Could Lily get a friend?

[Rehabber]

First of all that was a really rude way to join a conversation. And I would advise to never post until you know the entire situation. She was too young, I know that, but i also know very well that she would have been sold anyway, and as a wildlife rehabilitator, I am thouroughly equipped to handle a young animal. I did quarentine her, but because I am equipped to handle and detect diseases, and her family had none, and she was clear, I introduced them quickly. And, jumping in without reading also insured that you did not see the rest of the conversation. NO rats ever like eachother at the first introduction, but i am very responsible and carefully supervised their interactions until they were getting along. And now they do get along. I volunteered at a humane society, I am the person who tells the public how to introduce the rats, so i did not "improperly" introduce the girls. They now get along great and are good friends.

[corgimom]

I had two females housed together for over a year and then added a third (a rescue). They took to her just fine and all got along with no problems, so it IS possible.

One trick that I was once told was to introduce the rats to eat other on "neutral" ground the first time. That way the one you've already got won't feel defensive of her home. I usually use the bathtub because it is a confined place where it is very easy to grab one of them very quickly if something should happen and they don't get along.

My first rat was alone. I got him when he was 2 or 3 weeks old (his mother died). I hand fed him, and after a few months we were able to trust him enough that he spent all of the time that someone was home outside of his cage (he usually slept on my ankles, which was cute). I think part of the reason he did fine was because he bonded with me as a mother figure. He was just as much human as he was rat.

Milo is alone now, but not by my choice. He had a roommate for awhile, and they didn't get along (the other one was used as a breeder one time, and it turned him aggressive). I've decided to keep Milo alone, because I don't know how he would react to having a new roommate now that he has had an aggressive one that was mean to him. I'm afraid that he would be defensive and possibly hurt the new guy.

[corgimom]

I can't believe that I forgot to say in my previous thread that I love the name Aurora. Lily is cute, too (I had a gerbil with that name), but Aurora is simply adorable.

If I ever do decide to give Milo a roomate, I'll have to try what you did and hold onto Milo's tail instead of putting them in the tub together. I probably won't, because even though most rats are social and get along, I'm afraid of his reaction because of his past experience. But you never know.

btw, I hope you don't mind that I mentioned that. I know you had already put your two together. I was just trying to give some more suggestion in case someone else (without your experience) decided the read the thread because they were thinking about adding a new rat to the family, too.

Also, don't feel bad about having Lily alone for so long. My mom barely agreed to let me have my first and took almost a year to get used to him (which is probably part of why he was always alone). Ignore anyone who tries to tell you that you're bad just because she was alone.

[Rehabber]

thanks, my mom was MAD when my dad let me get her, and she was alone when i got her from the humane society. I think that i may actually get another...eventually. Lily was named before i got her, i just altered it slightly. She was Libby...i don't know about you, but Libby makes me think of the one on Sabrina, yuck! So i changed it to Lily for sound and beauty. I think the biggest problem now is Aurora being a pest. She constantly jumps all over Lily (like a 3 year old with a teenage babysitter). The bathtub is a great idea...except that they are both afraid of water (too bad bath time is fast approaching). And i know the tub doesn't have water in at the time, but you know how they can be.
Also if someone is really scared about how the big one will treat the little one, they can hold onto the big one and let the little one run around, so they have control over the one who is most likely to bite.
Oh and for the record, you should be very suspicious of someone trying to a rat before it reaches 6 weeks old.
Unfortunately, Aurora's owners were NOT responsible, all that i had to do was walk in, pay them and walk out. You need to be very aware of the setting and how well socialized they are as well as the parents. Aurora's mother was already pregnant again, and was beginning to push her babies away, so she was already self-feeding. But i still kept formula in her cage for the first few days, to make sure that she really was self feeding, and to supplement the fat that she needed.

[corgimom]

Sorry, I should have clarified. I had just started working at Petco when I got him. A female rat who had gotten loose was accidently killed in a mouse trap that had been set in the supply room to catch the wild mice that were getting in the animal food supply. (I was furious that a pet store that carried small animals used traps like that). They found him right next to her body. A couple of us were taking turns hand feeding him. I fell in love with them and asked if I could keep him. Incidently, I wound up quitting after two months. I didn't think that they were caring for the animals well enough, and I didn't want to be apart of it. I wound up working at another location (in another state) several years later (just left that job a couple weeks ago). They weren't as bad as the first one. But that was partly because I was the one in charge of cage cleaning, so I KNOW that the job was done well.

You definitely do have to be careful when buying baby animals, though. There are so many people out there that only care about the money and don't care about the animals. Aurora's situation sounds like a rat "puppy mill". I feel so bad for her mommy. I'm glad that Aurora found a home with some one with your experience!

[Rehabber]

Thanks...I just wish they weren't able to breed them so well. They keep 2 males and 2 females, and both of the females were pregnant when i went in.