Deku Maisy and Carmin Intro

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.

Mimmom

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 13, 2012
Messages
60
Location
United States
So the wrapping thing is what Deku is doing to Maisy and it's what Deku did to Carmin and may STILL do to Carmin but mostly they seem to get along and even snuggle. My Deku lived with a family that had a male rat in a separate cage. So two single rats with other rats nearby but out of reach. Deku was underfed and it seems like she's pretty unpleasant about food being taken from her. She's getting to be quite chubby now. We adopted Deku through a craigslist advert and she came with her cage and a dish, thing, or flower pot thing, weird thing, shaped like an acorn. The cage was filthy filthy filthy. Deku is very very sweet with people but was hard to introduce to Carmin-J and we never got her in the same cage before little BB died. Wow, I feel kind of weary from special needs rats and special needs kids. So Deku never got to know BB before BB left us but she had been around BB some before BB got SOOO sick that attempting introductions would be too stressful. I just bought some soynuts and if Deku really likes them maybe they can be the extra special treat. I'll have to look around. Pumpkin seeds are now old news. LOL.
 
I moved your post in it's own thread because that will make it easier to keep track. :)

That's really good news that Deku is pretty much ok with Carmin. That means she's not really an aggressive girl, she just needs some convincing. I would do the click/treat like we discussed on FB. Have you tried sunflower seeds? Mine go just for those. Soynuts should be a hit too, I would think.

You are really an awesome mom, taking special needs pets as well. You've got the strength and this is why I believe it will work. :)
 
Excellent progress tonight. Deku loves puffed rice and after 10 minutes was turning away from Maisy and I was able to click and treat a few times for turning away. I started with just Deku and called her name then clicked and treated her for coming to me. Then I put Maisy on the bed with her and there was one fight I broke up and put my hand on Deku. After that no more fighting.

Maisy and Carmin are fine together. I forgot how fun it was to train like this.
 
sounds great!! They are all such sweet girls. Deku looks like she has little attacks of PMS or something lol
I bet you could train the girls to do tricks!


 
I'd love to get a video, but it's hard to do that without a lot of help. Maybe I can get one of my kids to record while the other kid helps me. :) It's really helpful that Deku loves to eat so much. She'll do anything for food. I bet I can teach her a lot of tricks. Which is probably a good idea since she's getting a bit on the chunky side. LOL.
 
Tonight's session with Deku and Maisy didn't go as well tonight. My daughter insisted on being ON the bed and that interfered in my ability to catch the behavior and prevent it or reward the behavior I want to increase. Still, I did see Deku actually go to Maisy, sniff her then come right to me as if to say, "Okay, where's my treat!" LOL. So something is getting through to her. Maisy wasn't happy. She sat a good distance away and writhed her tail around to say, "I DO NOT LIKE THAT!" Then Carmin and Maisy were adorable together. Maisy desperately wants to be groomed. She's still pretty skittish about coming out of the cage, but if I put my hand in the cage in a fist and let her smell, then open my hand enough to scratch behind her ears she relaxes, closes her eyes and looks so happy. Then she's calm when I pick her up. She is SUCH a love. I'm so glad we adopted her because she's a little sweetie and is a great friend for Carmin. I feel almost like I should put Carmin and Maisy in a cage together and keep Deku on her own until she can be introduced to Maisy.
 
The one last night wasn't as neutral as the one I usually use. Maybe that contributed to some of Deku's behavior last night. DOH! When we started, the bed in the guest room was totally unfamiliar to all the rats.
 
Ended up not working with the rats tonight. Their cages needed cleaning. My daughter was supposed to do it but didn't. Then Maisy was eating soynuts and choked and took ages of gagging and opening her mouth really wide and sticking her tongue way out and foaming at the mouth to clear it. It probably wasn't more than a few minutes but it sure seems like an eternity. Then she seemed really worn out so I decided maybe it wasn't a good time to put her in a stressful situation.
 
Yeah, it really upsets me when they choke but I've never had one not be able to clear it. I usually leave the room a bit for breaks and go back to check color and to make sure the rat is able to breathe. I just have to take breaks because it's scary!
 
We are stalled! Deku got worse after this. She went from tolerating 30 minutes to 30 seconds and then Maisy's hair would fly. I think Deku has food issues. She was emaciated when we got her and now goes batty over food. So now when Maisy is out Deku gets food anxiety and know there are preferred treats involved and has to keep Maisy from getting any. So here is what I plan to do. Let me know if this makes sense. I am going to get Maisy and Carmin in the big cage and Deku alone. She won't feel any competition for food. Then during intro times I will let.Deku have time with Carmin first for a while. Then I will work with Deku and Maisy without any food and use play time as the reinforcer. Not sure if Deku will care as much about that but Deku was an only rat and Maisy wasn't and is great with Carmin so I feel like Maisy and Carmin should be together.
 
How difficult would it be for you to keep switching Carmin? Like during the day Carmin goes with Maisy but at night she goes with Deku?
But whatever you do, when doing intros, it should be all three girls at the same time This will show Deku that she can't have Carmin without Maisy.
 
Should I be concerned about this getting dangerous? Deku did a lot of the same things with Carmin that she's doing with Maisy. Maybe she's jealous because I'm giving Carmin some time out with Maisy while she stays in the cage. Wow, I am hating introductions these days. We had a lot of years with REALLY EASY introductions and now Deku. Deku is a tough little thing. Poor little Maisy looks like a deer in the headlights. She cuddled up to Rayleigh's neck after last night's 30 seconds that didn't go well. Maisy is SUCH a sweetie. I'm just loving her to pieces. She loves her people. It just goes to show you that the prejudice against PEWS that some people have is so so wrong.
 
Back
Top