Denny... Aggressive to new babies

Shop with us on Ebay
Advertise with us
Fins us on Amazon
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.
C

Cait

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2007
Messages
3,510
Location
Pasadena, CA
*sigh* So I went to St. Jo to see about those boys the rescue had in. And they were adorable, as usual, and so I brought two of the little boys with me. Since these babies were born there and have been in QT since birth, I figured it would be ok to intro them to Denny.

But Denny is not having it. At first they were running around fine, doing great, but next thing I knew, Denny was shaking one of the babies by it's scruff! He was squeaking so pitifully and I had to literally pry him from Denny's mouth. After that I had the baby on my lap, comforting him, and he came up and bit him on the side, drawing blood. Obviously that ended the out time for Denny, and back in his cage he went.

NEVER have I had an intro go so badly!! And I've always intro'd older rats and in a larger group. So I don't get why intro-ing babies to a not even full grown rat was so disastrous! :(

I'm not going to give up yet (obviously, one poor attempt is not the end of the world) , tomorrow when the baby is less traumatized I'll try a "wet" intro. Maybe it was just too much at one time for Denny?
 
You might try having their cages near one another for awhile so that Denny can get used to them and their smell. Switching cloths from one cage to another will also help him get used to them. You would not try putting them together in a neutral area until Denny is showing no signs of aggression toward the new ratties.

There are quite a few gradual intro steps and it sounds like you may need to use them. Drawing blood is a bad sign and means you need to slow down.

How old are the babies? Many people advise not introing babies to older ratties until they are 10 to 12 weeks so that they are old enough to defend themselves.
How old is Denny?
 
Thanks for the advice, SQ!

The babies are only five weeks old. :shock: So we will have to wait. Will Denny be any worse for wear for not having rat companions an extra month and a half?

I will set their cage by his, but not near enough to where he can reach them.. Right? I'd hate for him to grab a tail or a face or a foot if they are too curious. I'll also do the cloth switiching. Do I switch every night, or every two days, or how often, do you think?

Also, how do I know if he is not going to attack them? He didn't give me any cues this time (but perhaps I missed them?).

Poor Denny! He just can't win lately. Alone still. *sigh*

Oh! Could he also be going through a "teen" stage or something? He's about 4 months old.
 
Sometimes small babies are a threat to the older males. Babies don't smell like rats and may be confusing to Denny. I'd wait till the babies are at least 2 months old before trying it again.
 
My friend Anisha pointed out that they didn't smell like Denny on the way home. I forget that rats are smell oriented, and that would have a lot to do with it!

With mice, I used to use vanilla on their noses just in case. Should I try that when the time comes?
 
No, I don't like masking their scent cause in the end, they need to meet the other rat and not be surprised that behind that flavour, there's a rat there. lol
But wait till the boys are a little older so they develop into their rat smell.
 
Well there's logic for you! :lol:

No vanilla for them, then.

Will it hurt Denny to be alone for another month or so? Or? I don't know. I'll keep having him out and about like I have been.
 
I was wondering that, too. He's hardly an adult. He doesn't even have his rough man-rat coat yet. :shock: Is it an individual deal?
 
Oh, he's only 4 months? Mmm...
Keep him near the boys for about a week and try again, but be at the ready to pull him off. Don't hold onto any of the rats though when doing the intro cause that can cause aggression.
 
Okey dokey. What kind of body language am I looking for? He just looked curious when he went for him the first time, but the second time he just went right up to him. Of course, I was coddling him and the hand thing might have come into play there that time.
 
Ok. Poofy, lunge-y. Understood.

What if he does it again? Where he just decides to take one of the babies by the neck and shake. Wait until they are older? (Also, I thought that was a dog thing... Guess not!)
 
In a week or so ....
When you try your next intro, I would suggest you do it in the bathtub as this is usually a neutral area.
Put the plug in. Put a soft blanket (like fleece) on the bottom of the tub and also a plate of yummy foods in the tub to distract them.
Add ratties and sit on the floor by the tub to make sure everything is ok.

Let us know how it goes.
 
Well I'm sure not disagreeing with Jo and I'm pretty inept at intros, but if the trouble could be babies not smelling like rats then mightn't it be a benefit if Denny & the babies all smelled like vanilla rather than rats?
I tried the vanilla thing with 2 girls who hated each other and got nowhere, but I've heard it can work, and every rat is different, and so then is every situation.
I'd be scared to death to put a baby anywhere near Denny now, but I'd be temped to try it after bathing everyone in a bowl of water-vanilla mix - and oven mitts on my very close hands - and hope everyone was too busy grooming to grapple..

(just a thought, not a suggestion :? ...)
 
I'll do the intros very very late at night in the tub here... Have to scrub it because I don't know how often it gets cleaned, but that's not a problem.

I'll try again next Tuesday... What if I gave them all a bath so they all smelled the same-ish? I realize now that these babies smell of the bedding they were kept on. That could be very confusing to Denny, so I get it. But I am a little frightened to try again. Maybe I'll have Anisha come with me so we have two sets of eyes and hands just to be safe.
 
Sorry, didn't realise you live in residence when I posted.

But if it is manageable, I find the tub is a great neutral area for intros.
If you switch dirty cloths from one cage to the other daily, it will help them get used to one anothers smell.
 
It's doable! :D No worries. 3-4 am is like the witching hour here... Everyone's sleeping as long as its a week day.

I'll switch the cloth tonight. :)
 
I find 6 weeks plus is a much better age for intro's I've done 5 week old intro's but you do take a chance. At 6 plus weeks they are more developed and more confident in themselves.

If your resident rat is an unknown factor then I would do the slow approach with them.

Sounds like Denny was confused and reacted badly. I don't hold any rats when doing intro's...this can make some situations a lot worse.
 
I'm so sorry about what happened to your baby, Yanglicious. :( That would break my heart if that happened.

I did try something else, I played with the babies for awhile on the bed (which is where Denny plays) and in my hands, then put them away and let Denny have his play time for the rest of the evening, and all he did was sulk under a pillow. He wouldn't even take a banana chunk, and he LOVES bananas. :/ I think I'm going to take him to the vet this afternoon and see if he is sick... Or he may just be sad. I don't know how many human emotions rats feel, but denying food because they are pouty doesn't seem like a rat thing. :?:
 

Latest posts

Back
Top