Lone depressed rat

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Roxymachado

Roxymachado

Active Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2017
Messages
32
Location
San Francisco
I want to know that I keep rats and care sent me a link to a listing on Craigslist of a rat that was left during a breakup. It said that if no one came and got it it was going to be going to the shelter. Even though I wasn't looking for a new rat I had to take it I felt like someone who was ill-equipped would have been dope worth it since it was free. Once I got there I was so sad it was a sorry situation. The rat was alone in this cage had been for a year with nothing but a wheel absolutely nothing in the cage. It was a decent size page but all the letters were hanging off not how they were supposed to be bent up. No toys are stimulation nobody petting her holding it just alone. They cage wasn't even lying just a metal. The rat to me obviously seems very depressed it doesn't move that much kind of us scared but it's sweet girl. After a two-week quarantine I try to introduce her to one of my rats, after a few minutes they fought in my rat ended up with a bleeding wound. What my question is is since she's been alone for so long is she going to be aggressive am I going to be able to introduce her to the Colony I don't want her to be alone she is a very visibly depressed. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated
Does anybody know how I could link a video of her?
 
Last edited:
Most people upload a video to YouTube and then post it from there, although I'm not sure how this is done exactly.

Have you considered getting her spayed? It might help with her aggression and calm her down a little bit. I recently had this done to one of my rats and it cost $200 but some vets may charge less. I don't have much experience with introductions but I have read that introducing them on neutral territory is best. I put a clean towel in the bathtub and then introduced my boys in there. Another thing I did when introducing my boys was to let one of them in the bathtub and then let the other one hang out on the side of it until he felt like he was ready to meet the other one. I was afraid that it would end badly, but it was just the way the intro worked out and it ended up being a very positive introduction. Another thing I would do is introduce another rat out of your colony to the new girl until you have a positive experience before re-introducing any rats that she has fought with. Maybe if the lone rat finds another one to connect to, you can let them live together for a while after proper intros and then introduce her to new rats with her friend along to calm her down.
I would also keep their cages close enough for them to sniff each other but not close enough to fight for at least a week before trying intros again.

I hope you figure out how to get her living with her new friends soon! Don't worry about rushing it though, just try to make sure the lone girl is as happy as possible until you can eventually put them all together.
 
How did you to the introduction? You have to start in a neutral area (bathtub, table top, bed, etc) with no toys, treats, etc. Keep towels, oven mitt, something close by to use if they start fighting. Its important to stress a neutral area where both have never been and cannot claim as their own. When they are together watch for the sign - if they puff up, side walk, stand up in boxing stance, etc be prepared that something might happen - this is where you want to toss the towel on them and distract them from that behavior. If one is worse than the other and isn't learning use a time out cage (carrier with nothing in it). When that rat won't behave put them inside for 10 minutes with nothing inside and DO NOT interact with the rattie - do this as many times as necessary. They will learn that behavior will not be tolerated. We use yogies to praise them. Example: if they sniff each other and do not engage in bad behavior they get praised and given a treat. Obviously you cannot give them a lot of treats so you may have to have something else to give them too - healthy treat... Once they get along in the neutral area start adding things like a bowl of food, toy, hidey place. Intros can take weeks.
This link will help you
https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/intros.315/
 
Roxymachado said:
Does anybody know how I could link a video of her?
Click to expand...

I don't know too much about introductions yet but I think I do know how to post videos if you feel like it might help with an evaluation. I'd recommend using Youtube (as mentioned by Luna&Ralph). Just in case you haven't done that before, here's the quick and dirty how to: along the Youtube search bar, there should be an icon of a video camera with a little plus sign inside of it. Click that and then hit "upload video." From there, you will be given the option to select your settings (public, private, unlisted). Select your video and upload. And voilà! You're set.

Then it's just a matter of inserting the link in the post (copy & paste). I believe that should insert the video right into your post.If you'd rather insert the video as a link, there's a little chain-looking icon along the textbox when you're writing a post. If you hover over it, it'll say "link." Click on that little icon and you can set the url you want to link.

Best of luck with your introduction!
 
How old is the new girl and how old are your girls? Did you use an area that is unfamiliar to all rats? She might have reacted because she was worried or they might have been too close to the main colony cage. I would definitely try introductions again but on neutral ground, maybe in a bathtub so the rats are contained in one area. How many rats do you have in total in your colony? When I do intros, I always do with the full colony.
 
I have six rats in my Colony all female, all a around a year old. I just rescue 2 girls under a year, plus the new girl which I think is around a year and a quarter. When I did the intros I put three of my girls in with the new one it was a lot of puffing fur so I took the ones puffed-up out. Then i did one on one, they were inside the paypen
 
I thought bring six rats to meet one would be too overwhelming, and i didnt want a full rat brawl. But of thats the best way to do it. So i should have it completely bare
 
When I do my intros, I used to have large colonies, I always did intros with the whole group in a neutral place, away from cages so the rats can't smell their environment. They need to think they are in a completely different place. I would give that a try but not if you will be overwhelmed. It's best you are comfortable with it.
 
I would probably try introing the 3 new girls in a neutral space, and follow the established gradual intro steps
Then once they were introed, I would intro them to the other group starting again in a neutral setting.

The playpen would not have been neutral territory.
As Jorats entioned, I would do neutral intros in the bathtub, with the plug in and a dollar store fleece blanket on the bottom of the tub

Here is some info on doing intros https://www.ratshackforum.com/threa...ps-used-when-putting-new-rats-together.32368/ .................. plus joinrats.com has good info as well as videos on doing intros
 

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