Should I introduce a baby rat to my elderly rat?

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Area9Mongrel

Owner of the trouble makers
Joined
Aug 6, 2013
Messages
66
Location
England
Hi guys!
Just considering some options at the moment. A bit of back story first; I was given four rats by my sister. Two went and I bought another one who got on very well with my fancy rat, but he died a few weeks ago. Now I just have a large dumbo rat about two years old, and a 6 month old dumbo albino rat. They get on well, but the baby is beginning to groom the other one too much. It's becoming an issue because the squeaking wakes me up at night. I decided to get two baby rats when the baby is left on his own, but I want to wait until my elderly potato goes Because I don't want new babies to stress him out. He likes company but doesn't often play with any other rat. I am worried about the grooming though. Should I get the two new babies now so my albino baby can have new playmates to play with, or should I wait as they might stress the elderly potato out?
(I have two cages sandwiched together that can house up to six rats. My elderly rat lives only on the bottom floor as he can't move up the cage, but there are lots of beds for him to play with.)

Thanks in advance!
 
Well this is just an opinion of course and others are likely to have a different one. I think you should see if you can get everyone in the same cage. This way the babies will occupy your 6 month old and your senior can get some peace.
 
On one hand, it might stress out the old guy or, it might in fact allow the younger one to have a couple of buddies to play with so all three would leave the old man alone until he's looking for cuddles. It might be a win win situation.
 
Wait til the babies are at least 8 to 10 weeks old so they are able to defend themselves properly though. Any sooner and it can be bad news.
 
I don't have any babies at the moment. I've had no sleep tonight as Walter is over grooming old Sydney and making him squeak. I would hope that two new rats would make Walter leave Sydney alone but I am worried that they will also be like Walter and bug Sydney too much.
I wonder if anyone knows how elderly rats react to new babies in the cage? Whether they hate it or love the new company?
 
Thanks for everyone's replies. I've thought about each comment and I've decided that my old potato is still healthy and playful, and that he accepted Walter so well that he might accept two new boys too.
So I think I'm going to shop around :)
 
I'm just going to update this thread, in case anyone who's wondering the same thing I was stumbles on the page and wants to know what I did.

I decided to go for breeder rats, but because the waiting list was so long, my beautiful elderly boy died before any new rats were even born. The day after he went, I adopted two babies from an adoption centre and left them in my room to get used to my albino baby. Walter had been so bored without anyone to play with that he took to these new babies ridiculously well and they've been great ever since.

But they are all very skittish. When I first got Walter, I had my rat Oreo to help me train him and get his confidence up. Walter seems to be reverting back to his old nature, and training the two babies is very slow going. I wonder if I had gotten them a few months before Sydney had gone, if their confidence would have improved quicker. But these are things I can't change so I can only work hard to help them :)
 
I'm glad Walter likes having company and has taken to the babies. Keep working at them, perhaps take all three and put them down your shirt for a session every day as it sounds like Walter would benefit from some extra socialization too.
 
They're getting better each day. I will definitely try that though! That sounds like it'll be really funny!!!
 
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