Joanne
Well-Known Member
So here's the background:
I have four older rats - everyone will be two by the end of January.
I adopted four babies.
The babies have been with me for approx 6 weeks now.
The older rats have been able to smell the babies for quite some time, and I have been doing intros on neutral ground for two weeks (maybe longer).
Everyone is neutered/spayed.
Once in a while I try to move playtime to non-neutral territory. An example of what happens is that the young'un is sitting next to the adult rat, they may be a bit tense. The little one goes to leave, and the older rat bites their butt or their foot/leg.
When this happens I scruff the older rat (only when I can do it immediately) and they scream like I'm murdering them and struggle.
If there are any fights, I pretty much break it up right away before it can escalate or someone gets hurt.
The question is, am I interfering too much? Should I let things go further, letting them settle it on their own?
Any time I have them on non-neutral ground, things escalate.
I know, "patience, grasshopper", but it seems like it's taking an awful long time...
I have four older rats - everyone will be two by the end of January.
I adopted four babies.
The babies have been with me for approx 6 weeks now.
The older rats have been able to smell the babies for quite some time, and I have been doing intros on neutral ground for two weeks (maybe longer).
Everyone is neutered/spayed.
Once in a while I try to move playtime to non-neutral territory. An example of what happens is that the young'un is sitting next to the adult rat, they may be a bit tense. The little one goes to leave, and the older rat bites their butt or their foot/leg.
When this happens I scruff the older rat (only when I can do it immediately) and they scream like I'm murdering them and struggle.
If there are any fights, I pretty much break it up right away before it can escalate or someone gets hurt.
The question is, am I interfering too much? Should I let things go further, letting them settle it on their own?
Any time I have them on non-neutral ground, things escalate.
I know, "patience, grasshopper", but it seems like it's taking an awful long time...