Introducing New Rats:
Introducing new rats can be an exciting and scary experience. While you want them to get along most rats are not going to be initially happy about newcomers in their territory. So before I move on to the different methods of introduction, a few notes:
- Hissing through the bars is NOT a bad sign. Since rats are territorial animals they will often behave aggressive in their area but once bonded to the new rats in a neutral area will be perfectly fine together.
- Introductions should NOT be done in any rat's regular cage. Since this area smells like that rat he/she is going to probably get defensive and attack the newcomer. Its MUCH better to do introductions in a neutral area or carrier as that way neither rat will feel the need to get defensive.
- While adding vannilla or other scents to both rats is rumored to "trick" them into accepting the other rat, this isn't the case. Rats are much too smart to mistake another rat for a cagemate like that, and each rat group has a certain "group scent". So while placing vanilla onto a rat isn't going to hurt them, don't expect it to magically make introductions smoother easier.
- Binded rats WILL mock fight and this is also normal to see during introductions. Rats need to establish a pecking order of sorts so more often then not you will see some wrestling during and after the introduction.
- If you have a hormonally aggressive buck (male rat), he NEEDS to ne neutered before introductions. Rats take 2-3 weeks post-neuter for hormonal levels to fall back to normal, and only at that point is it safe to introduce or re-introduce your formerly hormonal aggressive rat to other rats.
- Finally, don't expect rats to always get along perfectly right away. Some times you will need to do multiple short introductions in order to help your rats learn to get along, and that's just fine. Going at your rats pace is the best way to keep everything moving along smoothly and to avoid any rats getting hurt.
There are 3 Main Methods of Introducing New Rats:
The Neutral Territory Method:
For the neutral territory method you'll be taking things slow but steady. To start you will let your new rats meet in a neutral area - this means not a cage, not a free-range area, and not an area familiar to any of the rats. A good example would be a table or your bathtub or even bed, depending on where your rats don't regularly go.
Once you've chosen your spot then you want to let the rats meet with your supervision. Bring some gloves and wet food just in case. Let them squabble some, but if it gets too much then you can clap and cover them in the liquid treat to help reset the interaction in a more positive way.
Once you have done several of these intros with good results you want to clean out the main cage, put in food, water, and a few open toys like flat hammocks, and place the rats in it. observe them for a few hours, and if they do okay then leave them for the night. After several nights of them doing well go ahead and add in your enclosed toys.
And that's that! Once they have done well for a few days in the full main cage intros are over and you can breath a sigh of relief!
For the neutral territory method you'll be taking things slow but steady. To start you will let your new rats meet in a neutral area - this means not a cage, not a free-range area, and not an area familiar to any of the rats. A good example would be a table or your bathtub or even bed, depending on where your rats don't regularly go.
Once you've chosen your spot then you want to let the rats meet with your supervision. Bring some gloves and wet food just in case. Let them squabble some, but if it gets too much then you can clap and cover them in the liquid treat to help reset the interaction in a more positive way.
Once you have done several of these intros with good results you want to clean out the main cage, put in food, water, and a few open toys like flat hammocks, and place the rats in it. observe them for a few hours, and if they do okay then leave them for the night. After several nights of them doing well go ahead and add in your enclosed toys.
And that's that! Once they have done well for a few days in the full main cage intros are over and you can breath a sigh of relief!
The Carrier Method:
For the carrier method we use what you might call stress bonding in order to bond the rats quickly. Here we take the new and old rats and place them in a super small carrier (I use a 5 gallon carrier for 2-5 rats, and a 10 gallon carrier for more than that), scatter food, add water, and otherwise just let them be.
Bring gloves and wet treat just like the neutral territory method, and settle in for a lot of watching. You'll want to do this method when you have at least a day to be with the rats the entire time, as while this method is good for bonding difficult rats and helps to reduce the chance of fighting, they are in a confined space and so any fighting that does happen could go badly quickly.
Place your rats inside the carrier together, then settle in to watch. You can take them about as you do house chores or such, but keep the carrier with you at all times. If they start to wrestle some that's fine, but if it starts getting serious gently nudge the carrier to startle them (or alternatively clap your hands) and slather everyone with some liquid food to rest interactions.
Do not remove any rat unless you absolutely have to - no free-range, no handling, nothing but contact with the other rats for this first delicate stage.
Once they have gone at least 12 hours without needing to be broken up from fighting you can progress to your medium cage. This cage should be smaller than your large cage but a fair bit bigger than your carrier. It should have scattered food and water, but nothing else.
Again, watch your rats closely for the first few hours in this. Once they prove to be good in it for at least 12 hours you can then add a hammock, and once they do well with that for at least 12 hours add in an enclosed house.
Once they do well with the medium cage with toys its time to move to the large cage. Clean the large cage, scatter some food, add water, and then add the rats. Don't add any toys yet, as these could spark some territorial issues.
Again, watch your rats closely for the first few hours, and once they've done well in this cage for 12 hours add in a hammock or two. once they've done well with the hammock for another 12 hours add in some enclosed toys, and once they've proven well with those for at least 12 hours gradually add in the rest of their toys over the next few days.
Once they've proven themselves friendly in the full large cage you can start up free-ranging again, and you can also breath a sigh of relief as intros are officially over!
For the carrier method we use what you might call stress bonding in order to bond the rats quickly. Here we take the new and old rats and place them in a super small carrier (I use a 5 gallon carrier for 2-5 rats, and a 10 gallon carrier for more than that), scatter food, add water, and otherwise just let them be.
Bring gloves and wet treat just like the neutral territory method, and settle in for a lot of watching. You'll want to do this method when you have at least a day to be with the rats the entire time, as while this method is good for bonding difficult rats and helps to reduce the chance of fighting, they are in a confined space and so any fighting that does happen could go badly quickly.
Place your rats inside the carrier together, then settle in to watch. You can take them about as you do house chores or such, but keep the carrier with you at all times. If they start to wrestle some that's fine, but if it starts getting serious gently nudge the carrier to startle them (or alternatively clap your hands) and slather everyone with some liquid food to rest interactions.
Do not remove any rat unless you absolutely have to - no free-range, no handling, nothing but contact with the other rats for this first delicate stage.
Once they have gone at least 12 hours without needing to be broken up from fighting you can progress to your medium cage. This cage should be smaller than your large cage but a fair bit bigger than your carrier. It should have scattered food and water, but nothing else.
Again, watch your rats closely for the first few hours in this. Once they prove to be good in it for at least 12 hours you can then add a hammock, and once they do well with that for at least 12 hours add in an enclosed house.
Once they do well with the medium cage with toys its time to move to the large cage. Clean the large cage, scatter some food, add water, and then add the rats. Don't add any toys yet, as these could spark some territorial issues.
Again, watch your rats closely for the first few hours, and once they've done well in this cage for 12 hours add in a hammock or two. once they've done well with the hammock for another 12 hours add in some enclosed toys, and once they've proven well with those for at least 12 hours gradually add in the rest of their toys over the next few days.
Once they've proven themselves friendly in the full large cage you can start up free-ranging again, and you can also breath a sigh of relief as intros are officially over!
The Glove Method:
The glove method of intros is sort of an add-on to the neutral territory method. Follow the neutral territory method only instead of letting the rats interact as they will, put on a glove and follow them around as they interact. If one rat seems defensive use your gloved hand to help make the other rat back off, and if they seem ready to squabble use the glove to help separate them. Its also helpful to bring liquid treats because like with the other methods a good way to ensure some positive interaction between rats is to slather them all in some liquid treat so they have to take time grooming it off themselves and each other.
Be careful with this method as especially if you are a new rat owner it is easy to mistake normal rat dominance behavior with aggression, and stopping any interaction will just lead to the rats being frustrated. Unless your rat is acting very aggressive towards the new rats (hissing and puffing up at their scent is a sign of possible issues, although I've had plenty of rats do that at the start and go on to get along great after careful intros), its best to let them meet on their own terms. If you are worried though the glove method can help to give you a bit more control and with very defensive rats it can help them slowly adjust to their new cagemates.
Finally just like the neutral territory method once the rats do well consistently in a neutral area you then want to go to the main cage with just food, water, and a few open toys, and then build to enclosed toys over the next few days.
The glove method of intros is sort of an add-on to the neutral territory method. Follow the neutral territory method only instead of letting the rats interact as they will, put on a glove and follow them around as they interact. If one rat seems defensive use your gloved hand to help make the other rat back off, and if they seem ready to squabble use the glove to help separate them. Its also helpful to bring liquid treats because like with the other methods a good way to ensure some positive interaction between rats is to slather them all in some liquid treat so they have to take time grooming it off themselves and each other.
Be careful with this method as especially if you are a new rat owner it is easy to mistake normal rat dominance behavior with aggression, and stopping any interaction will just lead to the rats being frustrated. Unless your rat is acting very aggressive towards the new rats (hissing and puffing up at their scent is a sign of possible issues, although I've had plenty of rats do that at the start and go on to get along great after careful intros), its best to let them meet on their own terms. If you are worried though the glove method can help to give you a bit more control and with very defensive rats it can help them slowly adjust to their new cagemates.
Finally just like the neutral territory method once the rats do well consistently in a neutral area you then want to go to the main cage with just food, water, and a few open toys, and then build to enclosed toys over the next few days.
Video with examples for all 3 intro methods:
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Example intro video - here I introduced my neutered rat Mallow to my then 5 intact females: |
Disclosure: Esther (and her site rattrix.weebly.com) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com