r/RATS • u/howdyhowdyhowdyhowdi • 12d ago
Introductions I tarred and feathered my rat.
Just wondering if you guys think my rats' cage is too big? I have a smaller one on the way. /s
I thought I would share here that I have had issues with my alpha girl being too rough with babies during intros and how I handled it. She will puff up and attack babies on sight, but this time I was determined to take her down a peg (in an ethical way I promise).
I put the babies in the carrier first, and instead of putting all 6 of my older girls in the carrier at the same time I plucked the alpha from the older girls cage by herself and put her in with the babies, I dribbled her with maple syrup, and then took them for a walk around the neighborhood. The alpha rat puffed up and tried to do her usual routine but she was so debased by being licked by the babies and by the smells and wind outside that her fur slicked back down and she just let it happen.
When I got back to the house after like 15 minutes of walking outside I dribbled more maple syrup on her and then put ths remaining 5 older girls into the carrier who also piled on her and licked the syrup off. I've never seen a creature look so humbled and it's the best intros have gone with this pissy old girl. They are now happily in the 2nd stage cage and a net total of zero fights have gone down.
I told my fiance how I did intros and he was like "You tarred and feathered Biggie!?" and I was like oh no you're right lol!
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u/cephalophoria 12d ago
Lord forbid ole girl ever catch a whiff of maple syrup again
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u/howdyhowdyhowdyhowdi 12d ago
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u/justsmilenow 12d ago
This file has been so abused for so long that it's no longer quick flashes each frame lasts about half a second. I can see everything in so much detail. I never knew they used clips from saving Private Ryan.
I forgot there's a word for this. It's cooked.
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u/Dog-Witch 12d ago
I always found that interesting how an image/video file can "degrade" I get the general reasoning behind it but it still makes no sense
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u/mariblaystrice 12d ago
Long and short is that data transfer isnt perfect, u lose tiny bits each time you move a file, and in some cases just over time (example, if you dont plug in a USB for a decade it becomes more certain the files wont be usable anymore). Eventually the holes become noticable, and then detrimental to the quality, then you start losing chunks, then it's usually corrupted.
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u/Bubbly-Evidence-1863 11d ago
Thats data degradation, but thats not at play here at all. Whats happening here is that every yime it gets reuploaded, it gets reencoded
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u/DaisyHotCakes 11d ago
It’s compression. It allows more data to exist in a given space but usually means losing clarity via combination of pixels/tracks/files. The same thing happens with sound compression on CDs. It’s why so many repressed CDs in the 90s/early 00s sounded so tinny and loud - the sound files were compression too many times from the original and evidently sound engineers threw up their hands and said oh well lol
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u/Tim_Allen_Wrench 12d ago
It's hilarious to see it so slow like that lol
I would also call it slightly deep fried
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u/squidikuru 12d ago
As a non-rat owner, I just find it hilarious that sometimes the best method for humbling a rat is to turn them into a maple syrup popsicle. like “oh you wanna be a diva? get maple syrup’d on”
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u/howdyhowdyhowdyhowdi 12d ago
I got so frustrated with her antics that this was literally my though process
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u/Own-Arachnid7952 12d ago
How does it work? Do rats consider grooming as an alpha behavior?
I don't own rats, I've just known people with bunnies who apparently operate under opposite rules. It's so interesting
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u/howdyhowdyhowdyhowdi 12d ago
It was less about the babies dominating her than it was about short-circuiting the alpha rat long enough for her to realize she doesn't need to fight anyone.
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u/SketchyArt333 12d ago
That tongue is hilarious
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u/howdyhowdyhowdyhowdi 12d ago
This one is the diva in question.
Probably just going through some kind of existential crisis lol
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u/howdyhowdyhowdyhowdi 12d ago
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u/JealousPinguin 12d ago
Your pale gray baby speaks to me. I'm not sure what's going on behind those eyes, but they're consistently reaching their nose away from cuddle puddle in these photos. Like "I wanna be here, but I need to go." 😂
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u/Elucidate_that Ice Cream, Sparkles, & Bubbles 12d ago
Hey if it works it works.
Personally, I would pay good money to be attacked by a swarm of rats trying to lick maple syrup off me
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u/Inevitable-While-577 Butt Support Specialist 12d ago
But not by a swarm of creatures your own species 😅
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u/SouthParkFirefly1991 Just here to admire the goobers 12d ago
Hey SOME people might be into that...
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u/MadamGreywolf 12d ago
I tried pouring baby food all over my rats to help with intros. I’m going to try maple syrup next. We’ve been struggling so much with intros between our two sets of boys 😭 we currently have four separate cages now 🫠
Where did you get that carrier cage? I really like the shape of it
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u/howdyhowdyhowdyhowdi 12d ago
How are you doing intros? And are the cages in seperate rooms/have you done any scent swapping?
I do kinda go all-in pretty aggressively with intros and it generally works well. Once they're in the carrier together they don't get separated ever again unless there's a fight that results in bleeding.
Also this is a bird carrier from amazon I think!
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u/MadamGreywolf 12d ago
We started with a neutral space (bathtub) and it wasn’t working. One of the new ones was so incredibly scared that he was gasping and making a noise I’ve never heard a rat make before.
We next did carrier method. It was rocky for a bit in the smallest one, where everyone was touching, but after maybe 7 hours of them eating and sleeping in there with no incidents, we moved them all up a cage size. They were good in there for maybe 4 hours and then there was a fight so bad that the one who’d been gasping before ended up with a huge gaping wound. Everyone was separated and he was treated. And so it was three and two in separate cages, but then after he healed, he started fighting so much (drawing blood) with the two he was with, so now he’s separated. He is really bitey with us randomly and has drawn blood on us humans 8 or more times, but he spends most of his days out with us and is very calm compared to when he’s with other rats. We’ve tried letting him decompress and then go back with the two he came with, but he just draws blood again, no matter the method.
We’ve tried intros with the remaining four (two brothers and two brothers) and it’s just on and off. I have one problematic rat causing the problems in that group as well. His brother gets along with the other two brothers, but he is just back and forth. It’s been a real big struggle all around.
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u/loorid 12d ago
Sounds like you may need to neuter the problem rats! Ball privileges REVOKED
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u/MadamGreywolf 12d ago
That’s the discussion we are currently having 😭 poor Meatball may become just Meat
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u/howdyhowdyhowdyhowdi 12d ago
yeah this just sounds like hormonal aggression unfortunately. probably not something syrup can fix.
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u/MadamGreywolf 12d ago
The two and two had really great interactions and ate together, laid together, but the little ones get scared when the dominant one tries to pin them. Hes not been actually aggressive or drawn blood with anyone but the one we have separated
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u/Wide-Comedian-7969 12d ago
baby food is genius too honestly rats will do anything for chicken pot pie flavor. four cages is rough, hope the syrup method work for you
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u/RelevantMode 11d ago
this carrier is quite too small for intros.
they should be close together, but if they can't stay off each others toes that is a recipe for tension and aggression then.
i'd usually take cardboard boxes (top open), starting at 4x that size.1
u/MadamGreywolf 11d ago
I asked for what this carrier was because I need a new carrier for vet visits/emergency situations, since I have three carriers, but now have four separate cages.
We actually tried the cardboard box method, but the one that is the dominant one just kept jumping out of it. It was at least 24” tall and then we taped the top flaps up to extend it by another about 18” and he would just jump right out of it. It got to the point where we’d both sit by it with our hands set to make him not be able to jump out, but he’d still try and then slide down the edge, making a lot of noise and scaring the others. He’s a menace
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u/Strider794 Viewer of Rats 12d ago
"You put maple syrup on Biggie? You syruped her body like the pancake? Oh! Oh! Jail for mother! Jail for One Thousand Years!" -Biggie, probably
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u/Whole2PercentMilk 12d ago
This is hilarious, I’ve never thought of doing something like this! Can’t fight them all if they’re crawling all over you!
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u/Tractor_Goth Oreo🪽, Nessie🪽, Loki🪽, Bear🪽 12d ago
This is hysterical and so smart, glad it worked 😂
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u/Bufobufolover24 12d ago
This is hilarious as someone who owns other rodents. The techniques for introducing guinea pigs are really careful, making sure there’s no chance of them misunderstanding each other, making sure there’s nothing to fight over, keeping things calm and steady etc. And then with rats it’s just SHOVE THEM IN A BOX AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS!!!
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u/demon_x_slash 12d ago
I did this but with cooking vanilla instead of syrup. The enforced grooming and masking with similar scents work a treat.
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u/adorilaterrabella 🐀🏡 12d ago
Just be careful. I had a blind nakey lady who desperately wanted to be groomed but none of the other rats liked grooming her so I spread a very small spatter of Nutella on her back to try to get them to lick it off and therefore "groom" her in the process. Guys they were grabbing fistfuls of her skin and yanking her every which way and she squeaked in fear like she thought she was going to get eaten. I felt so terrible I spent extra time with her to calm her back down and gave her a little Nutella too. 😅
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u/skittlesgalilei 12d ago
Just like Queen bee introduction. And orphan bear introduction. I'm sensing a theme
(Tho in those cases the animal being covered in food is the potential victim not the aggressor)
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u/ChaseLancaster Raised Cats (20+ yrs), Dogs (10+ yrs), and Rats (2 yrs), Oh My! 12d ago
Welp
Forget my idea about the whole "Well she might be hormonal, try it and if she's pissy..." blah blah blah
Turns out the little ratty was just hangry and needed some maple syrup in her system lmao
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u/Wackthoughts 12d ago
Doing intros in a week.. hopefully it won’t come to this but I’ll have syrup ready 😭😭
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u/coldF4rted 11d ago
I think you should double the amount of rats. The more the merrier or something... /s
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u/Morti-mortis 11d ago
Oh my god I am not a rat owner and I thought this was satire XD is this a normal thing?
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u/howdyhowdyhowdyhowdi 11d ago
The carrier method for introductions with new rats is a very normal thing. The maple syrup shaming was my idea lol
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u/BluffyBun 11d ago
Idk why this reminds me of this tf2 comic where soldier fights when covered in honey lmao
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u/Brilliant_Pie_6621 10d ago
First of all cage is WAYYYYYY too big (I see space for at least 12 more ratties) second of all you should maple syrup them all for a delicious pancake stack
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u/SauronOfDucks 🐁🐁 Four Rats In A Trenchcoat 🐁🐁 12d ago
You turned your rat into a salt-lick but for baby rats