To split the girls up

[lj]

So, I have 4 girls that will soon be going in to be spayed.

I'm going to integrate them into the boys room. So, my dilemma:

I have 4 lone boys that could potentially be good candidates to have a girl in each cage. Then they won't be alone.

The other thing is, I could get all four girls in with a cage of 5 boys that I already have.

I could also put in one of the lone boys with the 4 girls. The options are endless.

Would splitting up the girls be a bad idea? Even knowing that they will be going in with a lone boy? Three of the girls are sisters and about a year old. They've been together since birth. The other is about 6 months old but is bonded with the group too.

I'm confused because I want the boys to be able to have friends, but I don't want the girls to be sad being apart from eachother. I could still have them out for playtime with eachother. make sense?

 

[rat.charmer]

You know your rats best but in the end, if you think about the gains / loss in each case:

1. You split the girls up and that way each of the lone boys have a friend. The girls end up making a new friend too but might miss their sisters. (So gain for the boys, small loss for the girls)
2. You put the girls with the 5 boys - so the girls stay together (gain) but the lone boys lose out and stay alone (a big loss in my opinion)
3. You put the girls with 1 boy - so the girls stay together (gain) and one of the boys get company (smaller loss than above)
4. You put 2 girls with 1 boy, 2 girls with the other boy...

Anyway you get the point - that's how I'd look at it. It's not an easy solution.
Of course....the rats could end up deciding for you if they don't get along with each other....

 

[lj]

I'm leaning toward putting one girl with one boy. Then everyone wins....sort of.

 

[jorats]

Oh this is quite a dilemma... I've taken girls out of their colonies to put them with a lone boy and it always worked out great but what worked in my favour was that the girls had never integrated well in their group. It's a tough one, but you will know if it works when you do your intros.