Terretorial Ralph>UPDATE ON INTROS

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Slapdash

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2009
Messages
501
Location
Massachusetts
Ok so we currently have a neutered 5 month old male and a 3 month old female living happily together. We recently got two 3 month old males out of a bad situation. They were deemed healthy thankfully by the vet and are being neutered on Sunday. I admit now I probably made a mistake in the intro process somewhere, maybe I should wait until they're neutered? But two nights ago I let them all meet in the bathroom, a new place for all of them and it went really well! I was really excited so I did some reading in a book i have about intros and it said that their cages should be placed together for a couple of days so they get used to eachother but this seems to be creating terretorial issues. I have a double FN and the male and female havent been using the bottom because Rosie can escape and I wired off the top so I figured this would be perect for the two males to use so that everyone could get used to eachothers scent. But, I disinfected the whole cage and put them in their last night and now Ralphie, the oldest male who is in the top part with the female has been doing his terretorial puffing every now and again against the side of the cage when the two on the bottom make a lot of noise? I'm not sure if I should move them and I really don't want to becase the only other cage I have is tiny? Will Ralphie get used to it or is this going to backtrack the introduction process? Should I continue with the neutral area play time at night so he then will recognize their scent and not be so terretorial? Now, I just read the post on intros Jo wrote and it says nothing about putting cages near eachother? I'm sure I messed up somewhere, what should I do? Thanks!
 
Well, goodness, you have babies and I am trying to introduce two bonded pairs of adult males to each other.
Will be interesting to hear how it goes for you.
I've had bitten toes (on the two older rats, lol) but plan to keep on trying.
Cheers,
J
 
Thanks! I just read your posts on your four guys, what a great thing you have done getting Marley and Sam out of such a terrible situation. Also, I'm student teaching in less than a month, so it looks like we have something else in common lol I would love to bring my babies in when I get my own classroom as well, what a great lesson for children :)
 
Is the female getting play time with the non-neutered males? I just don't want you to end up with babies! :giggle: I would leave them there for a few days and see what happens , if he is still being huffy , then remove hi , but maybe he will calm down :D
 
I have only done one into with a 5 month old female to 2 month old females. What i have read online is to leave there cages close for about a week for them to get used to each others smell. My older female seems to be very territorial as she was a lone rat for about 4 months of her life (shes only about 7 months now). When you put the cages close together (not close enough for them to grab ahold of eachother) the mor dominant rat will probably get its defences up when it smells the scent of the other rat, but in theroy the territorial rat may get used to the scent of the other rat after a few days of being near it all of the time. Id say its a good sign though that they got along well on there first few meetings.

Goodluck with the intro, It would be so much easyer if you could just tell your ratty "this is your new friend, get along!"
 
Thanks guys, he stopped all together huffing this afternoon and so we did another playtime in the bathroom a few minutes ago. I am excited to say it went even better than last night, at least I think because this time Ralphie and Rufus, the neutered and one of the not, wrestled a little bit like very friendly wrestling no scratching or biting just pinning one another and once they went up into the boxing pose but that only lasted a second and in the end its tough to say who one the match lol but other than that they all played and ate some yogurt happily together. It's a good thing that they are trying to establish order right? I figure that means Ralphie is accepting them as part of the family except Rupert the hairless was almost completely ignored, I know this sounds silly but could this have anything to do with the fact that he's hairless? LoL Rosie does get play time with them but it is VERY supervised me and my fiancee are both on either side of the long narrow bathroom where there is NOWHERE for them to hide and we are within armsreach at all times, so far nobody has even tried anything and they're getting neuterd on Sunday. Oh and believe it or not SHE is definitley the alpha rat in the group, she pins everybody when all she does is look at them lol, she's always been a spunky one. Is this normal with males and females or are the males usually dominant? Thanks everyone!
 
You're doing everything right with your intros so far... except for letting intact rats of different genders play together.
One, they could mate, it's lightening fast. Who's in the middle of that long narrow hallway?
Second, because there are intact boys, the female will go into big time heat. She will scent and signal she's ready which then could send the young males into hormonal overload which in turn could make them aggressive.
In my opinion, you are playing with fire.
 
Ok I didnt realize all the implications lol Looks like it will jsut be the boys for a couple of weeks since shes fine with them anyways and doesn't really need being introduced over a period of time. Thanks again!
 
It sounds like it's going to work out very well... I find females are more welcoming anyways and will be even more so once they are neutered. :thumbup:
 
No, it's perfectly normal. You can't judge a rat by his behavior behind bars. He could be a total sweetheart outside of them. It's best that he becomes used to their smell so keep them close by.
 
Remember that the boys shouldn't meet Rosie until three weeks after their neuters!

And good luck with the boys.
 
UPDATE>>>So everything has gone so well in the bathroom, the neutral area that I decided to try play time tonight for the boys on the couch where Ralphie, my first is used to being out and there was definitley a difference. His hair was puffed up at times he did the rubbing on the side of the couch a few times and all three of them got into a few boxing matches with eachother sometimes a three way lol Overall it went well at first because there was no actual fighting going on but then Rupert the hairless got a small scratch on his nose from someones nail, one drop of blood so I called it quits. So should I go back a step to the bathroom for a few more days or keep trying the couch? Is the puffed up hair and rubbing ok as long as no one gets hurt? He never bit or actuallt attacked either of them just a lot of challenging going on, I'd like to video it possibly but then again the two younger boys are being neutered in two days, do you think a lot of the boxing matches will go away after this? Thanks
 
They've got to get passed it at some point so you might as well keep it up now on familiar ground. It sounds like they are on the right track. :thumbup:
 
Keep it on the couch... so the minor brawls are ok and they should work through it? I guess it has to happen eventually? Do you think it will improve after the younger two are neutered? Also, at what point do I step in, I've been assuming with any biting, screaming, or signs of blood lol? Other than that it's ok? I get nervous when I see them boxing or ralphies hair standing up lol It surprised me tonight that the hairless guy seemed to be the biggest tough guy going at it and he's the smallest and most fragile hehe Thanks again for helping me with this, much appreciated :)
 
It should totally get better with neuters.
But I'd still do it on the couch at this point. Intervene when your gut tells you it's time. But don't end it on a bad note. Separate, give a treat to all three and then end it.
 
:thumbup: Sounds good thanks, I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow and sorry one more question :stickpoke: lol how long after they are neutered should I wait to continue with intros, just between the boys I mean, like because of pain and the incision and stuff like that? Thanks again :bow:
 

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