Emma's intro a HUGE SUCCESS!! Thanks all!

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.
W

Willow Bean

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2007
Messages
1,579
Location
Fargo, ND
Emma Lee's quarentine is up and so I am working on intros. Brenna wants nothing to do with her and flips her and then bites her and tries to drag her around so I'm working with Willow so that Emma will, hopefully, have someone on her side. So Emma is about 7 weeks now, her baby fuzz is giving way to a shiny agouti coat. Willow turned 1 on December 28th and Brenna is about 4 months or so.

anyhow, I had Willow and Emma on the couch. I put some vanilla on a paper towel (just a tiny bit) and rubbed it on their bums and faces and hips since the first intro with the two of them consisted of Willow trying to drag Emma around by her hip. The beginning of this intro went well so on the couch they go (it's a good play place). And...ummm... Emma starts mounting Willow right away and trying to...er... mate with her. And Willow is arching her back as high as you please and moving her tail to the side... Then they go bounding off, Willow in the lead and Emma following behind. Willow stops and assums the "position" and "on" goes Emma... It's terribly embarassing to watch my two little ones trying to go at it during intros...

Is this okay? What is going on?!?
 
It is very normal, especially since you have masked their personal smell with vanilla ;)
Willow is in heat, girls will do this so nothing to worry about.

Aimee
 
That's what I was hoping (that it was normal) but it's still a bit worrysome if you haven't seen it before, LOL! Now Emma is just chasing Willow around and climbing over her back when Willow stops and then grooms her all over: on her back, her chest, her head and her front legs! I think it is driving Willow nuts!

When should I add Brenna into the mix?
 
okay... I went ahead and added brenna when Willow and Emma started settling in together. Went fine on the couch for a while then Brenna started boxing Emma then decided to grab her and try to pull her around. A fight broke out and I held off, told myself it's normal and it has to happen. I left them alone and they settled a little more then, suddenly, Brenna attacks Emma and they both scream. They box it out afterward, then Brenna walks away a little way but turns to face Emma. Emma it trying to get her bearings again and keeps shaking her head like she's hurt. I intercepted Emma as Brenna made another leap for her. Checked her over and Emma looks fine but I'm separating them for the rest of the night. We'll try again tomorrow with Brenna.

After checking her over thoroughly and giving Emma lots of cuddles I put her back with Willow. They seem to be okay together, so I'll keep a close eye on them and see what happens. I put Brenna in Emma's cage to see if that helps her get used to the smells...
 
Oh boy, I'm having the same problem with introducing my two newest girls to the older four. Three of them attack Ella, but leave her sister alone. Gah. So they're on separate levels of the FN for now.


I've never heard of the vanilla thing. Can you provide a link or explain?
 
When we first got Ghost from a breeder in Minnesota we were told to go ahead and do intros after the quarentine period. Intros went really badly every time that we tried to intro Ghost to Baby Girl, Willow and Merlin. We called the breeder and told her that we didn't think that Ghost was going to work out with us and that we thought it might be in her best interest if the breeder took her back so that she didn't have to live alone (because of her rat-agression and her constant myco infection which showed up about a month after we got her and started out with the occasional sneeze that she was now introducing to everyone). She was pretty impossible, we couldn't put our hands in to take her out of her cage and she wouldn't take food or treats from us. We assumed that it was because she was lonely and afraid of us.

Anyhow, the breeder told us to apply a small amount of vanilla extract to Ghost's scent areas as well as to everyone elses. That way everyone would smell the same and it would encourage grooming. It worked well for the other girls but not for Ghost. After the scent wore off a little she was back on the war path :roll: . We tried for weeks, then months. Tried to call the breeder to let her know what was going on but she had moved and closed down her rattery (as far as we know). KTina knows all about her as well...

I'm not sure if the vanilla thing is something that is in the best interests of the rats, though, since I'd imagine it could cause upset tummies if too much was applied and once the scent is gone they have to get used to eachother's scent all over again. For my girls, though, I have been doing a couple of intors and none have gone too well so I tried the vanilla to try to mask the "baby" scent on Emma so that the other two will stop trying to drag her around the cage...

I kind of took a while explaining it, Meghan, but I hope it helps! :oops: :lol:
 
I personally never use any scent to mask the rat smells. The main reason is because you are delaying the inevitable. The rats need to smell the other rats. They need to identify them and decide if they will play nice.

I'd say your intros are being pretty normal so far.
 
SHADOW RAT?!?

I think that Emma is driving Willow crazy playing "shadow rat". Emma is constantly under foot, QUITE literally and Willow's feet to be precise!! Willow is now trying to drag her bum so that Emma can't squeeze through her hind legs and get under her tummy anymore. Emma is trying to be Willow's shadow by being under Willow whether it be running in the same direction as Willow and being under Willow's belly as she tries to awkwardly side-step around her or making a Willow-Emma "+" by being under her belly crosswise. The end result being a very frustrated Willow being POWER GROOMED very messily and sporadically with hairs sticking up all over and every-which-way. Anyone had this happen before?

I hope I explained it well enough... Brenna is in Emma's cage getting used to her smell. I'll try Brenna with the other two later tonight!
 
I also used the vanilla trick but only on the girls bottoms.
I did not have a issue with any attacks etc and only used it for the first intro to keep everyone calm.

I wouldn't say it was a sure fix but i intend to try it again with the new boys and see what happens.

I never use much, just a dab on my finger and then onto them.

Aimee
 
Willow Bean, the rats should settle down soon enough. It sounds like it's going quite ok. Rat shadowing is normal. Also, when a rat yanks/grabs a rat to pull is part of maternal instincts, mom rats do this all the time when their rats are a little older (2-3 wks) and going where she doesn't want them to go.
 
OKay... Intros have gone well last night and this morning. Even have some grooming going on! YAY!! Brenna seems to like running around and she and Emma have been playing "tag" off and on. Emma's "tag" on Brenna, however, leaves a lot to be desired from Brenna's point of view and causes a mini boxing match. Emma catches up with Brenna and takes her tail *very gently* in her mouth then drops it and proceeds to groom Brenna's bum! Brenna takes offense to this and they stand up, push eachother a little with their front paws and away they go again! Emma's still obsessed with playing shadow rat with Willow and this isn't making Willow too happy. She puffs up and hisses a little at Emma while forcing her bum against Emma and kicking her a little when she gets sick of Emma's being under foot.

I decided that it would be worth a try to put the 3 girls into the FN after changing ALL bedding, hammies, toys etc. and scrubbing down the bars of the cage, the pan, the shelf and all baskets strapped to the wall. I added HT blocks, a clean water bottle and a little bit of grape Jelly on a plate. After the jelly was gone everyone went about grooming themselves and then Emma groomed Brenna and Willow groomed Emma (not at the same time though). Then it was time for tag, Willow puffed a little as Emma tried to get her to join and everyone is pretty happy.

Barely a squeek has come out of the cage so I hope this could be it! I will be home almost all day so I can sit by and monitor. Do you think that it would be okay, if everything goes alright during the day, to leave them together tonight? Or am I taking it too fast? Next day that I will be home all day will be Sunday.
 
Oh I hope so!! Are there things I shoul watch for as far as good things and bad things?

I am heading out for lunch right now so I took Emma out of the FN for while I'm gone. Should I put her back in for while I'm out or is it best to take her out while I'm gone and put her back when I get home?
 
We have an official rat pile!! All three are laying on the rattylove cube that I got from Stephanie, it's a great sight to see!
 
I just CAN'T believe it went so fast! That first time with Brenna I thought it was NEVER going to happen! Now they are all together in just 3 or 4 days! It's AMAZING! I would have pulled back so many times if it weren't for you telling me that it was normal and to keep going! Thanks a TON guys!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top