Three group intro update - video and pics!

[rhapsody]

Of all the intros I've done so far, this is one of the smoothest! All the adults are snuggling together without any puffiness or power grooming, and they are so tolerant of the two babies. The only snag is Ferris - he seems to be very uncomfortable with the little ones invading his personal space. A good sign is that he's not actually bullying them though. I've been doing neutral territory on both the bed and coffee table, and this last time I threw in a large take-out box into the mix. There was no "ITS MINE!" tussling, and everyone had a blast bouncing in and out of it. The two clips show Ferris getting upset, so if any of you have any insight on improving his relationship with the little ones, let me know. And do ignore the background noise of the washing machine - didn't know it'd come through so loud!

[BBvideo:1zjy6hnn]http://youtu.be/vBZpxC146Fc[/BBvideo:1zjy6hnn]

[BBvideo:1zjy6hnn]http://youtu.be/hgYkPpugAVU[/BBvideo:1zjy6hnn]

And now some cute pics from the last intro session:

A rare pic with all 6 kiddos in it (somewhat)

Felix and Jasper are really hitting it off nicely

And Rufus is not puffy at all with Felix and Ferris

And they let the fawn-hooded boy join in the snugglefest

Jasper (my biggest) and the baby berk (the smallest)

Sophie attempting to escape the attentions of the baby boys

Sophie and the baby berk

Berkie belly!

GAH, my camera takes such horrible pics of the fawn-hoodie

 

[jorats]

How old are the babies? And how old is Ferris? He seems very annoyed by them but not exactly aggressive but... I don't like how he goes for their tummies like that. You will need to watch your intros very closely, in a blink of an eye could have their bellies ripped open. If the babies were older, they could sense his signals and get away from him before he strikes.

 

[Tarah]

:shock: They're huge!

 

[rhapsody]

How old are the babies? And how old is Ferris?

The babies should be little over 9-weeks old, and Ferris should be 15-months.

I did notice a slight behaviour change in Ferris after I lost his cagemate Missy - those two were really close. Ferris was also part of the "Freaky Boys" (the last rats pulled from hoarder Glen's house). He had zero human socialization, and very poor rattie socialization - both Missy and I worked hard with him to make him a normal rat. Perhaps that's also playing into this trouble with the younger ones?

 

[jorats]

The babies are already 9 weeks, that's a good age then. It does look like Ferris gets annoyed and then doesn't follow through with a real bite, so he might be at a loss to how to teach the babies on how to be respectful.

 

[rhapsody]

LOL, the little ones are just so playful and curious - they're constantly underfoot during intros, but everyone except for Ferris takes their energy in stride. And when Ferris does get upset with them, they'll scamper away and avoid him for about five minute before they're back to pestering him again - I don't think they're intimidated by him at all. They kinda remind me of my little brother during his slightly annoying "Whatcha doing? Whatcha doing?" phase.

 

[hopefloats]

The babies are already 9 weeks, that's a good age then. It does look like Ferris gets annoyed and then doesn't follow through with a real bite, so he might be at a loss to how to teach the babies on how to be respectful.

They look smaller because that black rat is the size of a small dog lol


How much does that rat weigh?

 

[rhapsody]

The babies are already 9 weeks, that's a good age then. It does look like Ferris gets annoyed and then doesn't follow through with a real bite, so he might be at a loss to how to teach the babies on how to be respectful.

They look smaller because that black rat is the size of a small dog lol


How much does that rat weigh?

AHA! My boss let me borrow the mail scale tonight, so I finally got weights for my kids ... give or take a few grams.

The big black self, Jasper, weighs in at 720 grams. The littlest, the black berk is at a meager 173 grams.

My other adult males are between 550-600 grams, and my sole female is a petite 473 grams.