Ivan's Home! (New rescue home today)

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.

KatTheHippie

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2011
Messages
1,045
Location
Long Island, New York
Ivan (formerly Lou) is apparently an aggressive boy that a younger kid in my home town couldn't handle. He would attack Jared (the kid) and his other 3 rats.

Today, I picked Ivan up. He's a standard eared PEW, the first one I've had since my first group of rats, so I may have been a little biased taking him in, considering these guys have a special place in my heart. :suspicious:

Well, he came home with his favorite box (A cheez-it box that I have no idea how he fits in) and I sectioned off the DCN.

But in my experience, and don't take me up on this saying it'll always work for everyone, because it may not and I don't want anyone or any ratty to get hurt, the easiest way for me to do intros, is to rub the newbie in old bedding thoroughly, then toss him and my group down on neutral play time territory ASAP while the aggressive newbie isn't used to anything and not dominant or territorial yet.

So far for me, it's worked every time.. including this time!

Also, I only ever do this so long as I know the rat is healthy and hasn't been exposed to any parasites or illnesses that could get passed on. I'm super careful.

Ivan sat with me, in my shirt for a few hours this morning, then I rubbed him in soiled bedding, and tossed the boys down to play. I distracted them all with cheerios, and they didn't even realize he was here for about a half hour. There's been a little boxing, mostly between him and Cooper, who always boxes everyone no matter what, but they've all been really well behaved so far.

They're all napping right now, and in a little while I'm gonna put him, Dover, Cheswyck, and Igor in the bottom half of the CN (since they're my most docile and could care less about new arrivals) and Cooper, Meeloh, and Toby (My most bossy of the group) can go up top. I'll be in the room watching diligently, and if all goes well we'll see if they can spend the night together. The cage is in my room, so I'll be right here watching all night.

If it goes well, then maybe tomorrow I'll add meeloh, and then Toby the day after, then Cooper last.

But here he is!











 
Aww, Ivan is a cutie! I love his name, by the way. :)

That was so cool that you put his beloved Cheeze-It box in with him, so he could have something comforting in his new home. Awesome! Not sure how he fits in that box either, but I never question why rats get attached to certain things...they just do! :D

It sounds like you are doing a fabulous job with intros! Let's hope Ivan does okay with his new buddies in the next few days. Keep us posted! (and of course, give Ivan a big smooch from me).
 
Update: Ivan crawled into my shirt when all the other boys were still sleeping in their box castles, and he's laying on my chest bruxing. I seriously can't right now :tumkiss: :bliss: :joy:

That was so cool that you put his beloved Cheeze-It box in with him, so he could have something comforting in his new home. Awesome! Not sure how he fits in that box either, but I never question why rats get attached to certain things...they just do! :D

The kid who I adopted him from handed him to me in the cheez-it box and said "This is his favorite box.. he sleeps in here all the time." It broke my heart, I knew it was hard for him to give him up. It was so thoughtful of him to make sure he had his box, and he also had an orange oblong wood chew in his hand that he gave to me, saying he loved those as well.

And thanks! A few days ago my boyfriend and I watched The Raven, that Edgar Allen Poe movie. And though I didn't like it too much, the bad guy in the movie is named Ivan.. and when I heard the name I knew it was perfect!
 
Aww, Ivan was bruxing on your chest...you must have been in Heaven! :D

That really WAS sweet and so thoughtful of the kid to think of Ivan's box and also the orange chew stick (I saw that in the photo next to Ivan). I bet that kid would love seeing a photo of Ivan in his new home (with his cheeze-it box and chew stick of course!) but I don't know if you have the kid's email or not.

Cool, you named him after the bad guy in the Raven! Great name. ;)
 
That really WAS sweet and so thoughtful of the kid to think of Ivan's box and also the orange chew stick (I saw that in the photo next to Ivan). I bet that kid would love seeing a photo of Ivan in his new home (with his cheeze-it box and chew stick of course!) but I don't know if you have the kid's email or not.


I've got his email address and he sent me a request on Facebook, so I can give him lots of updates :) He met me here at my place to drop Ivan off, so I brought him in to show him the cage, and where he'd be living. I told him he could stop by any time to see him, too :)
 
Wow, you and Ivan are off to an auspicious start! I hope it stays on course and he is happy with his new buds. And you seem to be still intact too. :)
 
Yep, another vicious looking rat rescued!!! He is such a sweet looking fuzz ball. Hope the intros continue to go well - wish I could successful intro some, anyone, just one - once... :hug4:
 
Thanks guys! I had him sectioned off with Ches, Igor, and Dover in the bottom, and Cooper, Toby, and Meeloh in the top, but Cooper wouldn't stop throwing a fit and ripping up my newly made cage liners, so I just gave in and opened up the whole cage. So far, so good, everyone's running around playing, so I may just leave it be for the night.

Everyone seems to say that Females are easiest to intro in together, but when I had girls they were so difficult to get into one group. I feel like my boys are all so lazy that they don't care so long as their food rations aren't cut, LOL
 
I've got his email address and he sent me a request on Facebook, so I can give him lots of updates :) He met me here at my place to drop Ivan off, so I brought him in to show him the cage, and where he'd be living. I told him he could stop by any time to see him, too :)

That is great! I bet he will like seeing how well Ivan is doing with you and your bubs. :D
 
Back
Top