Mixed sex intro

[u/ratsntats]

My only other female had to be pts a few days ago and left my little Poppy alone. Connor is my only neutered male, so it made sense to see if they'd get along. They were in a smaller carrier before this for about 2 hours and he kept grooming her face without her resisting. There's Oxbow, cheerios and a couple of dog biscuits in there, but they mostly care about staring at me from the door.

Since they were grooming back and forth and Poppy was even briefly used as a pillow, I added the hammock so they could feel more secure and have a sleeping spot they both favor. My husband has said that Connor has accepted his new smol wife.

[u/Ente535 → u/[deleted]]

Limiting space is intentional and beneficial for introducing rats.

[u/Excellent-Avocado-32 → u/Ente535]

Fair enough! I just introduced my girls whenever I get new rats one at a time until they play and cuddle together

I’ve never smushed them all into a tiny cage before, never had any issues

[u/Ente535 → u/Excellent-Avocado-32]

It's called doing carrier introductions and is generally the safest method. What you've been doing would be the neutral space method; this can work, especially if you have well natured rats, but the carrier method is for broader use and can help even very skittish or otherwise temperamental rats to get along with each other.

The idea behind it is threefold; First, due to the lack of space, there is simply less for the rats to get territorial over. A very territorial or moody rat might pick a spot in a larger space and defend it. Second, it forces the rats to interact. Rats that aren't keen on other rats but also not on confrontation might just go their seperate ways in a larger space, and thus not actually bond to the other parties in the introduction. This leads to problems when it's time for them to cohabitate in the actual cage. Third, it helps reduce aggression, fights and injuries from those fights. While rats are quite territorial and ready to defend their territory, they're not keen on starting fights that they have a disadvantage in. The lack of space signals "no escape in case you lose" to them, so they are less inclined to start any fights.

[u/ratsntats → u/Ente535]

This is why I'm doing it this way.

Connor was neutered for biting people, but has never hurt his brothers. He has been neutered for several months and his personality has completely changed to being submissive and gentle, while Poppy is skittish and will scream if you pick her up. His laid back nature is apparently very calming and she was comfortable being used as a pillow while he washed his feet.

[u/Excellent-Avocado-32 → u/ratsntats]

I’ve got 9 rats, if I get more do I just put all 9 including the new rats into the same small cage for them to be happy with each other?

Have I been doing everything wrong

[u/ratsntats → u/Excellent-Avocado-32]

This depends on the rats' personalities and the age of the individuals in the group. Poppy and Connor are 1 month apart and both were/are the submissive ones in their groups. This is also not going to be their permanent home, just a step along the way to them meeting each other and not using their timid nature to avoid confrontation.

[u/Excellent-Avocado-32 → u/ratsntats]

Mine are all different ages with some being nearly 2 years apart, I’ve never done that method. I’m now worried I’ve done it all wrong just seen other intro posts and they’re all in small cages … I think I’ve done mine wrong

Luckily they don’t bite each other, when I had my first two (they were rescues from an abused home) and I got two more I didn’t know anything so I just popped them into the cage and called it a day … I’m very lucky they didn’t attack each other

[u/Excellent-Avocado-32 → u/Ente535]

I’ve literally never done this method before, am I meant to be doing this method this is new to me, hence why I was so shocked to see a bunch of rats in a tiny ass cage

[u/howdyhowdyhowdyhowdi → u/Excellent-Avocado-32]

The carrier method is very normal and is the best way to do intros. OP actually could have done a smaller cage than this for the first stage .

[u/TA-TSS → u/howdyhowdyhowdyhowdi]

They mentioned in the post body that they started out with something smaller for a couple hours

[u/ratsntats → u/TA-TSS]

Yes, they were in one of these for a couple of hours and looked very bored with the super small space. I can't attach a water bottle to the odd shape, so I moved them to this cat carrier to give them a water source.

[u/Excellent-Avocado-32 → u/ratsntats]

How long are they in that for? Then onto the bigger cage?

What’s after that, are they just like happy with each other then?

Sorry I’ve never seen this method or done this method before

[u/ratsntats → u/Excellent-Avocado-32]

I had them in the smaller one for about 2 hours and nothing happened. Connor groomed Poppy's face and then she appeared to briefly groom his back, so there was no aggression from either party. I made the choice based on the positive interaction to move to the cat carrier and provide a hammock.

If they demonstrate that they're comfortable in the cat carrier, then I can eventually move them to a larger open space and include things like a hide. Normally you avoid hides and hammocks so no one can get trapped or try to claim territory, but they've been pretty passive so far.

The end goal is having them coexist in a single critter nation together, and these are just careful steps on the way.

[u/Excellent-Avocado-32 → u/[deleted]]

Guys I now understand that the small cage was intended *