MomRat
Well-Known Member
The answer any of us would give to the question: What do I do if I have a single rat? is, get them a friend. The easy answer. Someone of a similar age, hormonally reduced by castration, perhaps of the opposite gender, if they are getting older. Some rats are a "rats rat" and just want ratty company. Some rats are a people rat, and can be happy to the end of their days as long as you have them out 4-6 hours a day cuddling(assuming old age here) especially if you are taking a break from rats for awhile. None of the easy answers come to us in our situation, and we're looking for advanced advice.
Gregory is (guesstimate) 26 months old, pet store bred and a year past his neuter. Just starting to show some signs of HED. Gregory is, and always has been, neurotic. No other word for it. Shortly after we got him and Quilt from their previous 'owners,' Quilt had an aggressive hormone jag and notched Gregory's ear. Since then he has been an ear nipper - almost like he has ptsd from it. Never any real damage inflicted, but his response to approach or grooming was often an ear nip. He's never been Alpha material, but he is certainly a bully. Always nervous, and while he has gotten much more comfortable with us over the year + we've had him, he is not a cuddlebug, nor does he seek our company.
As of 4 weeks ago, he was sharing a more or less gero friendly lower half of a CN with his lifelong cagemate Quilt, and our oldie boy Dom who introed with them after losing his own brother, Jacob, almost a year and a half ago. Then, in January, Quilt had his accident and passed, and Dom got old and stopped eating and had to be pts. Several days after Quilt passed, we acquired 3 new 5mo old girls(which was planned long before Quilt got hurt) who are now living in the top half of the cage, full of toys, and wheel, and litter pan, and things to climb and bounce on(we had been asking for intro advice here) And frankly, we'd been hoping that Gregory would pull a Mr Honeycomb on us, and bounce back with new energy and life.
The good news is, intros started out well even before Dominic had to go. Since we had Dom Pts, there have been some spats. Gregory acts like *he* is invading *their* space in fairly neutral intros, and just wants to hide under a blanket/be left alone. Not taking fresh foods from us with vigor, whether stressed in out time or in his half of the cage alone. His sleeping has exceeded its bounds impressively. Additional time out to 'cuddle' with us on the couch seems, for the most part, to just stress him out. It's fairly clear who the new alpha is/will be(Nimmel weighs 2oz more than either of her sisters and has blocked Gregory from entering a hidey house several times, from which he backs down) but we really don't know when to try putting them all together, or if we should. There is every bit of evidence that if we were to find another "old" rat to house him with, they wouldn't get along, and then we'd be stuck with two singles and a CN that can only divide in half. :wallbang: Our only experience with intros was two pairs of intact males, and it was obvious when to cage them together - we had to wait for the fighting to stop. How do you know when to combine groups when there's just general dislike and ignoring of one another?
Sorry for the long post, we're just worried about our little man.
Gregory is (guesstimate) 26 months old, pet store bred and a year past his neuter. Just starting to show some signs of HED. Gregory is, and always has been, neurotic. No other word for it. Shortly after we got him and Quilt from their previous 'owners,' Quilt had an aggressive hormone jag and notched Gregory's ear. Since then he has been an ear nipper - almost like he has ptsd from it. Never any real damage inflicted, but his response to approach or grooming was often an ear nip. He's never been Alpha material, but he is certainly a bully. Always nervous, and while he has gotten much more comfortable with us over the year + we've had him, he is not a cuddlebug, nor does he seek our company.
As of 4 weeks ago, he was sharing a more or less gero friendly lower half of a CN with his lifelong cagemate Quilt, and our oldie boy Dom who introed with them after losing his own brother, Jacob, almost a year and a half ago. Then, in January, Quilt had his accident and passed, and Dom got old and stopped eating and had to be pts. Several days after Quilt passed, we acquired 3 new 5mo old girls(which was planned long before Quilt got hurt) who are now living in the top half of the cage, full of toys, and wheel, and litter pan, and things to climb and bounce on(we had been asking for intro advice here) And frankly, we'd been hoping that Gregory would pull a Mr Honeycomb on us, and bounce back with new energy and life.
The good news is, intros started out well even before Dominic had to go. Since we had Dom Pts, there have been some spats. Gregory acts like *he* is invading *their* space in fairly neutral intros, and just wants to hide under a blanket/be left alone. Not taking fresh foods from us with vigor, whether stressed in out time or in his half of the cage alone. His sleeping has exceeded its bounds impressively. Additional time out to 'cuddle' with us on the couch seems, for the most part, to just stress him out. It's fairly clear who the new alpha is/will be(Nimmel weighs 2oz more than either of her sisters and has blocked Gregory from entering a hidey house several times, from which he backs down) but we really don't know when to try putting them all together, or if we should. There is every bit of evidence that if we were to find another "old" rat to house him with, they wouldn't get along, and then we'd be stuck with two singles and a CN that can only divide in half. :wallbang: Our only experience with intros was two pairs of intact males, and it was obvious when to cage them together - we had to wait for the fighting to stop. How do you know when to combine groups when there's just general dislike and ignoring of one another?
Sorry for the long post, we're just worried about our little man.
