Bobby bit merlin (Rat introductions)?

Question

Okay so in my 5/6 years of owning rats, i've introduced new rats to my pack three times. Those were all girls and apart from one rat that decided she hated all six of her new cagemates, they've all gone really well. Now i was aware that introducing males may be harder and i've been giving them short meetings for three days now. Bobby (one of the elder two rats) seems to be a bit of a bully and was pushing them around, holding them down and grooming them to assert his dominance which i just kept a close eye on but let continue hoping it would ease up a little. 

Well i was just supervising their fourth meeting and everything seemed to be going well untill Bobby turned around and bit Merlin (one my the babies). But he didn't let go and i had to physically pull him off. I was very alarmed and immediately went to put him in the pet carrier (his cage was far away) but he was biting at the lid and trying to claw his way out. 

In the five months i've had Bobby he's been a fairly sweet natured rat who plays a little rough with his cagemate but it never gets out of hand. I'm so shocked i'm not sure what to do. He didn;t bite me and i'm sure he wasn't trying to but Merlin was already shy and now he's very scared and shaken up. 

He's a hairless and so i could inspect his body easily and i can see where bobby bit him, there's no blood just a little whiteish bite mark. I think it was more of a nip, but he held on for ages and dragged him along the floor a little bit. 

What i'd like to know is where to go from here, shall i hold off on the intros for a while (which is a real shame because Albie was getting on great with the babies. ) Or shall i keep letting them play with just Albie. I don;t feel right putting Bobby back with the babies, i'm always there to separate them but little Merlin must be stressed enough allready. 

Sorry the question is so long and please only answer if you know what you're talking about and have owned rats before. Thanks :)

? · Accepted Answer

I would say it is fine to keep introducing them.  Just keep doing as you're doing, watch them closely and if you think things are getting too rough separate them.  But really it is to be expected that a hairless rat may get a bit scratched up during intros, males are more rough.

Hairless rats are very easily cut/scratched/bitten, if the bite didn't even break the skin it was probably harmless.  I have had my rats bite on each other in a very similar way where they will hold the bite down on the other rat, and the worst that has happened from it is the other rat pulled away and lost a little bit of fur, but they never got hurt.  I have one rat in particular that used to do this all the time when she was working out dominance with her cagemate.  She was very young when she was introduced and everything was fine, but once she got to be about 4 months old she began to get rebellious with the others, she would constantly get into scuffles with the oldest, pin her down, and bite down on her and stay like that.  Sometimes they would stay in that exact position for minutes at a time frozen with her biting down on the other, the only time she would move is to get a better hold and bite more, but an injury never occurred from it, I guess she was just trying to be the boss.

And although I haven't experienced it personally, I have heard of rats dragging each other around to show dominance, almost like a parent rat drags young rats to the nest.  The rat being introduced does not have to be a baby for this to happen (though that would make it more likely).

Usually aggression does not happen like that aggressive bites happen very quickly and are very distinctive in my experience.  The aggressive rat may fluff up their fur, they will have a defensive posture, they may approach the rat sideways or go whisker to whisker, and then when they go for the rat they do it fast, they will start to fight, the aggressor bites, then generally the other will retreat or submit.  Sometimes the fight will end there, or if you have a seriously aggressive unhappy rat he may continue to attack.  But the bites are also distinguishable, they will break the skin, and they will look like a large hole like tear in the skin.  They sometimes look quite bad but heal fast.  

Even if you do see genuine aggression, there have been plenty of rats that are successfully introduced after.  Some rats get a pretty big bite when they're first being introduced and they still end up being happy cagemates later on.  You just may need to adjust the length/location/frequency of the intros or try some other distracting methods.  

Merlin may be shaken up, but he will get over it.  Most likely it has more to do with his personality than the severity of the encounter.  Keep trying, it sounds like things are actually going alright, usually as long as they aren't out for each others throats, they will work it out and get along eventually.  Improving Merlin's confidence may help with the introductions as well.

Mady · Answer

I have four girlies right now, and have had boys in the past, so I definitely understand how tough intros can be!

I think I would hold off on the intros with Bobby - he may just be too aggressive to be with other rats. Some are. I had a boy in the past that NEVER got along with any males, ever. I got him neutered and it still didn't help - he didn't even like females. So he had to be alone his whole life, which he seemed perfectly content with. He was such a cuddle bug with me, I felt he'd be fine.

Anyways, it sounds like Bobby and Albie are living together right now, correct? And you're intro-ing them to new babies? I think i'd continue intro-ing with Albie, but try to take it more gradually with Bobby, like through cage bars, etc.

Good luck and I hope everything goes alright! If you have more questions, message me if you'd like! :)

dahm · Answer

All rats are diverse, I say introduce them via way of their cages. that is style of what I did with my youngster rats very last 365 days. Then at the same time as the children were historic sufficient, I in simple terms placed the male babies in with their dad. He did not care in any respect, there grow to be no combating both. yet I kept an extraordinarily proper close watch on them in any respect circumstances.

Bobby bit merlin (Rat introductions)?

3 Answers