When I had mice the introduction was so traumatic, one of my mice was extremely chill with the new one but Monica was not very pleased. At one point Brie(new mouse) got so depressed(being in another aquarium )I had to move her and Phoebe in together and gradually add Monica back in. The introductions went way longer than I had wished/thought but once they moved in they became very close. It was stressful just writing this 😅
I had rats and I didn’t know about the whole isolation process so I just put her in with my other two girls at first she was mean to my albino but an hour later they where ok
I’ve introduced rats twice and the first time went great. The second time I introduced the babies to my older rats too soon (the breeder told it it was okay- I should have done more research) and one of my older rats killed one of the babies immediately. It happened so fast I couldn’t stop it. That was a year ago and I still cry about it 😭
about a year ago i did my first intros after watching/studying everyyy one of the vids on her channel about rat intros (plus a few more from some other channels) bc i was so anxious about how my boys would get along the two original boys (about 5 months old at the time) were sooo good with their two new friends (3 months), that i basically just did the neutral space in the bath tub for a bit, put the carrier in the tub, they all piled in, i cleaned my "baby cage" for the next step while they all just curled up and fell asleep in the carrier, then moved them to the baby cage so i could make sure they had water/food access for the night, they were sleeping in seperate piles with their original brother at first, but i kept looking over at the cage to see if theyd join piles and they did before i even fell asleep😭 by like late afternoon the next day i already had them in the lower level of the big cage (with nothing in it but food + water sources at first), but through the week i kept just adding (flat)hammocks and larger hides with multiple entrances and stuff and by the end of week 2 i was fairly confident i was able to pretty much put the cage back to normal !! they did so well and i was so relieved! but here i am a year later, with 2 new babies that im ready to do intros with tomorrow afternoon!! super stressed, watching intro vids as a refresher lol. now that my guys are all a year+ old im extra nervous about how theyll treat the babies so im sure things wont go as smooth as the first time but fingers crossedddd lol
Just got my first two rats, after searching for a good breeder for ages! After one day started to see if they would come up for some yoghurt and banana, and Lou (a siamese) already came up to my lap all on her own. So so happy with them!
I was very lucky with my first introduction, I went through the steps and they were in half a critter nation in 3 days, they stayed there with me gradually adding things for 2 weeks, then I gave them the whole double. I’m about to do my second intro and I hope it goes as smoothly 🤞
Excellent timing for this video. I am going to be doing intros soon. I have a lonely old man and 5 babies from 2 different breeders. I'm planning to put the babies together as soon as their quarantine is over and then I'll work on adding the old man.
@@Mouse- Yes. I used the carrier method. Everything went great. The only fighting was between 2 of the 12 week old boys when I was a little too quick with adding hides to the big cage. Once I took away the hide they were fighting over they went back to being good friends.
I'm maybe getting 2 rats females my Mum said I have to clean up after myself to get them , you have really helped me learn lots about rats so when I get mine I will know a lot about rats
This came right in time. I got 3 new Girlz April May and June. I'm about to intro them with my older girlz, Sage and Butterscotch and this is going to help me out alot🐁💙🐀💗
Thank you so much for this video, I'm most likely getting my 3 new babies next month, so I want to be as prepared as possible. I've researched about rat intors so much already, but you can never be too prepared. 😅 My older boys are pretty chill with each other, Monty is also a very good alpha rat, so hopefully that will help out a bit.
Ive had horrible rat introductions, though my last one was barely an intro. My only other adult female had to be introduced to her younger cagemate's litter and she inmediatly treated them as her own and has been a perfect aunt to them! She was just as sweet when the litter's mother moved in. She hates human contact other than getting treats but shes so sweet towards other rats
I am sorry about Rue! I know how much you hurt! Every time I lose a rattie, my heart breaks. And do not be anything but how you feel. Every tear is a tribute to Rue! To lose her unexpectly is horrible!
I am attempting introductions right now!! I set myself back by not using “neutral territory”!!! I went back to setting them side by side and then going to try bath tub. I made the mistake of stopping also and I believe that was due to my own nerves!!
I wouldn’t do any side by side as it just amps them up that they can’t get to each other so when they do finally meet they’ve got a lot of big feelings!
@@Emiology thank you so much for responding! I will move their cages away from each other. This is my first introduction of male rats. Honestly they don’t seem too aggressive their behavior seems normal but I made the mistake of not doing it on neutral territory. This was before I viewed your video: the last thing I wanna do is stress either rat out. Do you recommend the vanilla trick? I am going to try it in a bath tub as you suggested. Randy is about 7 months and Max is about 3 month, maybe 4. So they are both young
I've asked a few questions in your previous videos--I sent it again on the 'using pet rats for dogs'. I'm soon getting Rats, and I'm really worried I won't be able to answer these questions when it's Time! 😮
We have only had 2 in about 28 rats that haven’t wanted to mix. The one was ok with his brother so we ended up with two big cages and Sheldon just didn’t get on with other rats however hard we tried so he lived in a big cage next to them. He seemed very happy and we paid him extra attention. Unfortunately he didn’t live long due to a sudden fit so we didn’t get to neutering. Vet thought that the others knew something was wrong with him from the start. Hoping our two new babies mix well ( starting intros tomorrow!!)
I’m completely in despair over my introductions… So I have five all together. They are all over 2 years old and were rescued from the same hoarders flat, and also were kept together in the shelter I adopted them from. Bonny & Rackham I’ve had for about 8 months. Bonny absolutely HATES one of the new girls. They have drawn blood from one another more than once. Because of the fact that they both now react incredibly aggressively if they can just see each other, all the others get aggressive too. Rackham gets protective. It seems to me that they’re all just scared. Bonny would be the alpha if Rackham wasn’t so massive, and unfortunately this new girl is so similar to her. I’m not going to give up, but it looks like I’m going to have to start coming up with completely new ways to introduce them all. If anyone has experience with very problematic rats please help me😭. Girl rats are so fun but they’re also a bloody nightmare (literally)
There's a lot of information on how to introduce rats, or videos of introductions going perfectly fine, but not what to do if it goes wrong. Thank you for speaking about it! I am using the neutral space method on my 3 girls and one neutered boy. Acceptance from two of my girls is really low, and nothing has changed for weeks. The carrier method is not recommended where I'm from, but seeing there isn't any progress, I feel like it could have worked better on my group, instead of prolonging the stress and being stuck.
Great timing. I am preparing myself to retry intros with my rats. I had tried a few weeks ago to introduce a neutered male to my 4 girls and it was very difficult. The boy was super nervous and seemed to still have some aggression in him (he had been neutered 6 weeks earlier). I managed to get things to work up until they moved to the big cage and then fights started again between the male and some of my females. I then divided the group and the boy is living with one of my elderly girls. I will try again, take things slowly and find a way to split up the large cage so it's not that big a change from the previous cage. Keeping my fingers crossed.
It's not working and somehow worst than last time. The neutered boy seems less aggressive, but one of my girl is very territorial and injured the two rats I was introducing to her within minutes. The injuries are not serious, but it looks like I will have two groups for a while. 😥 at least nobody is alone.
I’ve had so many issues with my two rescues. I’m gonna try all these steps and hope it works. One of my boys is super rude to the other, and is super territorial. He rubs his hands and pees all over every material he comes in contact with. He’s SOOO sweet with people, just not other rats. Fingers crossed!!!
That’s how a lot of my boys were before they were neutered! Sometimes even when they’re not doing any damage they’re still constantly tormenting the others 🙈
Very informative Emie, have 2 new babies arriving soon, got the kit ready to go and I’m feeling confident to tackle this. Great and timely blog. Thanks 😎
I had a horrible intro too... To be clear our 3 rats and the new 2 rats were introduced for 2 weeks by a professional(kind of) we trust. She said they will fight again when we put them in the final cage but it shouldn't be so bad. It was... First nothing happened bc they were interested in the new cage. But the next days were more and more horrible for our first 3 rats bc they got bullied and were scared to eat and drink bc every time they got hunted! We needed to separate them :/
This video came at rye perfect time because I’m looking into buying two more boys as I’m going to be getting the two I have now a new cage so thankyou 😁
Hi Emi , so can make a vid about toys that are really good for rats. Me and my elder cousin always talk about animals , and I really want to learn more about rats , even if I don't own any. I really love your vids.
I have one introduction that is just .. not happening. I have two young boys, they're 4 months old now, and one old guy whos 2.7, that I tried to introduce in neutral space and carrier and it is just not happening. No fighting, no blood, there were like maybe 3 tussles but now the younger guy just screams at him. Gets in his face and screams a few times then starts boxing with his brother. His bro is fine with the older guy, they'd be bonded by now if this other dude wasn't freaking out. My old man sits in the corner as far away from them as possible. This little dude is super sweet to his brother and to us, I've genuinely never had this happen before.
We didn't do a introduction we just stuck them in the cage together they probably didn't have any problems cause they were babys and they were from the same cage but we got 3 more after we got 2 it was maybe a month after maybe less I can't really remember but they were fine and nothing happened so glad they were chill instead of blood everywhere cause that would've been a disaster
This is so weirdly timed, I didn't get the notification yesterday and today we tried re intros after implant (6 weeks wait with them separate) and it went awfully...
I brought a newbie(9 weeks, male) last week. But somehow he is as big as my older rat(5 months). And the older one seems very agressive at the newbie.. I thought they could get along since they are 3 months apart. I was wrong T^T
Very informative video! I didn't know you left them in the smallest carrier and don't separate during that stage (unless they're fighting of course). How long do you usually leave them in the small carrier?
I usually only have to have them in it for half a day / a day. I have a cage that’s only a tiny bit bigger and I prefer getting them into that soonish as it has better ventilation and easier to attach bottles, but you have to leave them in it as long as it takes for them to all be cuddling and settled.
@@Emiology Do you feel bad for the Rats when they are in such a small space for a long time? Is it okay to do this? it looks pretty crowded in the carrier.🤔
A small part of me does, but not really. I’d feel worse for them if they had to go through weeks of stress rather than just a day or two in a small space, or worse if they had too much space and got ripped apart. Giving up a day - a week of their life to live the rest of it in a big nice cage with friends seems like a good sacrifice to me 🙂
I've heard so many trauma stories and was hella lucky with my rats that only one of my rats Hazel had trouble with the new babies, and it took just 3 days for her to get over being a bitch, it helped the babies would make noises that hazel's sister's birch and Junebug would come over and protect the babies from Hazel, and no blood was drawn.
Remind me to tell you about my current intros when I see you next! I'll be posting about him once I'm sure everything's going to be OK, but safe to say we're in it for the long haul!
I just got a baby rat for my big rat who is around 1 and 6 months and her friend just recently passed away. As hard as it was to pick out a new rat the next day so she can have a friend. I waited a day after getting the baby because she is so small compared to my older rat. I was scared she was gonna get hurt. So I put them in the bath and got in so I can put my hand in between to make sure the older rat wasn’t biting to hard. This is my first time so I was scared. I let them sit for a minute (not me in there off to the side) I put them in a small hamster cage. The baby is currently in a corner asleep and the older rat is trying to figure out how to get out. The pet store I went to told me the baby is 6 months but she is so small I think she might be younger. Either way I have her and she is so sweet and small (smaller then my hand. Like the base of my hand sized). Only one “fight” happened and it was nibbling my hand and head butting. And the baby is just following the older one around and the older one hates it. It’s going pretty smoothly and fyi the pet store only had baby rats, I wanted to get an older rat so it would be better but there was only baby rats. I have female rats which is just 2.
I dont know what to do really. My rats get togehter when i have them for play time but when i put them into their cage together. My older rats picks on my hairless rattie. I dont know what to do really. I put them carriers foe a bit to chill and theyre fine. Its just when it comes to the cage
Introduce them properly 😊 they’re acting territorial over their space which is why it’s not recommended to put them straight into cages. As they seem good with each other I recommend doing the carrier method but don’t separate them back to their own cages once you start it and then give the final cage a good clean so it’s neutral
Im so discouraged at the moment. I dont know what to do. I wanted to introduce my 2 six months old females to other two 1yo females. I put them in a bathtub and they were fine, they were sitting there for about an hour and they groomed each other, slept together - it was fine so I put them in the carrier. They were there for 2 days and all was still going well, they never once fought so I put them in a small part of the cage with no equipment except litter tray, food bowl and a drinking bottle. The cage didnt smell like any of them! It was brand new with washed or brand new equipment. When I put them in that cage though all hell broke loose. They all suddenly started fighting with each other, there was never any blood so I try to leave them be but Im so tired and scared at this point. Its been a week and the fighting didnt stop (puffing up, rat ball, nibbling each others face whatever that means????, humping each other, kicking, boxing, power grooming). Its like every one of my 4 rats wants to be the alfa and they cant agree on that?? Every day whenever I wake up and look in their cage they sleep together (usually 3 of them cuddled up and one - Ina or Nea - in a different corner alone), they eat together without any problems, drinking together and its fine but in the morning (after they wake up and eat) and in the evening the fights start). From what I've seen the most frequently fight Nea with Ina and Nea with Vea. Usually whenever Nea comes close to Ina, she [Ina] closes her eyes, sqeaks and frezes like she's terrifed of her??? But today Ina started a fight all puffed up. I didnt add any more equipment to the cage (just made it a bit bigger). I dont know what to do. I tried to go back a step and put them again in the carrier but they stop fighting there and just sleep and cuddle together.
I really empathise it’s so stressful when it doesn’t go right. Was the cage you put them in a big jump in size from the carrier? I’d try to go for one that’s not much bigger and really keep them in that size until their bond is solid
@@Emiology it was not a very big jump but maybe thats it. I cleaned the cage and the whole room with vinegar to get rid of the smell, the water bottle and food bowl and started the introduction from the beggining, now I found a way to make the part of the cage that they are in a lot smaller (a little bit bigger than the carrier. I put them in like an hour ago and its actually going ok!! I hope it will work now. Thank you!
Idk if you'll see this comment now that the video is over a year old, but I'm reaching out for advice. If anyone else reading this has any suggestions, I'm open to hearing them. TIA I have 3 male rats, a year old, I got them from a pet store as babies at the same time. A while later, I acquired to brother rats, 6 months older than my other 3 boys. I also have a group of 4 girls. 3 of them are sisters to the 2 brothers. I use my bed as their free roam area. All 3 groups of rats get a turn every day to spend about an hour running around on the bed. And leaving their scent of course. After about a week of having the 2 brothers, I brought all 5 boys to the bed at the same time for an introduction. Almost immediately, Rambo, the dominant from the group of 3, and Junior, the dominant of the 2, aggressively went at each other. They combined as one chaotic violent ball of rat fury. I had to separate them. The commotion caused a skittish rat from each group, Dynamite and Chopper, to start attacking anyone who came near them, even their own group members, because of their fear. We waited a few days and tried again. Same thing happened. Separated them again. And from then on, Rambo and Junior, the 2 dominants, began being aggressive with their own cage mates. They've calmed down a bit over time, but we still have more rat fights than we ever used to. Here's where I need advice. I really want to be able to house all 5 males together. But idk how to help them get along, or if it's even possible. I feel like they've deemed each other as mortal enemies at this point. Maintaining 3 cages, and rotating 3 groups out for free roam everyday, has gotten to be a lot to handle. Does anyone have any suggestions for me to try?
It definitely sounds like doing it on your bed might be playing a part, if they're used to going on your bed for free roam they may not be viewing it as a neutral space if it hasn't been washed before introductions and they've been scent marking it. It may also be that its just too large of a space that they're moving around too much and this can make fighting a lot more dangerous if they're running and get bitten. I'd recommend doing introductions in either a bathtub or a shower cubicle, they're completely neutral spaces to all the rats (and even a bit scary which can help) and also a lot easier to clean. I use the shower cubicle now above the bath as its easier to stop them from getting out. I'd give them a week to cool off and then try that, if they continue to rat ball and pick on each other when you move onto the next steps in a carrier etc and they're even injuring each other you'll have to look at neutering the perpetrators. The bonus of this if it does need doing is you also have female rats, and those can be an option to introduce them to the neutered boys instead as well :) Hope it goes a bit easier for you
Can you please make a video how to find a lost mice. I had 2 mice's, so i was feeding them then i forgot to close the cage door. One of them left the cage. Luckily the second one is still in the cage. I just can't find my mice. I looked for her with my dad and brother. I've heard a lot of her noises. Please make a video, of how to find a lost mice i would be really happy 🥺😔
Very discouraged right now. Had mine for about 3 days or 6 weeks old. Take food for my fingers and run away or the lick my fingers by yogurt and then they'll run away and they always acts like they're afraid of me. Other than for food they have no interest in interacting with me. Don't even really play together. They lay together but they don't fight. They don't play I don't know these two males are just Don't seem to like me so does it kind of feel like keep him in a cage, feed them? Ignore them. Never interact with them. Seems like that's what they want
3 days isn’t very long at all! It really depends where you got them from as well. Under 6 weeks old is very young to go to a new scary home and like puppies they’ll still spend a lot of time sleeping and processing things. Any time I get new very young rats they don’t even realise half of the cage is there until they feel more settled to explore. Try to play with them with your hands by ‘tickling’ the bedding in front of them and if they’re not shying away you can tickle their head / back to initiate play
Hi emi, so I've been following some intro thing and you increase the time they are together by 5 minutes each day and as soon as the interact you put treats all over. This is in a neutral space. Is this an okay way to do it? My new rat usually stays huddled in a corner though, so maybe I'll go back to the carrier method so they are forced to interact. I'm not really sure.
I'm getting 2 female rats this summer so my plan for when they're about 1 year old I'll get 2 more newer rats and place them in a seperate cage and slowly introduce them then when the newer rats are old enough i'll see if I can swap their places so I can slowly get the older rats to let them into their cage then when the older rats pass on the younger rats will own the main cage, (and let the process repeat) If i'm missing anything i'd like to know bc i'm kinda new to this
Just to clarify when all the rats are chill w eachother I'll put the cages together to make a super-cage just because 1 of them isn't quite big enough for 4, so while the 2 older rats are still alive it would be 2 cages that are "fused" together to make a larger one😆
idk why you haven’t said anything about quarantine in any of your intro vids. it’s so so necessary to do so because you don’t want your rats to get sick :/
I have, before. True quarantine is not actually practiced by many people and is difficult to do, ideally you need the rats in a separate air space or building for it to be effective and that’s not something many people can do in the average house.
emi i've got a question, i don't have many rats like you! only two, they're two boys, templeton is significantly older than fivel but templeton is the least most aggressive rat i think i've ever met, but fivel could be considered a baby. what can i do to make sure they don't fight? they've knows each other for a while, two months at most, and at first when i tried, they kept acting strange, so i gave it a while, cleaned the cage so it didn't smell like just one of my rats, before introducing my second rat. do you think that mig be helpful? so far everything is fine.
hey so i just got 2 new baby rats (about 2 months old) and I'm struggling to put them in the cage with my adult rat (a year old). they get on well in a carrier and in the neutral area, but the adult rat is very territorial with his cage. So i do have to break up introductions at the end of the night but they spend most of the afternoon together cuddling up. how can I overcome the territorial thing?
What method of introductions are you using? The jump from a carrier to the main cage especially too soon can cause issues, you may need an inbetween size cage to work up to going back into the main cage, and then really make sure you clean it
So one of my boys passed away the other day and now I’m left with one boy…I plan on getting him a buddy tomorrow (Monday) but idk when I should introduce them…because I don’t want my current rat to be alone for to long but I know that the new boy is gonna need time to adjust to his new home and build his bond with me
If you’re getting a young companion you’ll need to get two new rats as babies need same age company for their development. In this situation I always way up what’s more important, if I’m getting rats from a well known source that can guarantee they’ve had no issues before hand and they’re big enough, I honestly just prioritise the lone rat and do intros ASAP so they’re not alone for weeks 🙂
@@Emiology I plan on getting a full grown rat (idk the exact age yet) from someone who’s basically in the same situation as me, they only have one rat left but they don’t wanna own rats anymore…or I could adopt another pair of boys from another person I talked to, but I’m afraid my current rat would end up being the outcast from the already bonded pair, so I’m hesitant to really do anything rn until I know what’s best to do
@@Emiology Ok I have an update with another question😂so I’ve found a breeder that has 2 males she’d sell me but one of them was born with no feet, she said it hasn’t really affected him in anyway but idk how it couldn’t lol…like how would he climb around? I guess I’m just asking if you think that it would have any affect on him in the future or if I’d have to handicap my cage a little bit for him…I am going through with it no matter what, because I don’t wanna keep my boy alone any longer and I’m all for having unique pets (having no feet is definitely considered unique to me)…Edit: also just to clarify a bit more about the no feet, he has the little legs but to be a bit more specific he has no toes, just little stubs, I have no experience being a rat obviously but I would think having toes\claws would be pretty important
I do have a question, I'm trying to introduce my boys and they are ignoring and avoiding each other im not sure what to do, I've tried carrer and neutral.
Hello! I have a question (it doesn't relate to the video) Me and my family are moving cross country and we will be driving around 5 days, but I have 2 rats and I'm not sure what to do or how to travel with them I have a rather big cage so I can't just keep them in there does anyone have advice? Thank you!
They’ll be fine in a small travel cage for 5 days it won’t hurt them ☺️ same as when they’re in intros they have to stay in cages this size for a few days at a time
Also--your probably getting sick of me commenting-- In the USA, at Petsmart there are these really cute things for Rats-well, it was for parrots- its this foraging thing in a mini popcorn bucket. it has foraging toys, and confetti-like material! do you think it'll be good for Rats? maybe you see them in UK Petstores. 🤔🙃
Back when I got the male babies (and they weighed above 200g), I tried introducing them to my older male group of three in the bathtub. They seemed to be doing ok so I put them in the carrier. This did not go well, one of the babies was bitten, I don't know by which of my older guys. I have tried some one on one introductions after a while and that did not go great although it was mostly because the young ones kept jumping on me and hiding if the older rat so much as looked at them. Now with my older group, I'm down to one and feel awful that he has to be alone as introductions are still not going well. My older rat is 2 now, so I cannot get him neutered. Aside from potentially rehoming him (I really want to avoid it if possible, he and his brother were already rescues), is there anything else I can do? I've done neutral territory and carrier method already, and in the process of trying the gloved hand method, have to see if this works. The only thing I've not tried is cage swapping. I don't know if there are any other approaches that could help.
Hi Emi! Perfect timing for this video as we are currently struggling with introducing our rats. Would you try neutering a male rat of 1 y 4-5 months? He is being a very grumpy old man who wants control of everyone 😅 (Asking because I'm not sure if it will have effect at that age)
I’d neuter any rat that’s still healthy enough to withstand surgery 🙂 you’ll get some people claiming that it does nothing at that age, but I neutered two rats that were around 1 year 3 months, one for being aggressive to other rats and one for being aggressive towards me, both of them became the easiest rats after just 3 weeks and I had no more issues with them, one went on to live close to 3 so it didn’t feel like a ‘waste’ doing it later on in life ☺️ At that age it might work, it might not but if he’s really causing issues it’s worth a shot.
I have some issues with my 3 older (intact) girls. The oldest turned 2y last month, she used to be the dominant rat. Now she has early stage of hind leg degeneration and is not as strong as she used to. The other two are sister who turn 1,5y next month. One of the sisters frequently picks a fight with the oldest one and I don't know why since I think she already took over the leadership. The elder often has superficial wounds and when I see them fight, I take the younger one apart for a while but I'm not always there. Is there something I can do? They've been together since january 2021. I've also noticed the elder doesn't groom the others anymore when they ask for it. She used to do that so I wonder why she stopped grooming them. Thanks in advance for any advice!
Can I ask what you do about your rats peeing everywhere as in outside of the cage like marking there territory Its a bit annoying when they pee all over me and my stuff x
Do you have any advice for mouse loss? I've lost 4 this year and I have a group of 6 girls and the thought of losing them breaks my heart. To the point where I start crying and can't even look at them as horrible as that sounds. Of course I take good care of them and give them tons of attention, I hope you know what I mean😔 but I know one day I'm going to have to say goodbye and I just don't want to accept that. It's just been really really hard lately so if you have advice/tips for pet loss please let me know! Thank you♥️
Thanks so much for the video, but I still have a question- about how long should each stage in the carrier method be? I haven't been able to find this information online and when I introduced my 2 older boys to a younger one, they seemingly got along after doing the carrier method. I woke up every morning to them cuddling, but one of them would randomly fight the younger one in the evening when I tried to add any items to their cage, or expand the cage size beyond a single critter nation level. I eventually wondered if I was being too cautious so I let them "sort it out" at that stage, but the younger one got some minor cuts so I've separated them. So I guess my question is, how long is too long at a certain stage? If they're at around 4 days together in an empty cage and still fight when I introduce hides, do I keep them in the empty cage for even longer? a week? 2 weeks? how long should I wait between attempts to add things if they're basically always cuddling? I was wondering if i should neuter but the aggression is so infrequent that I don't really think it's hormonal. They get along 95% of the time, but will fight maybe once every other day. I've tried from the beginning twice now but don't want to be irresponsible and get someone seriously injured but it's my first time doing intros and I don't know if I'm just being too impatient with the stages...
There’s really no set amount of time for each stage, if they’re fighting at a certain stage don’t move up or even move back down a stage for a while. If they’re struggling to move up it’s fine to keep them in that stage for weeks until they get over wherever issues they have between them. It sounds like you’re getting stuck on the stage I always get to where issues start to arise most, I’ve not been able to get past this point before without fighting and that’s when I’ve had to neuter and then start again.
@@Emiology Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! I really appreciate the input from someone so experienced. It's really good to know it can take weeks at a certain stage. Now I know I need to just be more patient. I kept wanting to add things or expand their cage since it seemed like they got along and were miserable in a bare cage but I would see behaviors like from 3:56-4:07 on this video from my older male if I added hides. I'm still learning what is "okay" behavior-wise during intros and what isn't but it seems like I should be backing up a step when I see that kind of behavior even if there aren't any injuries (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here). And maybe waiting 2-4 days between steps is too short and I need to wait 1 week+ between steps or attempted steps for them to really settle and get used to each other. I had also been going straight from the carrier into the bare critter nation (which was still going ok, but problems were with adding hides or shelves to it) so I'm wondering if you think it'll help to do a smaller or makeshift intermediate cage+hide before the final critter nation cage? I just don't have one at the moment since I haven't needed one but if it'll help somehow, I can invest in one. Thank you again for taking the time to respond to my comment!
My “friend” who I was getting rats from snapped me saying the rats got in a fight and most of them fuckibg died 💀 I am not getting them from him anymore
I'm preparing to get my first two Rats. can 2 male rats that start as baby's live together peaceful? (I've decided that 2 will be all I get.) Do you recommend nurturing all males? I appreciate all you're video's, I've watched all of them! I want to be sure I do this properly. Thank you!
They usually can, but when hormones hit even when they're related and from the same litter, they can start having issues and fighting. I only recommend neutering rats if they start displaying signs of hormonal aggression and causing problems that prevent them being able to live safely with other rats :)
I'm always slightly nervous every time, but I just make sure to do it at the start of the day as early as possible when i don't have to go anywhere, stops me being as anxious at night time when I won't be awake to monitor them, if they've been in a stage long enough they'd usually fight at the start. But it's still nerve wracking D:
I made my sister do it since she's a lot calmer. Remind yourself that your rats are not going to die. It's not possible as long as u separate them as soon as u see blood. Good luck!
My issue is that I have been working on intro now, but it seems I need to go a bit backwards and go back to the small carrier, but I also have to go to work. I can't leave them together when I can't keep watch. Is it better to keep them apart until I have time off, or can I keep having them out together to build a bond while home? They are not fighting, but the small one is being quite nervous of the big boys so they are not getting the response they want when they show dominant behavior.
Assuming you work a normal work week, start it in the carrier Friday evening, if it’s going to go well they should be fine to leave by the time you go back to work on the Monday unless you’re seeing some problem behaviours that suggest it’s either not a good fit or one may need neutering etc. i wouldn’t keep having them out together as you’re starting from scratch every time and it can sometimes lead the rats to become frustrated
I currently have three girls (over a year old now). They did not have a good start to their lives which has caused them to be extremely scared of every noise and movement. I have been patient with them but I still cannot pick them up yet. They will climb on me if I stay still ( I can move my hands) and they will take treats from me. How would you recommend I do intros with these girls? They have a while room that they explore. Would your recommend cleaning the room and letting them meet that way
I don’t recommend doing intros in a big room if they’re shy and not easy to handle as it will be very difficult for you to grab them if things start going wrong. They’d probably not feel very secure and it might cause them to lash out at the others as a result. I would just do the carrier method and see how that goes
kinda unrelated but i was wondering if a small pot of reptile sand (that is used for hamsters alot) would be ok fpr my rats ive been wanting to try some stuff to make my rat cage more fun but im not sure on sand?
It’s not the best because it can be quite dusty. I tend to advise avoiding all sand but I do know some people that use children’s play sand but just make sure it’s always damp and wet
I was wondering if you could do a video about what to do when rats who have been established roommates for a long time start becoming more aggressive with each other? I have two older boys who were rehomed to me, and they did amazing the first couple of weeks until they started to fight a lot, and I had to separate them one night bc one of the boys got hurt. I haven’t been able to reintegrate them since. I’m trying to follow normal introduction protocols, the one who got hurt gets really scared when the other is around, and the other makes it worse by being even more dominant and forceful than he was before the fight. I’m in rat forums rat now getting as much advice as I can, I just want to give them the best life and figure out if I should keep trying to socialize them with eachother or give up and either figure out new cage mates for them or just try to keep them happy until they pass. But I know having one rat alone is really bad, and I definitely don’t want to make them be alone unless there’s nothing else I can do.
For more info on the current set up- they each have their own half of a double critter nation. I just bought a second bottom pan for the top to keep them separated. My hope was them being able to still smell eachother would make it easier to put them back together when the hurt boy was done healing.
You’ll want to have more than the two of them eventually and for the rat that isn’t the aggressor I recommend getting him a few friends before it’s been too long and he becomes too fearful of other rats. Some younger non threatening rats should work well, and then you’ve not got to worry about him being alone. Having more rats in a group can also reduce the tension of a pair constantly only having each other to bother and having more rats may help. You could try introductions again with the other male carefully but if he’s too aggressive he will either need to be neutered to see if that helps or rehomed to someone who can try him with other rats, sometimes not all rats like each other and need to be tried in a few groups ☺️ but definitely get the non aggressive one some company ASAP as it’s not his fault he’s having to live alone
@@Emiology thank you so much for the reply! I’ve definitely been thinking about getting cage mates for the less dominate one. I’ll go ahead and start that process, and hopefully I can get the other boy introduced to them once that group Is settled. Again, highly appreciate you taking the time to reply ☺️
for the 2.point at 1.57 I Encountered the problem of having 1 male alone (as i found out that neutering him would be way too expensive and that there arent very many vets specialized in smaller animals, in my area) As i was originally planning to put him with 2 girls that where slightly older, but same size. So i Ended up breeding them (there wherent any males available back then). I made sure the mother was of right age and at healthy weight ofc, i didnt want to lose her! I studied as much as i could on the matter and made sure i had everything set up well enough for the babies to arrive. Im so Glad i was home when it happened as, my girl had 13 healthy kits! ;-; she got VERY tired during the birthing process, but i made sure she was alert and that she didnt choke. Made sure to check all the babies where breathing (didnt touch right after birthing as i didnt wanna stress mama w it yet) and that mom had fatty snacks after it, with plenty of water. She did SO well, but ofc i was scared for her the whole time and she turned out to be VERY good mom!! all 13 kits made it to 8 weeks of age and where rehomed to new happy owners! (I made sure i handled the babies A LOT during their childhood so that i wouldnt be such a scary thing in their new home.) It was SO NICE hearing from one of the new owners that had taken 2 brother from us, Tell how within one hour one of the boys had come giving kisses to them and showed a lot of curiosity!
Hi! Thank you for your videos! I just got two mice but i am worried after hearing that if one mouse dies the other will eat it. Is this true even if they have food? I def dont want to see a half eaten mouse :(
So are introductions supposed to last a day ideally? And to go through the whole process only once. I have a lone female rat and my four girls whom I've been introducing for a couple hours a day at various stages... Would love any tips or pointers ❤
Nooo, can take days / weeks before it’s ‘finished’ and they’re in a decorated cage as a group. Once you start introductions don’t stop and start as it’s confusing for them, keep them together and don’t rush it 😊
@@Emiologyhi, so does this mean to keep them in the carrier and not put them back in their regular cages at all? how long do i keep them in the carrier before moving up to the next stage?
Yep. Once they're in they're in unless theres a bad fight and you want to give them time to cool off before trying again. It depends on the rats, ideally until they're all calm and cuddling together in a pile not opposite ends of the carrier and its been a while since you've heard any commotion. I have them in there at least a day / overnight but they've had to be in there for 2 days before@@andreaceline
Hi! I have a question. I'm trying to introduce my two mischiefs (one of 2 males and the other with 3) together and it is not doing so well. One of them is really aggressive towards the new rats. He is doing the exact same thing as the rat at 3:57 in the video. I would like to let it happen like it is said to do in the video, but the problem is that he is quite big (703g) and it always ends that the other rat has pretty bad injuries, like open wounds that take days to heal. I completly stopped the introductions because I was too scared, but should I continue? Is it normal to have injuries happening like that? Thank you to anyone who could help me - Ari
If he’s making the other rats have gashes especially on multiple occasions I wouldn’t be trying again until after you’ve tried neutering him to see if it helps
I know this isn’t about mice I kinda need a bit of help I have two male mice and they’ve lived most of their life together then all of a sudden they turned on eachother and started nipping
I am getting 3 male rats from the same breeder and I am pretty sure they don’t need a intro but I’m not sure also I need 2 more names if anyone can reply with some names and answer to if I still need to intro. Thanks
@@Emiology thank you for taking your time to reply now I don’t have to worry about them trying to harm each other even if they are from same breeder. Thanks
I had to have my girl spayed she’s was a nightmare, but after having it done she was a completely different rats, even because so much more loving to me 🥰 she’s a massive soft ass now hahaha
I'm currently doing rat intros and it's going amazingly, they're all cuddled together and it's only the first day!
When I had mice the introduction was so traumatic, one of my mice was extremely chill with the new one but Monica was not very pleased. At one point Brie(new mouse) got so depressed(being in another aquarium )I had to move her and Phoebe in together and gradually add Monica back in. The introductions went way longer than I had wished/thought but once they moved in they became very close. It was stressful just writing this 😅
I had rats and I didn’t know about the whole isolation process so I just put her in with my other two girls at first she was mean to my albino but an hour later they where ok
@@tessdogperson2193 One of my mice Phoebe was SO welcoming to Brie, so I was really surprised when Monica started attempting to attack Brie
I’ve introduced rats twice and the first time went great. The second time I introduced the babies to my older rats too soon (the breeder told it it was okay- I should have done more research) and one of my older rats killed one of the babies immediately. It happened so fast I couldn’t stop it. That was a year ago and I still cry about it 😭
about a year ago i did my first intros after watching/studying everyyy one of the vids on her channel about rat intros (plus a few more from some other channels) bc i was so anxious about how my boys would get along
the two original boys (about 5 months old at the time) were sooo good with their two new friends (3 months), that i basically just did the neutral space in the bath tub for a bit, put the carrier in the tub, they all piled in, i cleaned my "baby cage" for the next step while they all just curled up and fell asleep in the carrier, then moved them to the baby cage so i could make sure they had water/food access for the night,
they were sleeping in seperate piles with their original brother at first, but i kept looking over at the cage to see if theyd join piles and they did before i even fell asleep😭 by like late afternoon the next day i already had them in the lower level of the big cage (with nothing in it but food + water sources at first), but through the week i kept just adding (flat)hammocks and larger hides with multiple entrances and stuff
and by the end of week 2 i was fairly confident i was able to pretty much put the cage back to normal !! they did so well and i was so relieved!
but here i am a year later, with 2 new babies that im ready to do intros with tomorrow afternoon!! super stressed, watching intro vids as a refresher lol. now that my guys are all a year+ old im extra nervous about how theyll treat the babies so im sure things wont go as smooth as the first time but fingers crossedddd lol
this video’s so informative !! i’m sat doing mouse intros rn and luckily it’s going well, but this is still so helpful ☺️. thanks emi !
Just got my first two rats, after searching for a good breeder for ages! After one day started to see if they would come up for some yoghurt and banana, and Lou (a siamese) already came up to my lap all on her own. So so happy with them!
So glad you’re happy! Makes such a difference going to a reputable source
@@Emiology Emiology, can you JUST use the bathroom method? or just combine it, like you do?
I was very lucky with my first introduction, I went through the steps and they were in half a critter nation in 3 days, they stayed there with me gradually adding things for 2 weeks, then I gave them the whole double. I’m about to do my second intro and I hope it goes as smoothly 🤞
Excellent timing for this video. I am going to be doing intros soon. I have a lonely old man and 5 babies from 2 different breeders. I'm planning to put the babies together as soon as their quarantine is over and then I'll work on adding the old man.
How did it go? I just got three babies for my lonely old man and I'm so anxious to get them together.
@@Mouse- Everything went great! My old man is loving his new baby friends!
@@threeheadedfly8029 Awesome! Did you use the carrier method?
@@Mouse- Yes. I used the carrier method. Everything went great. The only fighting was between 2 of the 12 week old boys when I was a little too quick with adding hides to the big cage. Once I took away the hide they were fighting over they went back to being good friends.
@@threeheadedfly8029 Thank you so much!
I'm maybe getting 2 rats females my Mum said I have to clean up after myself to get them , you have really helped me learn lots about rats so when I get mine I will know a lot about rats
This came right in time. I got 3 new Girlz April May and June. I'm about to intro them with my older girlz, Sage and Butterscotch and this is going to help me out alot🐁💙🐀💗
Thank you for making this video my sisters rats don’t get along very well so this will help thank you Emiology! 😄
Thank you so much for this video, I'm most likely getting my 3 new babies next month, so I want to be as prepared as possible. I've researched about rat intors so much already, but you can never be too prepared. 😅 My older boys are pretty chill with each other, Monty is also a very good alpha rat, so hopefully that will help out a bit.
Ive had horrible rat introductions, though my last one was barely an intro. My only other adult female had to be introduced to her younger cagemate's litter and she inmediatly treated them as her own and has been a perfect aunt to them! She was just as sweet when the litter's mother moved in. She hates human contact other than getting treats but shes so sweet towards other rats
I am sorry about Rue! I know how much you hurt! Every time I lose a rattie, my heart breaks. And do not be anything but how you feel. Every tear is a tribute to Rue! To lose her unexpectly is horrible!
I am attempting introductions right now!! I set myself back by not using “neutral territory”!!! I went back to setting them side by side and then going to try bath tub. I made the mistake of stopping also and I believe that was due to my own nerves!!
I wouldn’t do any side by side as it just amps them up that they can’t get to each other so when they do finally meet they’ve got a lot of big feelings!
@@Emiology thank you so much for responding! I will move their cages away from each other. This is my first introduction of male rats. Honestly they don’t seem too aggressive their behavior seems normal but I made the mistake of not doing it on neutral territory. This was before I viewed your video: the last thing I wanna do is stress either rat out. Do you recommend the vanilla trick? I am going to try it in a bath tub as you suggested. Randy is about 7 months and Max is about 3 month, maybe 4. So they are both young
I've asked a few questions in your previous videos--I sent it again on the 'using pet rats for dogs'. I'm soon getting Rats, and I'm really worried I won't be able to answer these questions when it's Time! 😮
Thank you for posting this I’m worried about getting another rat Incase 😂❤️
We have only had 2 in about 28 rats that haven’t wanted to mix. The one was ok with his brother so we ended up with two big cages and Sheldon just didn’t get on with other rats however hard we tried so he lived in a big cage next to them. He seemed very happy and we paid him extra attention. Unfortunately he didn’t live long due to a sudden fit so we didn’t get to neutering. Vet thought that the others knew something was wrong with him from the start. Hoping our two new babies mix well ( starting intros tomorrow!!)
I’m completely in despair over my introductions… So I have five all together. They are all over 2 years old and were rescued from the same hoarders flat, and also were kept together in the shelter I adopted them from. Bonny & Rackham I’ve had for about 8 months. Bonny absolutely HATES one of the new girls. They have drawn blood from one another more than once. Because of the fact that they both now react incredibly aggressively if they can just see each other, all the others get aggressive too. Rackham gets protective.
It seems to me that they’re all just scared. Bonny would be the alpha if Rackham wasn’t so massive, and unfortunately this new girl is so similar to her. I’m not going to give up, but it looks like I’m going to have to start coming up with completely new ways to introduce them all. If anyone has experience with very problematic rats please help me😭. Girl rats are so fun but they’re also a bloody nightmare (literally)
Perfect timing!! I’ve only done one intro before and that went perfectly but I’m scared for my next intro next week
There's a lot of information on how to introduce rats, or videos of introductions going perfectly fine, but not what to do if it goes wrong. Thank you for speaking about it!
I am using the neutral space method on my 3 girls and one neutered boy. Acceptance from two of my girls is really low, and nothing has changed for weeks. The carrier method is not recommended where I'm from, but seeing there isn't any progress, I feel like it could have worked better on my group, instead of prolonging the stress and being stuck.
Great timing. I am preparing myself to retry intros with my rats. I had tried a few weeks ago to introduce a neutered male to my 4 girls and it was very difficult. The boy was super nervous and seemed to still have some aggression in him (he had been neutered 6 weeks earlier). I managed to get things to work up until they moved to the big cage and then fights started again between the male and some of my females. I then divided the group and the boy is living with one of my elderly girls. I will try again, take things slowly and find a way to split up the large cage so it's not that big a change from the previous cage. Keeping my fingers crossed.
That’s so frustrating, I hope it goes better next time!
I hope your Ratties will like each other next time 🙃
It's not working and somehow worst than last time. The neutered boy seems less aggressive, but one of my girl is very territorial and injured the two rats I was introducing to her within minutes. The injuries are not serious, but it looks like I will have two groups for a while. 😥 at least nobody is alone.
I’ve had so many issues with my two rescues. I’m gonna try all these steps and hope it works. One of my boys is super rude to the other, and is super territorial. He rubs his hands and pees all over every material he comes in contact with. He’s SOOO sweet with people, just not other rats.
Fingers crossed!!!
That’s how a lot of my boys were before they were neutered! Sometimes even when they’re not doing any damage they’re still constantly tormenting the others 🙈
This came in perfect time I'm doing new intros for my boys in the next couple of days ☺️
Very informative Emie, have 2 new babies arriving soon, got the kit ready to go and I’m feeling confident to tackle this. Great and timely blog. Thanks 😎
I had a horrible intro too... To be clear our 3 rats and the new 2 rats were introduced for 2 weeks by a professional(kind of) we trust. She said they will fight again when we put them in the final cage but it shouldn't be so bad. It was... First nothing happened bc they were interested in the new cage. But the next days were more and more horrible for our first 3 rats bc they got bullied and were scared to eat and drink bc every time they got hunted! We needed to separate them :/
This video came at rye perfect time because I’m looking into buying two more boys as I’m going to be getting the two I have now a new cage so thankyou 😁
love Ur channel and Victoria's channel they have both taught me so much thank ub🙏
Happy Easter Emi 🐣🐥🐇
Hi Emi , so can make a vid about toys that are really good for rats. Me and my elder cousin always talk about animals , and I really want to learn more about rats , even if I don't own any. I really love your vids.
I think I’ve made a few in the past 🙂
I have one introduction that is just .. not happening. I have two young boys, they're 4 months old now, and one old guy whos 2.7, that I tried to introduce in neutral space and carrier and it is just not happening. No fighting, no blood, there were like maybe 3 tussles but now the younger guy just screams at him. Gets in his face and screams a few times then starts boxing with his brother. His bro is fine with the older guy, they'd be bonded by now if this other dude wasn't freaking out. My old man sits in the corner as far away from them as possible. This little dude is super sweet to his brother and to us, I've genuinely never had this happen before.
We didn't do a introduction we just stuck them in the cage together they probably didn't have any problems cause they were babys and they were from the same cage but we got 3 more after we got 2 it was maybe a month after maybe less I can't really remember but they were fine and nothing happened so glad they were chill instead of blood everywhere cause that would've been a disaster
Omg you made it past 100k wooo! Good job Emi
Yay you made it past 100k I remember when you only 10k. ♥️
This is so weirdly timed, I didn't get the notification yesterday and today we tried re intros after implant (6 weeks wait with them separate) and it went awfully...
I brought a newbie(9 weeks, male) last week. But somehow he is as big as my older rat(5 months). And the older one seems very agressive at the newbie.. I thought they could get along since they are 3 months apart. I was wrong T^T
i'm getting new rats soon to keep my group going! i will be using this video to help thank you emi
That’s so exciting! 😍
Great video. Thank you!🥰🙂👍🐀🐁🐭
My rat has has 2 big lumps what should I do I think its cancer
Very informative video! I didn't know you left them in the smallest carrier and don't separate during that stage (unless they're fighting of course). How long do you usually leave them in the small carrier?
I usually only have to have them in it for half a day / a day. I have a cage that’s only a tiny bit bigger and I prefer getting them into that soonish as it has better ventilation and easier to attach bottles, but you have to leave them in it as long as it takes for them to all be cuddling and settled.
@@Emiology I see! Thank you!
@@Emiology Do you feel bad for the Rats when they are in such a small space for a long time? Is it okay to do this? it looks pretty crowded in the carrier.🤔
A small part of me does, but not really. I’d feel worse for them if they had to go through weeks of stress rather than just a day or two in a small space, or worse if they had too much space and got ripped apart. Giving up a day - a week of their life to live the rest of it in a big nice cage with friends seems like a good sacrifice to me 🙂
@@Emiology you have a point. glad you answered! I'll do the carrier method when I need to introduce my Rats. 😃
I've heard so many trauma stories and was hella lucky with my rats that only one of my rats Hazel had trouble with the new babies, and it took just 3 days for her to get over being a bitch, it helped the babies would make noises that hazel's sister's birch and Junebug would come over and protect the babies from Hazel, and no blood was drawn.
I’m going to get my first rats and i was wondering to if I should get two or three for a new rat owner
Remind me to tell you about my current intros when I see you next! I'll be posting about him once I'm sure everything's going to be OK, but safe to say we're in it for the long haul!
Oh gosh 🙈 I’ll remind you when you come next!
I just got a baby rat for my big rat who is around 1 and 6 months and her friend just recently passed away. As hard as it was to pick out a new rat the next day so she can have a friend. I waited a day after getting the baby because she is so small compared to my older rat. I was scared she was gonna get hurt. So I put them in the bath and got in so I can put my hand in between to make sure the older rat wasn’t biting to hard. This is my first time so I was scared. I let them sit for a minute (not me in there off to the side) I put them in a small hamster cage. The baby is currently in a corner asleep and the older rat is trying to figure out how to get out. The pet store I went to told me the baby is 6 months but she is so small I think she might be younger. Either way I have her and she is so sweet and small (smaller then my hand. Like the base of my hand sized). Only one “fight” happened and it was nibbling my hand and head butting. And the baby is just following the older one around and the older one hates it. It’s going pretty smoothly and fyi the pet store only had baby rats, I wanted to get an older rat so it would be better but there was only baby rats. I have female rats which is just 2.
How do I get some new rats and bond with them when I have school
Bond with them after school, if you have homework to do just stick them in a hoodie to sit with you while you do
@@Emiology thank you
I dont know what to do really. My rats get togehter when i have them for play time but when i put them into their cage together. My older rats picks on my hairless rattie. I dont know what to do really. I put them carriers foe a bit to chill and theyre fine. Its just when it comes to the cage
Introduce them properly 😊 they’re acting territorial over their space which is why it’s not recommended to put them straight into cages. As they seem good with each other I recommend doing the carrier method but don’t separate them back to their own cages once you start it and then give the final cage a good clean so it’s neutral
Im so discouraged at the moment. I dont know what to do. I wanted to introduce my 2 six months old females to other two 1yo females. I put them in a bathtub and they were fine, they were sitting there for about an hour and they groomed each other, slept together - it was fine so I put them in the carrier. They were there for 2 days and all was still going well, they never once fought so I put them in a small part of the cage with no equipment except litter tray, food bowl and a drinking bottle. The cage didnt smell like any of them! It was brand new with washed or brand new equipment. When I put them in that cage though all hell broke loose. They all suddenly started fighting with each other, there was never any blood so I try to leave them be but Im so tired and scared at this point. Its been a week and the fighting didnt stop (puffing up, rat ball, nibbling each others face whatever that means????, humping each other, kicking, boxing, power grooming). Its like every one of my 4 rats wants to be the alfa and they cant agree on that?? Every day whenever I wake up and look in their cage they sleep together (usually 3 of them cuddled up and one - Ina or Nea - in a different corner alone), they eat together without any problems, drinking together and its fine but in the morning (after they wake up and eat) and in the evening the fights start). From what I've seen the most frequently fight Nea with Ina and Nea with Vea. Usually whenever Nea comes close to Ina, she [Ina] closes her eyes, sqeaks and frezes like she's terrifed of her??? But today Ina started a fight all puffed up. I didnt add any more equipment to the cage (just made it a bit bigger). I dont know what to do. I tried to go back a step and put them again in the carrier but they stop fighting there and just sleep and cuddle together.
I really empathise it’s so stressful when it doesn’t go right. Was the cage you put them in a big jump in size from the carrier? I’d try to go for one that’s not much bigger and really keep them in that size until their bond is solid
@@Emiology it was not a very big jump but maybe thats it. I cleaned the cage and the whole room with vinegar to get rid of the smell, the water bottle and food bowl and started the introduction from the beggining, now I found a way to make the part of the cage that they are in a lot smaller (a little bit bigger than the carrier. I put them in like an hour ago and its actually going ok!! I hope it will work now. Thank you!
Idk if you'll see this comment now that the video is over a year old, but I'm reaching out for advice. If anyone else reading this has any suggestions, I'm open to hearing them. TIA
I have 3 male rats, a year old, I got them from a pet store as babies at the same time.
A while later, I acquired to brother rats, 6 months older than my other 3 boys.
I also have a group of 4 girls. 3 of them are sisters to the 2 brothers.
I use my bed as their free roam area. All 3 groups of rats get a turn every day to spend about an hour running around on the bed. And leaving their scent of course.
After about a week of having the 2 brothers, I brought all 5 boys to the bed at the same time for an introduction. Almost immediately, Rambo, the dominant from the group of 3, and Junior, the dominant of the 2, aggressively went at each other. They combined as one chaotic violent ball of rat fury. I had to separate them. The commotion caused a skittish rat from each group, Dynamite and Chopper, to start attacking anyone who came near them, even their own group members, because of their fear.
We waited a few days and tried again. Same thing happened. Separated them again. And from then on, Rambo and Junior, the 2 dominants, began being aggressive with their own cage mates. They've calmed down a bit over time, but we still have more rat fights than we ever used to.
Here's where I need advice. I really want to be able to house all 5 males together. But idk how to help them get along, or if it's even possible. I feel like they've deemed each other as mortal enemies at this point.
Maintaining 3 cages, and rotating 3 groups out for free roam everyday, has gotten to be a lot to handle. Does anyone have any suggestions for me to try?
It definitely sounds like doing it on your bed might be playing a part, if they're used to going on your bed for free roam they may not be viewing it as a neutral space if it hasn't been washed before introductions and they've been scent marking it. It may also be that its just too large of a space that they're moving around too much and this can make fighting a lot more dangerous if they're running and get bitten. I'd recommend doing introductions in either a bathtub or a shower cubicle, they're completely neutral spaces to all the rats (and even a bit scary which can help) and also a lot easier to clean. I use the shower cubicle now above the bath as its easier to stop them from getting out.
I'd give them a week to cool off and then try that, if they continue to rat ball and pick on each other when you move onto the next steps in a carrier etc and they're even injuring each other you'll have to look at neutering the perpetrators. The bonus of this if it does need doing is you also have female rats, and those can be an option to introduce them to the neutered boys instead as well :)
Hope it goes a bit easier for you
@@Emiology thank you for your response. That gives me hope that it's possible to work this out still
Can you please make a video how to find a lost mice. I had 2 mice's, so i was feeding them then i forgot to close the cage door. One of them left the cage. Luckily the second one is still in the cage. I just can't find my mice. I looked for her with my dad and brother. I've heard a lot of her noises. Please make a video, of how to find a lost mice i would be really happy 🥺😔
My gerbil escaped 3 times today, i'm letting him have free roam for 11 minutes when he's ready
Emiology- did you die your hair, or is it natural? I like it! kind of a red brown color. 😃
It’s dyed! ☺️
@@Emiology Well, I really like it! It was well done.
Very discouraged right now. Had mine for about 3 days or 6 weeks old. Take food for my fingers and run away or the lick my fingers by yogurt and then they'll run away and they always acts like they're afraid of me. Other than for food they have no interest in interacting with me. Don't even really play together. They lay together but they don't fight. They don't play I don't know these two males are just Don't seem to like me so does it kind of feel like keep him in a cage, feed them? Ignore them. Never interact with them. Seems like that's what they want
3 days isn’t very long at all! It really depends where you got them from as well. Under 6 weeks old is very young to go to a new scary home and like puppies they’ll still spend a lot of time sleeping and processing things. Any time I get new very young rats they don’t even realise half of the cage is there until they feel more settled to explore. Try to play with them with your hands by ‘tickling’ the bedding in front of them and if they’re not shying away you can tickle their head / back to initiate play
Hi emi, so I've been following some intro thing and you increase the time they are together by 5 minutes each day and as soon as the interact you put treats all over. This is in a neutral space. Is this an okay way to do it? My new rat usually stays huddled in a corner though, so maybe I'll go back to the carrier method so they are forced to interact. I'm not really sure.
That sounds like a stressful way, if you mean that you're doing the introduction this slow for several days
What if the rats hair puffs up and starts walking sideways should you wait for something to happen or take the other rat out?
I'm getting 2 female rats this summer so my plan for when they're about 1 year old I'll get 2 more newer rats and place them in a seperate cage and slowly introduce them then when the newer rats are old enough i'll see if I can swap their places so I can slowly get the older rats to let them into their cage then when the older rats pass on the younger rats will own the main cage, (and let the process repeat) If i'm missing anything i'd like to know bc i'm kinda new to this
Just to clarify when all the rats are chill w eachother I'll put the cages together to make a super-cage just because 1 of them isn't quite big enough for 4, so while the 2 older rats are still alive it would be 2 cages that are "fused" together to make a larger one😆
ALSO all the rats i'm getting throughout my life will be female, no boy rats.
idk why you haven’t said anything about quarantine in any of your intro vids. it’s so so necessary to do so because you don’t want your rats to get sick :/
I have, before. True quarantine is not actually practiced by many people and is difficult to do, ideally you need the rats in a separate air space or building for it to be effective and that’s not something many people can do in the average house.
emi i've got a question, i don't have many rats like you! only two, they're two boys, templeton is significantly older than fivel but templeton is the least most aggressive rat i think i've ever met, but fivel could be considered a baby. what can i do to make sure they don't fight? they've knows each other for a while, two months at most, and at first when i tried, they kept acting strange, so i gave it a while, cleaned the cage so it didn't smell like just one of my rats, before introducing my second rat. do you think that mig be helpful? so far everything is fine.
hey so i just got 2 new baby rats (about 2 months old) and I'm struggling to put them in the cage with my adult rat (a year old). they get on well in a carrier and in the neutral area, but the adult rat is very territorial with his cage. So i do have to break up introductions at the end of the night but they spend most of the afternoon together cuddling up. how can I overcome the territorial thing?
What method of introductions are you using? The jump from a carrier to the main cage especially too soon can cause issues, you may need an inbetween size cage to work up to going back into the main cage, and then really make sure you clean it
So one of my boys passed away the other day and now I’m left with one boy…I plan on getting him a buddy tomorrow (Monday) but idk when I should introduce them…because I don’t want my current rat to be alone for to long but I know that the new boy is gonna need time to adjust to his new home and build his bond with me
If you’re getting a young companion you’ll need to get two new rats as babies need same age company for their development. In this situation I always way up what’s more important, if I’m getting rats from a well known source that can guarantee they’ve had no issues before hand and they’re big enough, I honestly just prioritise the lone rat and do intros ASAP so they’re not alone for weeks 🙂
@@Emiology I plan on getting a full grown rat (idk the exact age yet) from someone who’s basically in the same situation as me, they only have one rat left but they don’t wanna own rats anymore…or I could adopt another pair of boys from another person I talked to, but I’m afraid my current rat would end up being the outcast from the already bonded pair, so I’m hesitant to really do anything rn until I know what’s best to do
That’s good! If you trust them enough to be honest that they don’t have any health issues I’d be tempted to do intros asap ☺️
@@Emiology Ok I have an update with another question😂so I’ve found a breeder that has 2 males she’d sell me but one of them was born with no feet, she said it hasn’t really affected him in anyway but idk how it couldn’t lol…like how would he climb around? I guess I’m just asking if you think that it would have any affect on him in the future or if I’d have to handicap my cage a little bit for him…I am going through with it no matter what, because I don’t wanna keep my boy alone any longer and I’m all for having unique pets (having no feet is definitely considered unique to me)…Edit: also just to clarify a bit more about the no feet, he has the little legs but to be a bit more specific he has no toes, just little stubs, I have no experience being a rat obviously but I would think having toes\claws would be pretty important
Do you know were I can get a cheap cage but big I can't find One
You can get big cages second hand on selling sites like FB market place
Just the video I needed!!
Please show us the mice
How’s the bioactive mouse enclosure going? Any updates?
I do have a question, I'm trying to introduce my boys and they are ignoring and avoiding each other im not sure what to do, I've tried carrer and neutral.
Hello! I have a question (it doesn't relate to the video) Me and my family are moving cross country and we will be driving around 5 days, but I have 2 rats and I'm not sure what to do or how to travel with them I have a rather big cage so I can't just keep them in there does anyone have advice? Thank you!
Have them inside a smaller cage with a few hammocks and light weight toys if you can and interact with them so they don't get too bored or stressed
@@echoless3474 Thank you that's what I was thinking I just wanted to make sure thank you so much and happy easter!
They’ll be fine in a small travel cage for 5 days it won’t hurt them ☺️ same as when they’re in intros they have to stay in cages this size for a few days at a time
Also--your probably getting sick of me commenting-- In the USA, at Petsmart there are these really cute things for Rats-well, it was for parrots- its this foraging thing in a mini popcorn bucket. it has foraging toys, and confetti-like material! do you think it'll be good for Rats? maybe you see them in UK Petstores. 🤔🙃
Back when I got the male babies (and they weighed above 200g), I tried introducing them to my older male group of three in the bathtub. They seemed to be doing ok so I put them in the carrier. This did not go well, one of the babies was bitten, I don't know by which of my older guys. I have tried some one on one introductions after a while and that did not go great although it was mostly because the young ones kept jumping on me and hiding if the older rat so much as looked at them. Now with my older group, I'm down to one and feel awful that he has to be alone as introductions are still not going well. My older rat is 2 now, so I cannot get him neutered. Aside from potentially rehoming him (I really want to avoid it if possible, he and his brother were already rescues), is there anything else I can do? I've done neutral territory and carrier method already, and in the process of trying the gloved hand method, have to see if this works. The only thing I've not tried is cage swapping. I don't know if there are any other approaches that could help.
Hi Emi! Perfect timing for this video as we are currently struggling with introducing our rats. Would you try neutering a male rat of 1 y 4-5 months? He is being a very grumpy old man who wants control of everyone 😅 (Asking because I'm not sure if it will have effect at that age)
I’d neuter any rat that’s still healthy enough to withstand surgery 🙂 you’ll get some people claiming that it does nothing at that age, but I neutered two rats that were around 1 year 3 months, one for being aggressive to other rats and one for being aggressive towards me, both of them became the easiest rats after just 3 weeks and I had no more issues with them, one went on to live close to 3 so it didn’t feel like a ‘waste’ doing it later on in life ☺️ At that age it might work, it might not but if he’s really causing issues it’s worth a shot.
@@Emiology Thank you so much for answering
how do i introduce two baby rats to each other?
If they’re around 8-10 weeks old or younger they should be fine to just pop them together straight away
I have some issues with my 3 older (intact) girls. The oldest turned 2y last month, she used to be the dominant rat. Now she has early stage of hind leg degeneration and is not as strong as she used to. The other two are sister who turn 1,5y next month. One of the sisters frequently picks a fight with the oldest one and I don't know why since I think she already took over the leadership. The elder often has superficial wounds and when I see them fight, I take the younger one apart for a while but I'm not always there. Is there something I can do? They've been together since january 2021.
I've also noticed the elder doesn't groom the others anymore when they ask for it. She used to do that so I wonder why she stopped grooming them.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
Can I ask what you do about your rats peeing everywhere as in outside of the cage like marking there territory Its a bit annoying when they pee all over me and my stuff x
Do you have any advice for mouse loss? I've lost 4 this year and I have a group of 6 girls and the thought of losing them breaks my heart. To the point where I start crying and can't even look at them as horrible as that sounds. Of course I take good care of them and give them tons of attention, I hope you know what I mean😔 but I know one day I'm going to have to say goodbye and I just don't want to accept that. It's just been really really hard lately so if you have advice/tips for pet loss please let me know! Thank you♥️
Thanks so much for the video, but I still have a question- about how long should each stage in the carrier method be? I haven't been able to find this information online and when I introduced my 2 older boys to a younger one, they seemingly got along after doing the carrier method. I woke up every morning to them cuddling, but one of them would randomly fight the younger one in the evening when I tried to add any items to their cage, or expand the cage size beyond a single critter nation level. I eventually wondered if I was being too cautious so I let them "sort it out" at that stage, but the younger one got some minor cuts so I've separated them. So I guess my question is, how long is too long at a certain stage? If they're at around 4 days together in an empty cage and still fight when I introduce hides, do I keep them in the empty cage for even longer? a week? 2 weeks? how long should I wait between attempts to add things if they're basically always cuddling? I was wondering if i should neuter but the aggression is so infrequent that I don't really think it's hormonal. They get along 95% of the time, but will fight maybe once every other day. I've tried from the beginning twice now but don't want to be irresponsible and get someone seriously injured but it's my first time doing intros and I don't know if I'm just being too impatient with the stages...
There’s really no set amount of time for each stage, if they’re fighting at a certain stage don’t move up or even move back down a stage for a while. If they’re struggling to move up it’s fine to keep them in that stage for weeks until they get over wherever issues they have between them. It sounds like you’re getting stuck on the stage I always get to where issues start to arise most, I’ve not been able to get past this point before without fighting and that’s when I’ve had to neuter and then start again.
@@Emiology Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! I really appreciate the input from someone so experienced. It's really good to know it can take weeks at a certain stage. Now I know I need to just be more patient. I kept wanting to add things or expand their cage since it seemed like they got along and were miserable in a bare cage but I would see behaviors like from 3:56-4:07 on this video from my older male if I added hides. I'm still learning what is "okay" behavior-wise during intros and what isn't but it seems like I should be backing up a step when I see that kind of behavior even if there aren't any injuries (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here). And maybe waiting 2-4 days between steps is too short and I need to wait 1 week+ between steps or attempted steps for them to really settle and get used to each other. I had also been going straight from the carrier into the bare critter nation (which was still going ok, but problems were with adding hides or shelves to it) so I'm wondering if you think it'll help to do a smaller or makeshift intermediate cage+hide before the final critter nation cage? I just don't have one at the moment since I haven't needed one but if it'll help somehow, I can invest in one. Thank you again for taking the time to respond to my comment!
My “friend” who I was getting rats from snapped me saying the rats got in a fight and most of them fuckibg died 💀 I am not getting them from him anymore
Is it easier to introduce females to each other than males?
Can I put a neutered male in with 3 unneutered males? Would he seem less of a threat then?
Yes you can 😊
I'm preparing to get my first two Rats.
can 2 male rats that start as baby's live together peaceful? (I've decided that 2 will be all I get.)
Do you recommend nurturing all males?
I appreciate all you're video's, I've watched all of them!
I want to be sure I do this properly.
Thank you!
They usually can, but when hormones hit even when they're related and from the same litter, they can start having issues and fighting. I only recommend neutering rats if they start displaying signs of hormonal aggression and causing problems that prevent them being able to live safely with other rats :)
Thank you so much! How do you calm your nerves when introducing? I have such a problem with it!
I'm always slightly nervous every time, but I just make sure to do it at the start of the day as early as possible when i don't have to go anywhere, stops me being as anxious at night time when I won't be awake to monitor them, if they've been in a stage long enough they'd usually fight at the start. But it's still nerve wracking D:
I made my sister do it since she's a lot calmer. Remind yourself that your rats are not going to die. It's not possible as long as u separate them as soon as u see blood. Good luck!
Could this work with mice too?
My issue is that I have been working on intro now, but it seems I need to go a bit backwards and go back to the small carrier, but I also have to go to work. I can't leave them together when I can't keep watch. Is it better to keep them apart until I have time off, or can I keep having them out together to build a bond while home? They are not fighting, but the small one is being quite nervous of the big boys so they are not getting the response they want when they show dominant behavior.
Assuming you work a normal work week, start it in the carrier Friday evening, if it’s going to go well they should be fine to leave by the time you go back to work on the Monday unless you’re seeing some problem behaviours that suggest it’s either not a good fit or one may need neutering etc. i wouldn’t keep having them out together as you’re starting from scratch every time and it can sometimes lead the rats to become frustrated
I currently have three girls (over a year old now). They did not have a good start to their lives which has caused them to be extremely scared of every noise and movement. I have been patient with them but I still cannot pick them up yet. They will climb on me if I stay still ( I can move my hands) and they will take treats from me. How would you recommend I do intros with these girls? They have a while room that they explore. Would your recommend cleaning the room and letting them meet that way
I don’t recommend doing intros in a big room if they’re shy and not easy to handle as it will be very difficult for you to grab them if things start going wrong. They’d probably not feel very secure and it might cause them to lash out at the others as a result. I would just do the carrier method and see how that goes
kinda unrelated but i was wondering if a small pot of reptile sand (that is used for hamsters alot) would be ok fpr my rats ive been wanting to try some stuff to make my rat cage more fun but im not sure on sand?
It’s not the best because it can be quite dusty. I tend to advise avoiding all sand but I do know some people that use children’s play sand but just make sure it’s always damp and wet
@@Emiology okay ill avoid it, thank you!
I have a question For mice
Is it ok to put 2 female mice in a 20 gallon tank?
Just need to know I’m getting mice Barry soon!
no it's not okay
would this video basically be the same for mice introductions ??? or is it different ? just curious !!!
For some of the tips ☺️
I was wondering if you could do a video about what to do when rats who have been established roommates for a long time start becoming more aggressive with each other? I have two older boys who were rehomed to me, and they did amazing the first couple of weeks until they started to fight a lot, and I had to separate them one night bc one of the boys got hurt. I haven’t been able to reintegrate them since. I’m trying to follow normal introduction protocols, the one who got hurt gets really scared when the other is around, and the other makes it worse by being even more dominant and forceful than he was before the fight. I’m in rat forums rat now getting as much advice as I can, I just want to give them the best life and figure out if I should keep trying to socialize them with eachother or give up and either figure out new cage mates for them or just try to keep them happy until they pass. But I know having one rat alone is really bad, and I definitely don’t want to make them be alone unless there’s nothing else I can do.
For more info on the current set up- they each have their own half of a double critter nation. I just bought a second bottom pan for the top to keep them separated. My hope was them being able to still smell eachother would make it easier to put them back together when the hurt boy was done healing.
You’ll want to have more than the two of them eventually and for the rat that isn’t the aggressor I recommend getting him a few friends before it’s been too long and he becomes too fearful of other rats. Some younger non threatening rats should work well, and then you’ve not got to worry about him being alone. Having more rats in a group can also reduce the tension of a pair constantly only having each other to bother and having more rats may help. You could try introductions again with the other male carefully but if he’s too aggressive he will either need to be neutered to see if that helps or rehomed to someone who can try him with other rats, sometimes not all rats like each other and need to be tried in a few groups ☺️ but definitely get the non aggressive one some company ASAP as it’s not his fault he’s having to live alone
@@Emiology thank you so much for the reply! I’ve definitely been thinking about getting cage mates for the less dominate one. I’ll go ahead and start that process, and hopefully I can get the other boy introduced to them once that group Is settled. Again, highly appreciate you taking the time to reply ☺️
for the 2.point at 1.57 I Encountered the problem of having 1 male alone (as i found out that neutering him would be way too expensive and that there arent very many vets specialized in smaller animals, in my area) As i was originally planning to put him with 2 girls that where slightly older, but same size. So i Ended up breeding them (there wherent any males available back then). I made sure the mother was of right age and at healthy weight ofc, i didnt want to lose her! I studied as much as i could on the matter and made sure i had everything set up well enough for the babies to arrive. Im so Glad i was home when it happened as, my girl had 13 healthy kits! ;-; she got VERY tired during the birthing process, but i made sure she was alert and that she didnt choke. Made sure to check all the babies where breathing (didnt touch right after birthing as i didnt wanna stress mama w it yet) and that mom had fatty snacks after it, with plenty of water. She did SO well, but ofc i was scared for her the whole time and she turned out to be VERY good mom!! all 13 kits made it to 8 weeks of age and where rehomed to new happy owners! (I made sure i handled the babies A LOT during their childhood so that i wouldnt be such a scary thing in their new home.) It was SO NICE hearing from one of the new owners that had taken 2 brother from us, Tell how within one hour one of the boys had come giving kisses to them and showed a lot of curiosity!
Hi! Thank you for your videos! I just got two mice but i am worried after hearing that if one mouse dies the other will eat it. Is this true even if they have food? I def dont want to see a half eaten mouse :(
I’ve never had it happen. It only tends to if you’re not checking often enough and don’t take the body out right after they’ve died
@@Emiology thank you!
So are introductions supposed to last a day ideally? And to go through the whole process only once.
I have a lone female rat and my four girls whom I've been introducing for a couple hours a day at various stages...
Would love any tips or pointers ❤
Nooo, can take days / weeks before it’s ‘finished’ and they’re in a decorated cage as a group. Once you start introductions don’t stop and start as it’s confusing for them, keep them together and don’t rush it 😊
@@Emiologyhi, so does this mean to keep them in the carrier and not put them back in their regular cages at all? how long do i keep them in the carrier before moving up to the next stage?
Yep. Once they're in they're in unless theres a bad fight and you want to give them time to cool off before trying again. It depends on the rats, ideally until they're all calm and cuddling together in a pile not opposite ends of the carrier and its been a while since you've heard any commotion. I have them in there at least a day / overnight but they've had to be in there for 2 days before@@andreaceline
@@Emiology thank you so much! this is my first time, (clearly haha) and i’m super nervous!
Hi! I have a question. I'm trying to introduce my two mischiefs (one of 2 males and the other with 3) together and it is not doing so well. One of them is really aggressive towards the new rats. He is doing the exact same thing as the rat at 3:57 in the video. I would like to let it happen like it is said to do in the video, but the problem is that he is quite big (703g) and it always ends that the other rat has pretty bad injuries, like open wounds that take days to heal. I completly stopped the introductions because I was too scared, but should I continue? Is it normal to have injuries happening like that?
Thank you to anyone who could help me
- Ari
If he’s making the other rats have gashes especially on multiple occasions I wouldn’t be trying again until after you’ve tried neutering him to see if it helps
Do these methods also work for female mice?
Some of these tips I’d also apply to mouse intros too ☺️
I know this isn’t about mice I kinda need a bit of help I have two male mice and they’ve lived most of their life together then all of a sudden they turned on eachother and started nipping
That happens, intact male mice shouldn’t be housed together you’ll need to separate them if they’ve started fighting
@@Emiology Ty but unfortunately one of them passed away near Christmas from natural causes
I am getting 3 male rats from the same breeder and I am pretty sure they don’t need a intro but I’m not sure also I need 2 more names if anyone can reply with some names and answer to if I still need to intro. Thanks
If they’re coming from the same place / already living together you don’t need to do intros ☺️
@@Emiology thank you for taking your time to reply now I don’t have to worry about them trying to harm each other even if they are from same breeder. Thanks
♥
@6:54 just one lady sitting on her butt, I don't think I've seen a rat do that before.
My Mouse Coco, Has sadly crossed the Rainbow bridge today. she died of cancer. 😭😥😫
I had to have my girl spayed she’s was a nightmare, but after having it done she was a completely different rats, even because so much more loving to me 🥰 she’s a massive soft ass now hahaha
Glad to hear that it helped!
🥰😍🐭🐰🐀
11th in char :3