Agressive behaviour is getting worse... what should i do?

[ratsr4life]

I feel like iam impatient with this, its only been a week of my two elders smelling and getting to know the two younger arrivals. But all my other intros in the past were successful in a matter of hours.

Anyways here is the info:
My two 1year old sisters, are spayed.
I now adopted two 2month old sisters, not spayed.
The cages are close enough so they can smell and hear eachother.

One of my elders have pretty much accepted them, even grooming them, but the younger ones are still petrified and refuse to submit.
My other elder on the other hand, puffs up still, slams them against a wall with her behind or side. Now she nips thier tails and legs if they try and run away.

I tried the vanilla trick, but it doesnt work, should i intrude and pinch my elder? they respect me very well, the slightest nip from me has them on thier back.

But the other problem is the younger ones refuse to submit.

Anyone have experiences with this? Will they ever be friends?

 

[SQ]

I think you have gone way too fast.

To get ratties used to one another you put cages near each other but far enough apart that they can not reach. You exchange dirty cloths from one cage to another and put rats in one another's cages when the occupant is not home. This is usually done over a one or two week period, sometimes longer depending on the rats. Sometimes it goes much faster, depending on the ratties.

When they are no longer showing signs of aggression toward the unfamiliar rat, then you do intros in neutral territory. I would suggest you put the plug in the tub, put a fleece blanket in the bottom of the tub and put in a dish of yummy food such as yogurt. Then add rats and watch.

When rats have been able to be together in a neutral place for 20 to 30 minutes without any signs of aggression on a number of occassions, you repeat in a non neutral area such as
the play area. When rats have been together repeated times in a non neutral area without any sign of aggression they are ready to live together.

You take the cage they will live in and completely wash it out so it doesn't smell like anyone. You rearrange the items in the cage as well. You don't want ratties thinking they need to defend their territory. Some people suggest having the cage empty except for a plate with yummy food and gradually adding items over the next few hours. You put in a plate of yummy food. Sit back and keep an eye on them for the next 8 to 12 hours or so.

Each step usually takes a week, but with some rats it can go much faster. There is another step for rats that are very aggressive toward one another but it is not normally needed. If at any stage ratties show signs of aggression (puffiness, snorting, backing rear end into other rattie, etc) then you go back a step as they were not ready yet. A bit of aggression is
normal and they will pin and power groom but there should be no blood.

Edit: I may be a bit more cautious with intros then others but that is based on experience with situations that seemed to be going well and then one rat was severely injured.

 

[jorats]

The older girl is the alpha and she is teaching the newbies the ropes so to speak.
If there are no out right attacks, keep doing daily intros, make sure they last an hour, don't intervene when the boss is being bossy.
How long have you been doing intros?