Since Rokk moved in with the girls, he just doesn't seem to be happy anymore. He mostly stays in the litter box, and will sometimes tolerate the girls climbing over him and around him, and sometimes he'll chase them off. He's constantly trying assert his dominance, and when he's not in the litter box, he's squabbling with at least one of them. Sakura avoids him, and Coconut bullies him and keeps challenging his dominance. He sometimes gets puffy when she's around, but there hasn't been any real fighting.
When I bring him out for one-on-one time, it takes him a while to warm up to me. First he's pretty stiff and still, and sometimes just freezes in my arms, no matter how much I pet him and talk to him. Sometimes he clamors up to my shoulder and hides his head in my hair. When I set him down, he'll run off and hide, and slowly start venturing back. After 15 minutes or so, he seems to calm down completely and turns back into his old sweet self. He never wants to go back into the cage. When I had it next to the desk and kept the door open so they could all come and go as they pleased, the girls hung out in the cage, while Rokk stayed in the drawer, as far from them as he could get.
I'm trying to decide what I should do about this. I got him neutered and put him with them so he would be happy, and have a better life than being a lone rat. But it seems to be working in the opposite direction. He seemed much happier being alone - and not just when he was out with me. He would sit in his cage and boggle and brux to himself, and climb around, and, I don't know, he just seemed happy. Now he rarely boggles, even when he's alone with me.
I should be getting my FN next week. My original plan was to keep all of the rats together, but now I'm wondering if that's a good idea. At the moment, I'm tentatively thinking I might try introducing him to Kismet (my new baby girl, maybe 5 or 6 weeks old - I posted about her in Meet My Rat). My theory is that since she's so small, there shouldn't be any dominance issues with them - there weren't with Coconut and Jellybean, and even now Jellybean is the dominant one of the two, although Rokk dominates Jellybean and Coconut challenges Rokk. But since Rokk is so much bigger than tiny little Kismet, I am worried about that. My hope is that if Rokk and Kismet get along, I could house them together in one half of the FN, and the three older girls together in the other, since they all get along beautifully. I'm also worried that maybe Rokk really was fine with being alone, and maybe he'll never be happy with other rats.
I'm wondering what everyone thinks I should do. I just want him to be happy!
When I bring him out for one-on-one time, it takes him a while to warm up to me. First he's pretty stiff and still, and sometimes just freezes in my arms, no matter how much I pet him and talk to him. Sometimes he clamors up to my shoulder and hides his head in my hair. When I set him down, he'll run off and hide, and slowly start venturing back. After 15 minutes or so, he seems to calm down completely and turns back into his old sweet self. He never wants to go back into the cage. When I had it next to the desk and kept the door open so they could all come and go as they pleased, the girls hung out in the cage, while Rokk stayed in the drawer, as far from them as he could get.
I'm trying to decide what I should do about this. I got him neutered and put him with them so he would be happy, and have a better life than being a lone rat. But it seems to be working in the opposite direction. He seemed much happier being alone - and not just when he was out with me. He would sit in his cage and boggle and brux to himself, and climb around, and, I don't know, he just seemed happy. Now he rarely boggles, even when he's alone with me.
I should be getting my FN next week. My original plan was to keep all of the rats together, but now I'm wondering if that's a good idea. At the moment, I'm tentatively thinking I might try introducing him to Kismet (my new baby girl, maybe 5 or 6 weeks old - I posted about her in Meet My Rat). My theory is that since she's so small, there shouldn't be any dominance issues with them - there weren't with Coconut and Jellybean, and even now Jellybean is the dominant one of the two, although Rokk dominates Jellybean and Coconut challenges Rokk. But since Rokk is so much bigger than tiny little Kismet, I am worried about that. My hope is that if Rokk and Kismet get along, I could house them together in one half of the FN, and the three older girls together in the other, since they all get along beautifully. I'm also worried that maybe Rokk really was fine with being alone, and maybe he'll never be happy with other rats.
I'm wondering what everyone thinks I should do. I just want him to be happy!
