[Khodieylia]

He's the littlest rat I've ever owned. He seems like a really brave boy, doesn't startle too badly, doesn't try to crazily try to run from me..He's more socialized then Remmy was. He climbed into my bra to lay, actually. :hehe:

I have questions!

1) Remmy grabbed him and tried to pull him away from me! It seemed like he was trying to groom him. Is that normal? The little boy - Jacopo I named him - squeaked a bit but there was no blood or screaming...

2) He's REALLY young - he fits right in the palm of my hand. I'd say maybe 3 weeks old. Should I wait to introduce them formally? I worry because Da Vinci is so big.

I'm letting him rest in his temporary cage right now. He's all curled up in my shirt.. aww ..

Any advice would be nice!!
I've only introduced rats once before, so I'm no professional.

(pictures will be put later on! I need to get some work done!)

 

[ShannonMarie]

If he is 3 weeks old, then he must be really tiny! I usually don't put young males in with the big boys until they are at least 6 weeks old. But that's just me. From what I've read, some males can be aggressive towards young rats and may kill them. But I've never had that happen, and I've had a lot of rats. It is normal for them to want to groom each other, but if your boys are being too rough with him, then I'd keep them separated for now until he is a bit bigger, just in case they hurt him on accident. But, your boys may be like mine are... my boys act like they are the babies moms. You never know until you give it a try. And when you introduce them, just make sure it's on neutral territory, not in a cage. And watch them closely the whole time for Any signs of aggression, but it should be fine.

 

[Khodieylia]

Thanks Shannon. I worry the most about Da Vinci, because even Rembrandt seems a bit wary of him. Just a few moments Remmy was squeaking and squealing and scared me! But I don't think Da Vinci was being aggressive at all (not a scratch on the little boy!!). Yet at night, they cuddle together!

Oh, boys. No matter what their species, they drive me crazy. :hehe:

But I'll give him tonight and a bit of tomorrow to get settled, then let him meet the other boys one at a time in the bath tub - that sound okay?

 

[ShannonMarie]

Yup, a bath tub would be a great place, just make sure the drain is plugged so the little guy doesn't fall in! lmao. Is this the little black baby from your friend at the pet store?

 

[Khodieylia]

Yup, a bath tub would be a great place, just make sure the drain is plugged so the little guy doesn't fall in! lmao. Is this the little black baby from your friend at the pet store?

Yesss! I went in today after some errands, and popped into the place. They have lots of little rattys in this cage in the middle of the room. I poked my hand in there and they mobbed it! There were the older spotted ones, and then the darker littler ones. He was the only little boy to run up to my hand. :hehe:

There were people in there talking about buying some rats for their snake, so I got scared. I couldn't imagine him being food - this loving little furr-ball that I've seen since he was a pinkie.

Here's some pictures as promised!!

He fits right in my palm.

He has a big splotch of white. :hehe: And the verrry tip of his tail is white! So cute!

Look at his little feetsies! :hehe:

He's the calmest, kindest baby I've seen! I played with him and he just bruxed and nibbled my fingers! I think this is wub. :heart:

 

[ShannonMarie]

AWW he IS SO CUTE!!!! I Love, Love LOVE little babies. Especially little black babies. <3 I was JUST trying to talk my husband into letting me drive down to N Hollywood and pick up these 2 pure black male dumbo babies from this breeder down there, but he won't let me... ugh.

 

[Khodieylia]

AWW he IS SO CUTE!!!! I Love, Love LOVE little babies. Especially little black babies. <3 I was JUST trying to talk my husband into letting me drive down to N Hollywood and pick up these 2 pure black male dumbo babies from this breeder down there, but he won't let me... ugh.

Haha thank you! I love how his head is too big for his body, and his ears are too big for his head!! :hehe:

Black DUMBO's? *squeals*

Sneak out late in the night and drive there!! Smuggle those cuties in haha! Oh my I'm a bad influence! :devil: Your hubby wouldn't like me much.

 

[ShannonMarie]

I know, that age they are SO cute! He has HUGE ears hehe. Too bad he'll grow into them . lol.

Yes, Black dumbos! They are SOOO CUTE.
http://ratzrealm.com/mekelele_x_soliel.htm



I seriously would sneak out to get them, but the hubby would KILL me. And he's the one that buys their food, so I can't go against his word TOO much. lol. We got a 10% off coupon for PetCo and he said if they have dumbos there he would get me one.... ugh, i dont want PetCo rats. :mad2: The small pet stores I MIGHT consider getting a rat from, but not PetCo.

 

[Khodieylia]

"OH MAH GAWD!" I said, and my boyfriend gave me a weird look. They're beyond cuteness!! You just HAVE to try to persuade hubby.

I agree about PetCo. >.< I'd never buy anything at PetCo, no matter how much I'd want to "help"; it'd just not help...

Small pet stores are either really good, or really bad, it seems!

 

[ShannonMarie]

I know, they are cuter than I imagined! I actually got 2 rats from this lady about 6 or 7 years ago. She's a really nice lady, I even have a rat named after her because I really liked her name lol. Its Hilloah. lol. I guess I might seem like a stalker to her if she knew that. LOL!! My husband said "even if you just got one rat from her, it'd be a $60 dollar rat, because gas would cost $30 just to drive there and back" So I said... "Gas would only be $10 in my car..." He gave me a "look" and said "We don't need any more pets" and started laughing.

 

[ShannonMarie]

I can't stop looking at your new babies pictures! He is adorable! Now you just need a white boy. I have a few... Too bad you don't live closer. I can't wait until my little babies are that age so I can play with them!

 

[Khodieylia]

I can't stop looking at your new babies pictures! He is adorable! Now you just need a white boy. I have a few... Too bad you don't live closer. I can't wait until my little babies are that age so I can play with them!

Aww, thank yooou! Haha I was just thinking that! But I may have to wait until I'm out of mom's house, which isn't that long. :hehe:

I can't imagine what your hand will look like all mobbed on by such a colorful pack! I really hope that my boys will get along well. I think once everyone's older it'll be better. Just right now Da Vinci's a bit too big. I hope Remmy will be nice! He kept grabbing at Jacopo like a mother cat does - it scared me!

 

[ShannonMarie]

What Remmy was doing, sounds like what mother rats do also. He may just be trying to protect the baby by pulling it close to him. I read a HUGE article on stuff like this a while back. When I was going to try having a communal nesting house for my females when they gave birth (more than one female with babies in the same cage) I read just about every article on this website. And I came across a lot of stuff about how males interact with young babies. http://www.ratbehavior.org/ Some males may kill young babies as a mating instinct to bring the mother rat back into estrus, even if there is no mother anywhere near. If you go to the "Aggression" link, you can learn a LOT about why rats fight with eachother, and what it actually looks like when they fight. So you know what to be prepared for and what to look for, if anything does go wrong. But just because they are males, doesn't mean they won't have maternal instincts. My big boy, Clyde, has been caught in a nursing position with all the babies under him trying to find nipples! :lol:

 

[Khodieylia]

Thank you! I just skimmed through it now, because I'm getting ready for bed, but I'll definitely read more of it tomorrow, before I let them meet.

I kinda knew it wasn't a mean thing Remmy was doing - it just looked rough!! And that little "peep" that Jacopo let out, I felt so sad for him.

HAH! I would roll over laughing if I came home to seeing that!! What a sweet, sweet boy Clyde must be. :hehe:

 

[CrWoodyspets]

Oh my! Cute overload! Hes adorable

 

[bokuza]

It sounds just like my kids Nimph and SweetPea when they first met.
SweetPea was the same size as your little one and Nimph was roughly a few months or more. When they first met Nimph shoved SweetPea under himself and groomed him lol. SweetPea did squeak a little because it was suddenly most of the time but there was never any aggression.
Nimph even started carrying SweetPea like a mother would up to his nest he made. That didnt last long because SweetPea is a dumbo and hes growing rapidly lol.

When I opened the cage to take the boys out that was usually when Nimph would grab SweetPea and try to hide him.

 

[Khodieylia]

It sounds just like my kids Nimph and SweetPea when they first met.
SweetPea was the same size as your little one and Nimph was roughly a few months or more. When they first met Nimph shoved SweetPea under himself and groomed him lol. SweetPea did squeak a little because it was suddenly most of the time but there was never any aggression.
Nimph even started carrying SweetPea like a mother would up to his nest he made. That didnt last long because SweetPea is a dumbo and hes growing rapidly lol.

When I opened the cage to take the boys out that was usually when Nimph would grab SweetPea and try to hide him.

Aw, thanks for the comment. That makes me feel better seeing what I saw. I suppose it should be okay, at least with Remmy! But who knows, maybe Da Vinci will be like Clyde. Haha!

And thanks Woody - I think the same thing when I see him!

Right now I'm typing one-handed, with little Jacopo eating a yogie on me. He's bruxing again, hopefully out of happy and not scared. I'll post more pictures up today after school. :hehe:

:O He SMELLS like a baby! A new car- er, ratty smell! :hehe: I wish I could take him to school with me...

 

[breyer08]

Oh my gosh, he's sooo cute!!!! I love his little white tummy!! awwwwww

 

[mtmaughan]

Typically I would recommend that you quarantine a new rat for 2 weeks before intros. However, if you're not going to quarantine you can start intros whenever. Younger rats are usually accepted pretty easily by older ones. Grooming is not only a bonding activity but can be a sign of dominance. Even if he's young the older ones will want to show that they are the boss. And as he gets older there might be some scuffles if he decides to test his limits.

 

[Khodieylia]

Typically I would recommend that you quarantine a new rat for 2 weeks before intros. However, if you're not going to quarantine you can start intros whenever. Younger rats are usually accepted pretty easily by older ones. Grooming is not only a bonding activity but can be a sign of dominance. Even if he's young the older ones will want to show that they are the boss. And as he gets older there might be some scuffles if he decides to test his limits.

My friend took all the babies to the vet, where the vet checked them all up and said things looked good. I also made sure to look for any sickly signs, and he was a healthy boy.

I introduced them a bit today. First just one at a time, then with all of them together.

Heres how it went: Rembrandt was very good with him this time around, lots of sniffing and what-not. Nothing bad at all. After sniffs and a bit of grooming, he scuttled around the bath, with Jacopo behind him. :hehe:

Da Vinci sniffed him as well, when it was just them two. More sniffing, and what looked like grooming from each of them. I think Jacopo misses the other rattys.

All of them together: it made me nervous! LOTS of sniffing and following around each other. Da Vinci tried to flip Jacopo, which made the little boy squeak-squeak-squeeeeak. He's totally fine though, I highly doubt Da Vinci was being mean.

I'll try again later today. I think it went well! At least, better then I worried it'd go!