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Introduction problems.

1K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  pinkie1205 
#1 ·
I have three male rats that I'm trying to introduce. All of them are about 4 months old, give or take a week or two. Bean and Raleigh are brothers and have been together since birth. Skewer is currently on his own since he lost his brother not too long ago.

The first time I tried introductions they were all too nervous about being in the bath tub to really pay attention to each other. Skewer and Raleigh wound up cuddled into each other in a corner while Bean went sniffing around trying to get out. There was a bit of sniffing between Bean and Skewer, but just when they happened to walk past each other.

Then last night I tried again, but with a towel on the bottom of the tub. Raleigh immediately went under the towel, tunneled around for a bit and went to sleep. Skewer and Bean both spent a few minutes sniffing around the edges of the towel before noticing each other. Skewer sat down, and Bean started grooming him. I think it got a little too rough for Skewer because he started squeaking and trying to get away. Bean didn't like that and they got into a bit of a fight. Fur started flying, so I separated them and examined them to see if there were any cuts. There weren't so I put them back in at opposite ends and let them try again. Pretty much the same thing happened, only this time Skewer ended up with a cut on his shoulder, so I separated them and put them back in their cages.

I'd really like things to go well so Skewer doesn't have to be on his own any longer. How long should I wait before I try to introduce them again? Does anyone have any suggestions for how I can keep them from fighting?
 
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#2 ·
Hmmmm... Can they hurt each other through their cages bars? If not, how about placing the cages side by side so they can smell and maybe touch each other a bit without hurting each other. That way they would get used to each other's scent withough having them fight. And then after a couple of weeks try again to put them in a neutral area together.

That's a similar way to what is done with gerbils. Gerbils are very social, but very territorial, so you have to make the gerbils get used to each other's scent before putting them together in neutral territory, so maybe it can work with the rats. Good luck with them!
 
#3 ·
No, they can't hurt each other through the bars. Their cages have been next to each other for a few days. I hope that helps. Thanks for the advice.
 
#7 ·
let us know how it goes this time
 
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