I'm getting another rat and i just wanna make sure teh odds are good that they won't fight. Thanks! :)
Answers:
Yes, I have, just twice now in my 11 year rat-keeping period. In both instances it was groups of males who are going through their 5 to 6 month old snarky testosterone period. They decided they had to challange the alpha male. I separated them for a short time and then went back to square one with careful introductions.
Introducing your resident rat to a new friend requires, first a quarantine period to determine the health of the new rat so he doesn't pass on any ailments to the rat you have now. Then proper introductions will make them fast friends for life.
Another reason for quarantine is to allow the new kid time to settle in. You see, some babies have a hard time with the stress of being in a new home let alone meeting his future cagemate for the first time.
Why quarantine your new rat?
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=qu...
The importance of proper introductions:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=in...
I've put it down in writing but I would prefer that you e-mail me privately at spazrats@yahoo.ca and I will help you through the intros day by day which will make it go smoothly. I can also answer many of your concerns you might have along the way.
Since you are new to ratties I would like to invite you to join Holistarat
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/holistarat...
A rat-only forum where you can talk to other rat experts, sharing fun things as well as care information for rats.
Edit:
Gad-zooks don't change your user-name and avatar like that. LOL! I stripped a gear trying to figure out who you were since I first answered your question as "pet master".
Please be a rat vet, we need more vets to specialize in the care of pet rats. Too many vets don't know a thing about rats.
Update Aug. 17:
I answered your question with the assumption that the rat that you have now was still a baby under 12 weeks of age. Now that I know that your boy is around 5 months old I will edit my answer for you.
How old is the rat that you will be getting?
You can test your "teenager" to see how macho he is..
When male rats get into a serious fight they attack the other's bum. If you can play with your boy, tickle his bum, and he doesn't react with fluffing out his coat, or sidling then there's not much macho in him. The baby you are getting needs to be at least 12 weeks old when it is put it in with him. At this age the baby is no threat to the older boy's dominance, but he is old enough to defend himself because there might be some pinning by the older boy and some squealing from the baby. Just pray you don't get a drama queen in your new boy.
LOL!
Watch for these behaviors during introductions:
http://www.ratbehavior.org/aggression.ht...
spazrats
"my life has gone to the rats"
eww rats are nasty but umm maybe if you have had your other rat for a while i wouldn't because i considers its cage as its territory and if anthoer rat moves in it could cause a fight
yes i have... i had a female an my girlfriend had a male an everytime we put them together they would fight but we werent sure if it was them fighting or getting ready to mate so... she brought ova her female an they would still fight maybe my rat was just aggresive... i think it also depens on how long he hasnt been around other rats you should just take it slow at first an see how they react to eachother ya kno! an rats are amazing pets people dont belevie it but they are mine acted like a dog lol she would always go for the garbage an i would yell at her an she would run away i took her everywhere with me an she would always sit on my shoulder an never try an get away.. good luck
A while ago I bought a rat and he got along just fine with the rat I already had...Then I decided to add a new rat, and all hell broke loose. The rat I had bought previously (about 2 weeks earlier) HATED, the new rat, they would fight constantly and the older rat terrorized the newest rat. I had to seperate them.
If you decide to get a new one make sure you have another cage you can keep it in for a few weeks to make sure its disease free...and then introduce them, slowly. Sometimes they take right away...sometimes, (like in my case) not so much.
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