WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?????

[Melissa's ZOO]

I have been trying to intro the new babies Pumpkin and Mimzy for about two weeks now. Everything goes okay, Rose gets a little huffy and then leaves them alone. So I moved intro's to their free range and everything went okay. Until last night.

The new babies really love the big girl cage, love to climb on it and play in it. Which Rose and Sunflower both absolutely will not tolerate. Saturday night Pumpkin was climbing on the outside of the cage and Rose was on the inside of the cage, and well Rose bit Pumpkin's toe nail off. There was blood everywhere and I had to hold the poor thing wrapped up tightly in a towel to put pressure on her toe to get it to stop bleeding. Well it stopped and I put everyone up for the night.

Well last night I let everyone out again and tired to block off the cage to the little ones and before I know it Mimzy has somehow made her way up the cage and this time Rose took the fricken tip of her longest toe OFF!!!!! I am so angry with her right now.

It was not just the toe nail it was the tip her longest middle toe is now shorter than the other two toes. I was able to stop the bleeding and put some neosporin on it. It looked good this morning no swelling and no bleeding and you would never know that Mimzy had her toe bitten off.

URGH, so angry with Rose right now. If it was not for her the new babies could go in the cage with the big girls. The rest of the girls love the new babies and the new babies love them. I don't know what to do with her. I can tell you that if I am able to finally get the new babies in with the big girls this really will be my last intro until Rose passes on. Which I do hope is a very long time because I do love her. So I will just get over the GGMR and remember how much it upsets Rose and it is really not fair to her.

 

[jorats]

What Rose has done is very normal and instinctual. She was protecting her cage. But that doesn't mean that she can't be introed to the girls.

Rats are more aggressive towards each other is they are allowed to only smell or meet through bars. But face to face is different because both are not limited, restricted.

 

[Melissa's ZOO]

I have been doing intro's outside of the cage and the FN is left open during free range so everyone feels comfortable and can do whay they want. This happened during free range and the cage was open.

I don't blame Rose she is extremely territorial I should have been watching closer for where Mimzy had gone.

I am going to go back to bath tub intro's and take is much slower. Pumpkin and Mimzy are both still very small and could not go in the FN now because there are a few places I did not put hardware cloth and they know how to get in and out.

So I will just start at the beginning and take it much slower.

 

[jorats]

That sounds good, taking it slower. I'm glad you aren't discouraged and still going to keep at it. :wink:

 

[Melissa's ZOO]

No I am definitely going to continue. I bought that big FN so I would have one cage to clean and that is the way I want it to be.

I just need to be patient and give Rose time to adjust and let the babies get bigger so they can defend themselves a little better. Pumpkin can hold her own but Mimzy gets so scared she just freezes and screams.

I figure a month or two from now things should be perfect, hopefully sooner.

 

[SQ]

It is pretty normal for rats inside a cage to injure rats climbing on the outside of the cage. Some rats have even injured their cage mates who were doing this.

Nice and slow with gradual steps should do the trick.
good luck with the intros

 

[user 78]

What Rose did is perfectly normal. As Jo said, Rose just felt her cage needed protecting. Even fellow cagemates, when climbing the outside of a cage, can be seen as a threat to a rat inside the cage. If they're getting along perfectly well outside of the cage, then please do continue with their intros from that point. Rose's reaction isn't a set back.

I had one girl, Tully, who would try and bite her cagemates' toes through the bars of the ramp, while everyone was in the cage. She loved her cagemates, but it was just something about toes sticking through the wires that made her nibbley.

I would suggest not having the FN open during out time, though. For one, the climbing the outside bit could set you back some, and also if the cage is too much Rose and Company's, someone [namely Rose since she seems to be the huffy one] may take offense to the babies being in there. You could also get some corplast to block off the bars of the cage, or something similar.

 

[jennifervb]

I have been trying to intro the new babies Pumpkin and Mimzy for about two weeks now. Everything goes okay, Rose gets a little huffy and then leaves them alone. So I moved intro's to their free range and everything went okay. Until last night.

The new babies really love the big girl cage, love to climb on it and play in it. Which Rose and Sunflower both absolutely will not tolerate. Saturday night Pumpkin was climbing on the outside of the cage and Rose was on the inside of the cage, and well Rose bit Pumpkin's toe nail off. There was blood everywhere and I had to hold the poor thing wrapped up tightly in a towel to put pressure on her toe to get it to stop bleeding. Well it stopped and I put everyone up for the night.

Well last night I let everyone out again and tired to block off the cage to the little ones and before I know it Mimzy has somehow made her way up the cage and this time Rose took the fricken tip of her longest toe OFF!!!!! I am so angry with her right now.

It was not just the toe nail it was the tip her longest middle toe is now shorter than the other two toes. I was able to stop the bleeding and put some neosporin on it. It looked good this morning no swelling and no bleeding and you would never know that Mimzy had her toe bitten off.

URGH, so angry with Rose right now. If it was not for her the new babies could go in the cage with the big girls. The rest of the girls love the new babies and the new babies love them. I don't know what to do with her. I can tell you that if I am able to finally get the new babies in with the big girls this really will be my last intro until Rose passes on. Which I do hope is a very long time because I do love her. So I will just get over the GGMR and remember how much it upsets Rose and it is really not fair to her.

Rose should consider a career giving pedicures. Lord! The poor babies! Fortunately, I will agree with the others that Rose's behavior is normal. On another note, rats are fortunate to have significantly fewer pain receptors than other animals. I believe I read that on the Rat Lady's website. Once Mimzy reaches a significant size, she will, hopefully, be better able to defend herself. The poor little fuzz face. :heart:

Give your sweeties smooooooooooooches and scritches from me. That includes Rose. :love6: If you haven't tried it already... park Rose and the babies on your lap (maybe one baby at a time) and make it clear to Rose that the little ones have been accepted by you. You are the "head rat". You provide food and protection and Rose knows that no matter what her behavior. I did this when introducing Ben and Basil and it helped Ben ease up.

Little psyches sometimes need extra nurturing. Rose may have fears of being "dethroned".