Intro question

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Good Karma

Good Karma

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2007
Messages
353
Location
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Hi all,

I just picked up my 2 new rescues last night. I have read all the articles about intro but i still have a few questions about intros (after QT):
I have 2 resident boys (16 months) and two new boys (probably adolescents):
-When i introduce them should it be one on one or all at once?
-How long should an intro last?

Pics to come,

Tara
 
At those ages, I'd take it slow, so intros could take from a week to two weeks.
I personally think it's best to intro all at once.

Start with a neutral somewhat scary place like the bathtub. (no water) Have some yogurt in there so they are forced to be beside each other. But not too much because they need to interact with each other and lots of foods will just keep them occupied.
From that first meeting, you'll be able to tell if intros will go fast or slow.
I would keep them together for about an hour in the tub unless of course there are so attacks, then you be the judge for how long they can take it. 10 minutes to an hour if all is good.
 
How you do the initial intro is up to you and your boys. Most times you can just toss everyone into a neutral area [I love the tub!] and go from there. If you do that and someone acts like a twit, then you can slow things down a bit and do single intros. You can intro the more submissive resident to the younger boys, get them all acquainted, and then intro the new boys to the alpha and see how that goes. After everything's good, you toss them all together.

You can usually get a feel for how things will go when you have their cages near each other and when you do the cage swaps. Usually if someone really freaks out [getting puffed up or anything] you'll know that face to face intros may not be that smooth. I always keep a dustpan handy just in case.

I'm assuming you mean how long should each intro session last? I start of with short sessions, having everything end on a good note. Usually around 15 minutes or so. If they act aggressively, or someone's getting annoyed, within those 15 minutes, I'll end it early. It really needs to end on a good note. As they continue to get along for those 15 minutes, I move up to half an hour, then onto whatever feels comfortable. When they can get through an entire playtime [about 2hrs] without much fuss, then I call it done and toss them into a cage together. How quickly they progress is up to them.
 
Hi again!

So, i didn't do the QT - the cages had to go in the same room so i'm just keeping my fingers crossed that all will be fine.

They did some through the cage intros last night and this morning and pretty much ignored each other.

So i tried the neutral place today. It went EXTREMELY WELL! Gobo, the resident alpha, did some back arching and some power grooming that made the other two squeak but it only lasted a few seconds. Wembley did nothing. They all sniffed each other and walked around the counter and the rest was pretty boring. I guess boring is good.

The two new boys are on the right.
IMG_7875.jpg


Gobo in the middle.
IMG_7879.jpg


New boys on the left.
IMG_7890.jpg


So i guess keep doing these intros and make them longer and longer each time. Stretch it out over a few days and then put them all together?
Since this intro went to well could they be in the same cage in less than a week?

Tara
 
Boring is very good! As exciting as it all is when they get along right off, make sure to keep to the program some.

If you've chosen the counter as their neutral territory, go ahead and try having them out for longer intervals. If you did 15min, go ahead and try half an hour. If that goes well, then the next day you can try them in their usual play area. Since the residents usually play there, they'll see it as their territory and you can see if anyone's going to get aggressive about it. If all goes well, then you can move onto the next step.

Before you try them all in the same cage, make sure to scrub it down if someone's already living in it. Rearrange everything, make it seem totally new. I always try and put in a brand new hammock and toys, too.

It sounds like it's going very well, though!
 
Intro updates...

I have been doing 2 intros of about an hour each everyday since monday in the play time area. Things are going well - they really just seem to ignore each other. Usually there will be a tiny spat during the first 5 minutes and then lots of ignoring.

Gobo (the boss) with do a lot of back arching around (newly named) Boober (the boss of the new boys) but little materializes after that. The other boy, Pedley, seems scared of my resident rats and stays away from them - he's very shy in general.

Is it time to put them together?

Tara
 
Have they been put on familiar ground yet?
If so, then I'd say you can try it out, don't forget to scrub the cage down real good first.
 
Yes, all but the first intro has been done on the counter where they always go out to play - toys, boxes and tunnels have been out since the second meeting as well.

I am totally redoing the cage they will go in so i thought it would be a perfect time to put them all in together where it is done. A whole new shelf will go in so it will seem totally different (washed down too). My resident boys actually spend the night in the play area because the cage isn't done yet!
 
Another update:

They have been in the cage together for almost 4 hours - no fights. But the new guys seem quite fearful of the older guys. If an older guy comes around the new guys will freeze. When they first all went in the new guys hid in the tent-hammock and if one of the older guys tried to get in they would hiss. Now everyone is out and about but the new ones are still fearful.

The new guys seem more fearful anyway though, i don't think they were handled too much - they always try to get off me as soon as they come on me (yet they want to climb on me). And i guess it has been quite a crazy week for them: new house, new mom, new brothers!

I took a bunch of pics of the new set up and the boys in it - will post soon!
 

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