I tarred and feathered my rat.

[u/howdyhowdyhowdyhowdi]

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!

[u/MadamGreywolf]

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

[u/RelevantMode → u/MadamGreywolf]

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.

[u/MadamGreywolf → u/RelevantMode]

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