Intros with Babies, an i doing it right?

[Good Karma]

Hi all,

I have been doing intros with my 4 older boys and the new, 2.5 month old babies. I don't know if i am going too fast or if what is happening is normal. I have never done intros with babies.

THe olders guys are fine, all but the big boss man simply sniff them and moves on. Gobo puts them in their place by pinning then. He has done this twice and we have done about 4 20min-1 hour intros.

The babies seem very fearful however. They freeze up when the other rats are around or hide in a tunnel the entire time they are out. One little guy screams and runs if Gobo comes near him.

Am i going too fast or is this how babies normally act and they will simply get used to it?

 

[jorats]

20 to 60 min. is a good time frame. It's actually very normal for 2.5 months old to behave in a fearful way. In time they should come around but it will take longer if they have hidey holes or places to hide.

 

[SQ]

If you are not already doing so, when you have them out together give a treat that they can't carry away. That will provide a distraction and they will need to be near one another to eat it.
It is normal for the ratties to be frightened. Hopefully, they will soon realise that the other ratties are not going to hurt them.

 

[Melissa's ZOO]

I agree with Jo if they have places to hide it will take much longer for everyone to get used to each other. I would put my girls in the bath tub with nothing other than them and the babies. Rose would get on top of the babies and huff(like an angry bull), puff out like a cotton ball and the babies would scream bloody murder. I learned to just let her do it and she eventually got over herself. Now my new babies plow Rose over and make her scream bloody murder. :wink:

 

[Good Karma]

More intros, but Gobo, or as i like to call him: Big Fat Meanie, continues to pick on the babies, mainly Gimli. Yesterday he scratched or bit him on the back, just a scratch and some redness. This morning he bit him on the tail and made it bleed.

What do i do?

 

[jorats]

Has Gobo recovered from his illness? The scratch on the back is not an attack, usually it's the alpha trying to do a hold down and the victim running from it. But the tail, that's not good. Give it a few more days, and keep a close watch.

 

[Good Karma]

Still doing intros. Gobo is for sure fully recovered, nice and healthy. Intros continue to go the same way. Gobo AKA Big Fat Meanie continues to harass the babies. He hasn't made them bleed since the tail incident. Olo the siamese has started to stick up for himself and Gobo mostly respects that but he continues to pray on poor Gimli who poops himself with fear every time Gobo come close to him!

Each time they're out together Gobo will usually 'attack' just once. I am wondering if i put them altogether in the same cage, when they are with each other all the time Gobo won't feel the need to bully him every new time they get together 'cause they will always be together. But i am also worried that when i move the babies into the big cage Gobo will go nuts having them in his house.

What do you guys think?

 

[jorats]

He's not ready to have the babies in his house. When you intro, don't add any toys or hidey house so the babies can't go hide. Also, try and keep them together for a couple of hours and see how that goes. Try and have some food available, the type they can't grab and run so something like baby cereal or yogurt or baby food.

 

[lindsayfawn]

Gloria acted a lot like your Gobo when I got Mischa and Emily as babies. I had the babies in a seperate cage from Gloria and Raina. Raina was fine with them but Gloria would go up to their cage and start doing that huffing noise and puff up and then when Emily would put her hands on the bars Gloria would go in attack mode and bite them. Poor thing. She made her bleed a few times.
The bathtube was a good place to have them all together though mischa was a lot like your Gimli very afraid and wouldn't barely move and Gloria would be really aggressive. But when I moved to my new apt and I did a new intro on the airmatress they were fine. So I figure Gloria was very territorial of my old room. They get along great now.
I'm not saying to move lol but it could be purely territorial with him, so will take some time like the others said.
Hope They get along soon!

 

[Good Karma]

So i went against Jorat's advice (sacreligious!) and put them all together last Saturday. I actually had a good feeling about it and also though that i wouldn't get better timing: Wembley died Friday night so the cage would be changing anyway. I also had to totally scrub the cage down. So they were all out on the play place for a while until i got the cage scrubbed down. Then i totally rearranged everything in the cage.

Then i put them all back in and held my breath. I stood there and left the cage doors open and watch the drama unfold. However, there was no drama at all, and there hasn't been since Saturday. Few! That is a load off.

They're not sleeping together...but they're not fighting!

 

[jorats]

That is excellent news! Everyone knows their own rats and are sensitive to their behaviour so you would know more than anyone if it's time.
It's quite right to have assumed that since one has left, then the grouping might work. Every time there's a change, like new cage, lost cage mate, new toys, changing areas... those are all good times to put rats together.