Ive made up my mind.

[Clairebee1]

Well as you all know my baby toto passed leaving novo here alone.
Me and my OH was talking and we are going to look for 2 baby boys to keep him company but im worried incase the intro goes BAD because i have no experiance with intro's or that.
Do adult males usually take to babies ? could he get aggressive with them ?
Any tips would be really helpful!

Thanks :heart:

 

[smallvic]

Adult males can only be introduced to younger males large enough to defend themselves - therefore 3 months old at least.

 

[Clairebee1]

Is there a big chance that he will attack them ?
Or would he more likely attack another adult ?

 

[jorats]

It's touch and go with males. I've always been successful with my males because if it doesn't work out, I get them neutered and they become soft little balls of mush.
If he out right attacks them, this would mean that he is an aggressive rat. Aggressive rat really isn't all that common. We've had our fair share but that's only because there's a person in my area that kept breeding the same line thus producing lots of aggressive rats. A neuter set them all straight.
He may right away get pouffy, try to rub them with his butt, push them, flip them, box with them. But, that is all normal hi, i'm your boss you must listen to me behaviour. He's teaching them. What's not normal are bites. Scratches are usually accidents where the bossman goes to pin down the newbie and newbie gets so scared he runs and so in the process gets sliced. Those wounds are usually always superficial and heal within a day.

If you take it very slow, have the newbies in their own cage next to Novo, after their quarantine, you will be able to tell from novo's reaction how to proceed, to go more slowly or if you can go faster. Some rats take to new rats so fast, they barely need a day of intros. But then there are others that take months.

 

[SQ]

It was suggested to me that for intro stages involving putting the rats physically together (ie in a neutral space), baby boys be at least 10 weeks old so they can defend themselves (as smallvic said) but under 12 weeks old if possible (as they are still babies under 12 weeks of age and not viewed as a threat).