Introducing wildie rescue to fancy friends

The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

RattusRattus

Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2017
Messages
14
Just confirming that getting my wildie girl two fancy rat friends will be okay? She's always been on her own.

Thanks :)
 
An update on my girl: she's still on her own, as I have concerns about introducing her to a pair of fancy rats. She's been on her own her whole life, and she's also pretty tiny (I know Rattus Rattus are smaller sized rodents anyway, but she's rather small), so I'm worried that she might get hurt? In addition, she's also wild born. What are the chances she might have something she could pass on to the other rodents? She's in perfect health and very sweet, never so much as tried to bite me, but still, I'm not sure.

Some friends did pitch in to buy me a double unit Critter Nation for Christmas, though. If I set it up with lots of interesting toys to play with and things to do, along with giving her a lot of attention (which I've been doing - she's a spoiled little ratto), what are the chances she'd be okay on her own? I mean, I've done my research, and I know that people say it's a must for them to have friends (and I really will do it if she'll be terribly miserable otherwise - I've tried in the past), but I also know people who have had single rats. So if I spoil the living daylights out of my girl, do you think she'll be okay on her own?

I love her to pieces and I want what's best for her, but I'm just trying to explore all my options here.

Thanks :)
 
I highly doubt she would transmit anything to your rats... she would have needed to "catch" something from somewhere to spread it and if they are in the same room and exposed to the same air, then it's a good chance they all share their air born bacterias.
But I can understand you being very worried for her safety. We just never know how these things can go and it's hard to say if she will be fine on her own either. But what is important is that you do what you are comfortable with. Don't overwhelm yourself and take it day by day.
 
I highly doubt she would transmit anything to your rats... she would have needed to "catch" something from somewhere to spread it and if they are in the same room and exposed to the same air, then it's a good chance they all share their air born bacterias.
But I can understand you being very worried for her safety. We just never know how these things can go and it's hard to say if she will be fine on her own either. But what is important is that you do what you are comfortable with. Don't overwhelm yourself and take it day by day.

I didn't think it was too high of a risk, but I tend to overthink these things.
I started looking into getting her some friends the beginning of this month, but the more I think about it, the more worried I am about how things could go wrong. With thatin mind, I'm a lot more comfortable with her being on her own, where I know for sure that's she's safe, but I wouldn't want to sentence her to a horrible and lonely life, if being alone is as bad for them as it sounds.
She's very well loved and receives a lot of attention, and in addition, I change her set up around a lot so that it's always interesting for her, and she always seems like a happy little thing. If the consensus is that it's possible for her to be alright on her own under certain circumstances, then I'll give it my best shot.
Thank you :)
 
You are very welcome! What is her age? The only way I would do it if she were mine is to intro her to baby rats, not adult rats. In this case, you are more sure of them not harming her in the least.
 
You are very welcome! What is her age? The only way I would do it if she were mine is to intro her to baby rats, not adult rats. In this case, you are more sure of them not harming her in the least.

She's about three months now :) That's true; I'll keep it in mind. May I ask what you would do in my position? Would you go ahead and find her some younger friends, or would you keep her on her own?
Thanks again :)
 
I would also intro her to two baby girls, or two neutered baby boys (wait 3 weeks after neutering to introduce them), but I would likely intro 8 week old babies to her .... depending on size

She really does need to live with other rats because all rats are very social and in the wild they live in huge family groups
 
At the very least, giving her ONE baby female friend would be nice.

rats.jpg
 
Back
Top