little over a year old. They have been with me since they were itty bitty babies. One of them, Fuzzle, isn't doing to well health wise(Nothing Contagious), and I was worried the other one would be left behind for another year or so by itself. I have this huge cage suitable for about eight rats and I thought why not adopt two more to be there for the other one? I adopted two gorgeous 5 week old babies from an oops litter. I was told by multiple people, who seemed to know what they are doing, that the babies would get along with the adults almost instantly. Boy were they wrong. I did introductions and held the babies while they sniffed it-BAM! Hopper broke Templeton's neck in literally the blink of an eye. I am obviously completely heart broken and so upset I bawled my eyes out. I should have seen this coming and done some more research. So then I had two adult rats, and a five week old baby all by himself. I didn't want to leave poor Ted in there until he was big enough for another try at introductions. So I thought I would adopt two more from another litter of the same age, then take the correct introduction steps. That way Ted had some playmates until he was older. I found an ad online that claimed the babies were almost five weeks and ready to go. I took two of them and realized no way these could be five weeks, they are literally half the size of Ted. Now what? I have two adults, one 5 week old, and two babies half the size of the 5 week old. I made sure the babies pooped, ate, drank, etc. on their own, and they did. So should I introduce the three babies despite their size? If not what about the five week old Ted? Just let him live by himself until he is 12 weeks? Leave them all be until they are older?
Introducing babies HELP
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Hi. First of all I am sorry for your loss and it being so tragic.
Whoever told you they would get along instantly should be found and thoroughly slapped. There is never a guarantee and even less of one when you haven't done intros before.
Also I'd slap the people giving you babies so young ugh
Not your fault but drives me crazy.
Anyways if I have this right....
You have two male rats over a year old, a single male rat 5 weeks or so, and 2 more males younger then 5 weeks?
I'd intro the three younger rats (after a quarantine unless its too late for that...). Do proper intros with them still. Being babies it is likely they will all get along fine. You may see some bickering but as long as there is no blood or injuries it is ok. They are way too young for hormonal aggression and shouldn't even be really territorial at that age. They should get along fine. Be careful, do things proper and watch them but I would be confident introducing those three together. But can you post pics of them? Perhaps Ted is older and the other babies are really 5 weeks? have you weighed any of them?
I honestly would not intro them to the older rats after what happened. Something so violent, I just would not trust them. I have dealt with aggressive males who fought really viciously and even had a successful reintro with them but something like that I just would not risk it. That is just not a bit of a fight but something very serious.
For future reference IMO 8-12 weeks old is the earliest I would intro babies to adults. 12 weeks or older being more ideal. Babies are smaller and can easily be injured from even small fights. Also babies have much more energy then adults and have not yet mastered social graces. So they can be quite buggy to the adults who will then attempt to put them in their place but the babies may not "get it" and it can lead to more serious fights.
When doing an introduction always do it in a completely neutral area with no scent of any rats if possible. A bathtub is ideal IMO. I also find adding food like yogurt, pudding, babyfood, chocolate syrup and putting some on the rats can both mask the scent and distract them. A bath afterwards and a bonding session to dry off helps. If that goes well then you can add them to a clean cage. The cage should be very well scrubbed clean. Deep clean even the little nooks. Everything inside the cage should be clean or new. That includes food dishes, beds, water bottles, etc... it should have no smell of any rats. This helps remove territorial issues. Even putting them in a new room for the first week can help in harder cases.
Goodluck!
Whoever told you they would get along instantly should be found and thoroughly slapped. There is never a guarantee and even less of one when you haven't done intros before.
Also I'd slap the people giving you babies so young ugh
Not your fault but drives me crazy.Anyways if I have this right....
You have two male rats over a year old, a single male rat 5 weeks or so, and 2 more males younger then 5 weeks?
I'd intro the three younger rats (after a quarantine unless its too late for that...). Do proper intros with them still. Being babies it is likely they will all get along fine. You may see some bickering but as long as there is no blood or injuries it is ok. They are way too young for hormonal aggression and shouldn't even be really territorial at that age. They should get along fine. Be careful, do things proper and watch them but I would be confident introducing those three together. But can you post pics of them? Perhaps Ted is older and the other babies are really 5 weeks? have you weighed any of them?
I honestly would not intro them to the older rats after what happened. Something so violent, I just would not trust them. I have dealt with aggressive males who fought really viciously and even had a successful reintro with them but something like that I just would not risk it. That is just not a bit of a fight but something very serious.
For future reference IMO 8-12 weeks old is the earliest I would intro babies to adults. 12 weeks or older being more ideal. Babies are smaller and can easily be injured from even small fights. Also babies have much more energy then adults and have not yet mastered social graces. So they can be quite buggy to the adults who will then attempt to put them in their place but the babies may not "get it" and it can lead to more serious fights.
When doing an introduction always do it in a completely neutral area with no scent of any rats if possible. A bathtub is ideal IMO. I also find adding food like yogurt, pudding, babyfood, chocolate syrup and putting some on the rats can both mask the scent and distract them. A bath afterwards and a bonding session to dry off helps. If that goes well then you can add them to a clean cage. The cage should be very well scrubbed clean. Deep clean even the little nooks. Everything inside the cage should be clean or new. That includes food dishes, beds, water bottles, etc... it should have no smell of any rats. This helps remove territorial issues. Even putting them in a new room for the first week can help in harder cases.
Goodluck!
I weighed both of them and Ted is somewhere around 100grams(won't sit still), and both of the babies are 25grams. It is ridiculous how tiny they are but they are weaned and doing everything on their own. They even still have a baby face and baby clumsiness. I was thinking of picking up some formula to supplement their meals just in case. I would introduce them but my concern is that Ted is extremely playful and wrestles with my hand all the time while scratching and play biting. Im afraid that he will accidentally hurt the itty bitty babies. Sorry I can't get pics up my there is a problem with the camera on my phone.
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