Radar behaviour and pics

The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jorats

Loving rats since 2002.
Joined
Jul 20, 2007
Messages
45,196
Location
Northeastern Ontario
I've only had Radar for a few days but his behaviour has me stumped. He looks old but he sure is active, feverishly marking everywhere. When he's on me, he even does odd behaviour moves that I would interpret as about to bite me. But he hasn't it so far.
I tried a couple of intros today. Not putting him with the old/sick group, so I thought the young crew. Boy, what a mistake. He didn't go after them but there was an immediate change in the three girls: Sophie, Cande and Nessie, same with the three baby boys. The six cagemates started to even fight between each other when Radar is near them.
I'm stumped. I'm starting to think maybe he's not a good candidate for cage buddies? Maybe I should find him a spayed girl and they can just live together? If it works out. This is going to be hard. I just can't fathom the idea of a lone rat. :help2:
 
I have one boy that's sounds just like Radar, except his odd behaviour does end up in biting :( Charcoal does live on his own, with only human contact, he will not have a bar of any other rat. (Unfortunately he is not neutered due to a permanent lung issue, he's on permanent maintenace meds)

Charcoal seem quite content to live with lots of things to do in his home, constantly changing them, cuddles when permitted and lots of talks. He loves it the best when I sit with him with the cage door open and just chat to him, sometimes I even pat him, depending on his mood, he tends to be VERY cage dominant.

Good luck with your boy, I think you may have finally found that 'loner' that comes along every so often. I have now have three of them and they all seem to be black rats LOL!!!!!
 
Jo - Maurice here causes all my rats to go crazy and start fighting each other :( He also was way too rough, and caused some bites/injuries on other rats, but never people. He marks like crazy as well, and now that he's elderly with spinal nerve degeneration, the boys are too much for him. I've tried introducing him to babies, younger boys, older boys.. with no luck. I got to a point where it was more stress for him, so he's now alone. I tried one last time yesterday with my other boys, but they are now definitely too pushy and energetic for him.
 
Reading your experiences is comforting.

Shel, I think I'll keep trying like you... every once in a while or something... but definitely don't want to stress Radar or the other rats, not too much anyway.
 
jorats said:
Reading your experiences is comforting.

Shel, I think I'll keep trying like you... every once in a while or something... but definitely don't want to stress Radar or the other rats, not too much anyway.

Poor old guy. Maybe it was too soon, although it is just awful to contemplate lone rats, maybe let him settle in with the routine a bit first then try again. :)

There's always water intro's as a last resort. :roll:
 
I'm giving him a good 2 to 3 weeks with no forced intros. I'm going to get him used to the fact that he is now home.
This can go either way, make him super happy, friendly and open to others or make him territorial and aggressive.
I'll keep you posted which way he turns out.
Water intros... I forgot about that one. :grabhair:
 
Well, he did it. I was taking a nap with a Radar running all over me on the couch and crunch! He bit my calf. Owie! :!??!??!:

But in all fairness, it was my fault, earlier in the day, I helped my sister with intros between Indie, Quill with her crew of nine, which went very well. But I ended up with a lot of rat juice all over my legs and clothes. Silly boys. :watching:
So poor Radar was sent into a frenzy. I should have realized this was going to happen, I changed my clothes, washed my hands and arms and forgot my legs. I was quick though, not much damage, just a beginning of a crunch I would say... so that means he doesn't have aggression, just hyper with other rattie smells.
I've learnt my lesson. Mommy's sorry Radar!! :sorry:
 
mamarat said:
Maybe he wants to make sure nobody mistakes him for a girl? jk

:lol:

Here's my Radar!

Radaroncage.jpg
 
Owowow...did he just catch you or did he break the skin? Whatever, its not the nicest way to come out of a nap. :shock:

So he's one of "those"...the frenzy with the smell, and biting first. He's a boy Moth. :huh:
 
Stupid question ... is he neutered

Giving him a lot of time to settle in sounds good.
Hopefully the others will get used to his smell too.

Hope Radar settles in and everything works out ok.
I too have been forced to used the bath tub method several times after months of trying other methods ...

We did manage to successfully integrate godmother`s Edith tho she was and is very aggressive towards people and unfamiliar rats ... took lots of time and patience tho
 
No, he's not neutered... I've been thinking about maybe doing, but still not sure cause he's quite old.
I'll give him time first though and see.
 
And the saga continues... He was very excitable yesterday. I take him out on my couch and he has a dresser as well. I sit with him but I'm very careful. A couple of times he started to groom me but I knew it would end in a crunch so I would pull him away. I would also try to flip him to show him, I'm alpha. Not sure if it worked. He's so sweet though... when I call him, he comes running to me. But then after about 4 minutes, he starts acting excitable and starts to dig and scent up everything, including me. He doesn't get all pouffy though.
He's out for about 3 hours a day. More on weekends. I'm hoping the more he's here, the more he'll settle down.
I still have not ruled out a neuter.
 
Jo, my instinct is saying neuterneuterneuter. Hopefully he calms down the longer that he's there, but how did you put it... "But then after about 4 minutes, he starts acting excitable and starts to dig and scent up everything, including me.".. that waves the big flags to me.

I like helping out the obedience trainer that I work with during her puppy classes. Every once in a while someone says they don't want to neuter for whatever reason (usually because they want to try some confirmation stuff out), and we can usually look at their behavior (sometimes even at 10 weeks of age) and say "yes, he'll probably be fine in tact" or "mmm, probably not such a good idea".. and then there's times where we have to urge the owners to neuter as soon as their vet will allow.... very often this is with terriers from pet stores, for instance.

Anyway, what I am getting at, is that with situations like these, sometimes certain dogs will just be screaming out for a neuter. Don't get me wrong, I know Radar is not a dog and that it's a completely different situation... but I'm just getting that "he needs a neuter" feeling in my gullet. And that feeling is very often pretty right.

But but but, hopefully he settles in and doesn't need it. I too cross my fingers for you!
 
Ya, I agree with you Moon. My only hang up is his age. I'm pretty sure he's well over 24 months. He's got the "old" eyes, sparse fur, old pads under his feet. It's a big decision for a rat so old.
 
Yeah, I totally understand... it's a bit of a toughie eh?
Maybe when you've had him a bit longer it'll be easier to gauge how much spunk he's got left in him. Maybe he truley WILL be a happy camper as a loner for his last months of life. :?
 
Back
Top