Question about introducing rats.?

[Hidari K]

I've owned rats for most of my life, but something is baffling me (never experienced it before) I have two cages, one with my 2 older boys and one with my 2 younger boys and we've introduced them in 30- 1 hour increments to get them used to each other for about 2 weeks. But when I tried today to put the younger boys in the big boy cage, one of the older rats got kind of territorial and fought with the little one. No blood was drawn, but can it escalate?

They seemed fine in a neutral area, but when I put them in the cage together, the big one fights with one of the little boys. I'm assuming it's territorial, but how can I fix this? (No, I am not neutering my rat)

I need to be able to use the smaller cage because I'm getting a new baby rat that cannot go in the big ferret nation cage. I'm almost thinking about, when I get the new baby, to put him in with my younger boys and then as they get older, keep the dominant big rat in his own separate cage and put the others in the Ferret nation and only let them play together when I put them in a neutral area.

Help?
And I just scrubbed down their cage*** so no scent is marked
No, 30minutes to 1 hour. Not 31 hours.

 

[Aco O]

You could try placing the younger rat in the cage first, let him mark it with his scent first, then introduce the older one.

 

[The eclectic wire]

Rats are very social animals. In my humble opinion, they should be able to sort things out. Maybe you'll hear a bit of screaming, but if you always respond to it, the little bastard will always whine to have some attention. If they live too long in separate cages, you'll have one dominant male in the big cage and one dominant male in the small cage. Then both will want to be the dominant when they live together.

Introduction needs to be in a neutral zone. But you do not need 30 one hour sessions. One or two should be PLENTY. As I stated before, the faster they sort things out themselves in a private manner, the better they will get along. By "in a private manner" I do not mean you cannot observe. But try to not interfere as soon as you hear the little one cry. Let him "suffer" a bit so that he can learn his social ranking.

In some very rare occasions, two individuals might never get along. I suspect something in the genes/pheromones that makes them compete to death over who will lead the other. Only then would I consider having one of my boys living alone.

 

[Lorelle Kraus]

its normal for rats to display dominance this way. there will probably be no blood. supervise this, however, just in case.