How long will a newbie be bullied by the alpha?

[dingosm8]

I currently have 4 females in a FN 142. The boss is Maisy, an adult "big-boned" female. Her introduction with two 3 month old females went smoothly. But for some reason, she wants to bully my new 5 week old female, Una. She doesn't like Una to even move. She'll just charge on over to Una and push on her until she squeaks. Sometimes she just sits and gives Una the 'evil eye'.
It seems like the other two females, Nyneave and Leeloo are trying to comfort Una after these confrontations.
Should I separate them until Una grows a bit larger?
There hasn't been any blood drawn.....yet.

 

[jorats]

How old is Maisy?
I'd say keep them together and give Una a couple more weeks to come into her own.

 

[dingosm8]

Maisy is almost a year old, and has been a single rat companion to a senior citizen that recently moved to a retirement community. So she hasn't had much, if any, interaction with other rats.
I've only had her for about a month.

 

[jorats]

She's still young, give them some time, I bet they'll become friends.

 

[bruxxy]

I think Maisy just wants to put Una in her place so that when Una gets bigger she won't want to try and take Maisy's position of power. Rats are very smart this way and Maisy is obviously trying to put as much fear into Una as possible so that Una will respect her. If no blood has been drawn then I would not worry about it. Human interference with these types of things usually make things worse dispite good intentions, I've learned this first hand.

And try to remember that generally, the alpha rat becomes alpha because they can dominate others without actually hurting them. That creates a trust system and in the long run it will turn out better because everyone will know their place in the group. Think about it this way too...Often in a group, there will be alot of hostility if their are 2 rats fighting for alpha. It creates alot of tension and it effects everyone. Maisy is trying to prevent that

Oh and if you do notice that Maisy is going overboard on the power trip, pick her up and gently hold her by the scruff of the neck while lightly supporting her feet or bum. I find this works really well and they calm down quite a bit. It puts them in a position where they are the ones being dominated and their isn't much they can do about it...its kind of like a reality check