Topper Rat
Topper Rat
 |
| No items matching your keywords were found. |
Rat fighting problems..........?
I have had a male rat for almost 5 or 6 months and he was just neutered last Wednesday. I had a feeling that it was to soon to get a new rat, but i did it anyway. I think my rat still has his hormones. So it was just a while ago and we got a new rat (as in a while ago i meant 45 minutes) I was in the car on the ride home and he was trying to mate with her. She got bitten and she is younger than him. My rat has a cage topper and so I just put up the ladder. So now their separated. Will they never ever like each other now? Will she forget? How long till I should put them together again???
The problem you had is that you introduced them way too quickly. Rats, even when one is desexed, need to be introduced very slowly.
1) Start out with them in seperate cages. Let them sniff each other through the bars, but don't put them so close that an unwary nose of paw could be bitten. Keep them like this for a few days.
2) Allow them to meet - closely supervised! - in a totally neutral area like a bathtub. Repeat this process for a few days.
3) Allow them to meet in an area that the old rat may consider his (but not the cage). Try your lap - you cuddling the new rat will let him know that you've accepted her, now she should too. Again, repeat for a few days.
4) Swap them around - let the girl explore the boy's cage and vice versa, at the same time. Make sure neither sees the other in their cage. This will allow the new rat to put her scent throughout his cage and he will view her as less of a threat.
5) Finall, introduce the new girl to the boy's cage. Scrub the cage thoroughly first to eliminate the boy's scent and rearrange the layout. This will make him less protective of it. A few scuffles are normal to sort out the pecking order, but if you see blood, get her out.
Tips: Always quarantine your new rat for at least a week. She could have a disease that you don't want her to carry to your boy.
Get them to bond over a strong-smelling food like tuna. Eating together will help them bond and the tuna will mask their seperate scents. Always dab a scent like vanilla essence on them to disguise their normal scent. Two rats that smell the same will be much mroe willing to accept each other.
As for the desexing issue, I would wait six weeks to make sure that all his sperm is gone. Put them together before that and your girl could very well end up pregnant.
Don't worry - they don't hate each other. Follow the proper introduction process and they should get along just fine. Bear in mind, though, some rats will never get along with other rats. If you see constant, vicious fighting even after going through the proper processes, you may have to consider keeping them apart. All rats have different personalities.
Don't worry though, most rats get along just fie when properly introduced.
Good luck! 
Tags: comic, comics, daily, dilbert, foam mattress topper ratings, humor, mattress topper ratings, mattress topper ratings and reviews, topper rat terrier, topper ratings