[mishbob]

Hi Everyone!

About 6 months ago we brought home our first pet rat. My daughter named her Murry and the entire family fell in love. Murry is so loving and entertaining. After lerking on this sight, I discoverd that Murry really needed a friend. Molly joined our family a week later. Molly is very shy, but loving. The girls came from Petco.

The girls lived in a First Rat Cage. I decided they needed bigger. Over the weekend we purchased a cage large enough for three girls. My question is - Is three a good idea?

Next - How do rats establish their pecking order? It's very interesting to watch, but we can't quite figure it out.

Thanks

 

[Berks]

Hi there! I'm glad to hear you got Murry a friend. I actually started with one and ended up having three. They get along great. Each of them have their own personalities and seem to have a pecking order, but all three take turns being ruler depending on what's going on. As long as your cage is big it should'nt be a problem. There is a cage calculator on the forum that will help you determine how many rats can fit nicely in your size cage so your not filling it to capacity.

 

[lizzydeztic]

if it fits 3 but you have 2, perhaps just keep it at 2. it's always best to have more room as opposed to just enough room, it can cause fighting to just have enough room.

wrestling and barbering are normal behavior for them to figure out who's the alpha. i had one really nasty fight with my girls when i first introduced them. lots of squeaking and one got bit =( as long as they don't fight constantly and there's no blood shed i'm sure they'll be fine. and if they're young they'll wrestle a lot just for fun. i get nervous about my younger girls wrestling all the time but considering that they snuggle up to sleep i'm sure it's all natural.

 

[ladylady]

Ive managed to connect 3 cages together-it looks a bit like worsel gummages shed but its a cool cage-get some wire cutters

 

[mishbob]

Thanks everyone!

 

[crapola]

i started out with 2 ratties, and now i have 5... 2 in one cage and 3 in the other. there havent been any problems with the 3 girls, although i notice every now and then that one of them seems to be left out, so she gets extra attention from me to compensate. the cage that the 3 of them live in is probably only big enough for 2, but all my rats free-range for a couple of hours a day, as well as spend a lot of time sleeping in my shirt. i have my eye on a huge cage that will hold 14 so just waiting on my tax return and then i'll be ordering it.

 

[Pomperella]

i had two, then took on a rescue, then i got three babies! the three babies seem absolutely fine, two of them tend to rough and tumble and the other one is left but they seem to take it in turns! i am currently trying to introduce them to the older two but not successfully!

 

[mishbob]

Here's The Up-Date....

We decided to find another girl. I found a highly recommended breeder, and we're now the proud owners of a eight week old Dumbo. Her hair is wavy and her whiskers curly. She's VERY cute. Her name is Macy.

Here's what I did......
I bleached, rinsed, scrubbed, and dried the cage (which is big enough for 3.75 rats). I also threw away all toys, and bought all new. It looked like a completely different cage. I housed Murry and Molly in a smaller cage after the cleaning so the girls could enter their home all at once.
After I returned home with Macy, the girls met on the bathroom floor (all had vanilla on their botty's). The meeting went so well. I then returned all three to the cage.
As I sit here and type Murry, Molly, and Macy are all curled up together taking a nap.

Is it always this easy???? Is there anything else I should have done?

 

[Forensic]

No, not always that easy. But babies seem to make it easier. :lol: