[Suspicious_Toast]

it was the best introduction i've had between them. (they are 6 months and 9 monthes and are male i have a thread about them.) here's the problem. Tazo was scared of Lasagna. Lasagna is older and more alpha. And they have met before a few months back. never any blood but lasagna was very aggressive. the worst it got was lasagna pinned him down half way. and they did have a stare down. But Lasagna so much as looks at tazo and sniffs him Tazo jumps into my arms terrified. what do i do to calm him down? Lasagna has gotten over the aggression. He even curled up in the bathtub and bruxed! he let me pet him too. he didn't care that tazo was there. they both even ate treats i gave them. how do i show tazo he's ok?

 

[Mojojuju]

Pinning and wrestling are, as you probably know, totally normal. Even after they are together, they will do this to each other. Even after they are fine with each other, they will still do this.

I intro my rats by putting them in a small cage with no hiding spots (this assumes they are all about the same size so defense isn't an issue), some food sprinkled on the ground, and two water bottles. Then I pop them in there and observe for hours. Going to the other room to read for a while? Carry the cage with me. cooking? Put them on the floor where I can still see them.

After about twelve hours, I let them investigate their newly cleaned and rearranged cage. The tussling starts all over again, because they're in a new space, but it doesn't seem to go on as long.

So far, so good. I've done three intros this way and they have all gone off swimmingly. There may be wrestling and eeping, but they are establishing a social order, and need to get used to each other.