RatPalace.com - Pet Rat Care and Discussion

Sat Feb 18, 2006 3:06 am

Hi there,

I have two rats, and I am trying to introduce them to each other. First I put their separate cages next to each other to get used to each other. Then I've put them together in a community playpen.

Well my first rat Gwen she is a younger, smaller, more outgoing and confident rat who has easily bonded to me and loves sniffling in my ears.

My second rat Willa...she is a bit bigger, quiet, timid and does not adjust well to new things. She is a sweetie though and can be very curious when she is confident.

So here is the question: When I put them together in the playpen Gwen seems to go bananas and gets extremely jumpy(the most I've ever seen) and she runs around and then jumps on top of Willa--and sometimes she jumps on top of her and I suspect (I cannot see very well, she does it so fast) and sorta bites the other on the back of the neck(There is no true biting)! I mean maybe a very quick exaggerated nibble? She also sniffs Willa's rear end once in a while and will follow her like a shadow at times.

Then Willa, when she's being climbed on, she is very quiet and still and she sometimes squeals when she gets jumped on. She doesn't sniff Gwen and she doesn't really follow Gwen around. She pretty much moves off and Gwen follows her and tries to jump on her and dash away quickly.

So I don't know alot about rat body language and behavior, but when this happens it appears very violent to me because I don't know what is going on. Is Gwen just being playful and overexcited because there is another rat to play with? Or is she doing something else?

If this keeps up and doesn't change is Willa being hassled? I'm worried about her because her personality is so much more sensitive.

If anyone can shed light on this that would be great!

Thanks much!

Sat Feb 18, 2006 6:46 am

Ahh the fun of introductions, eh? Rolling Eyes

Firstly, you don't need to worry, as this is all quite natural for rats who are newly introduced to eachother. The general rule of thumb is: don't panic unless you see blood. Hardcore veterans of intros will even tell you not to panic unless you see lots of blood. What you are witnessing is your girls deciding who is going to be the alpha and who is going to be submissive.
When you have a big, assertive rat and a small timid one this is usually sorted out pretty quickly. The small one will get flipped onto her back and the large one will groom the hell out of her as a way of saying "I'm the boss here. I get first dibs on everything and you'd better not forget it." If the small, shy one lays on her back and accepts it, maybe gives a little squeak every now and then, then she is essentially saying "ok, ok you win!" and the whole thing is over and done with.

In your case the same thing is going on but its much more drawn out and confusing because the one with the dominant personality, Gwen, is smaller physically, which would make her the subordinant in the normal run of things. So, you have Gwen doing as much of the dominance routine as she thinks she can get away with, and, since Willa is not fighting back, it seems like she will accept the sub role, for a while at least.
In time, she will probably decide that its not dignified for her to be pushed around by such a tiny thing and they might do this whole thing over again.

The point, (I know it took me forever to get to it) is that this is all normal and even if things look really vicious, they are actually just fine. Hope that helps!

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~Sara and the ratties: Remi, Sulin, Chiad, Kaya, Min and Stitch~

Sat Feb 18, 2006 9:32 am

Sounds like they are finding their own comfort zone with each other ok.
I feel sorry for Willa, but that's nature, they have to live together, nothing to do with my predelictions. And Willa might be very happy to have someone else make the rules.
If they're not fighting, then they're just establishing the rules of the relationship (which more humans out to do up front honestly) and it looks so far like they will be a good match.
Sounds like their intros are going beautifully!
I wish them a long & happy BuddyCuddleship together!

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MyBoys-Coors, Romeo, MacKenzie, D'Arcy, Basil. MyLadies Sahara & Savanna

Sat Feb 18, 2006 1:30 pm

Oh, whew!

So it's NORMAL...okay! I was so worried! Mr. Green

Gwen is roaming around on my lap as I write this...she's never seen the computer before and is wondering if it's alive, hee hee.

Yeah, Willa is very special. She just needs alot of reassurance/TLC. It will be interesting to see if Willa eventually becomes a little bolder with time in her relating to Gwen. Geez, and Gwen is amazing. She's the reason I got into this whole ratty mess! LOL

Picked her up once at the store and couldn't stop thinking about her...you can guess the rest...

Thank you so much for your detailed and supportive answers! Much appreciated and relieved!

Sun Feb 19, 2006 3:12 am

how are they doing today? (by the way, I often like to introduce rats while both of them are in my lap while I do computer stuff so I can monitor them, just as a suggestion if things are still a little rocky between the two of them)

_________________
~Sara and the ratties: Remi, Sulin, Chiad, Kaya, Min and Stitch~