# HELP!All is not as good as it seemed...



## Enchilada (May 29, 2014)

So I adopted an older rat (masala) to be friends with our two boys, moose and scout. At first moose cuddled into masala almost immediately, scout and masala got along okay, mainly because scout doesn't care about being any kind of aggressive with other rats. Then the next few days have been impossible. They keep fighting, mainly because moose is uncomfortable with the older rat being on top. Moose was always very shy and NEVER into being alpha before this, now he's acting weird attacking masala at any chance. I dont know how to introduce them to where they wont be aggressive. Will someone PLEASE give me advice? If I cant make it work between them I'll have to find a new home for masala.


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## Enchilada (May 29, 2014)

Still no help... I'm not sure if I should just let them fight it out or what? I'm surprised how many people have viewed but not answered my thread.


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## Cinn (Mar 4, 2015)

I'm no expert, but you could take Moose and Masala and let them have some time together in an unclaimed environment, like a bathtub. Hopefully this helps, like I mentioned, I'm not an expert in this area.


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## aliceinwonderland (Dec 17, 2013)

I've read that bathing them together/putting them in a bathtub with an inch or so of water can present enough of a distraction that they won't fight while they're being introduced. Or putting baby food on them to encourage grooming one another? I don't really know how effective these can be though, since I've never tried them first hand.


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## Cinn (Mar 4, 2015)

aliceinwonderland said:


> I've read that bathing them together/putting them in a bathtub with an inch or so of water can present enough of a distraction that they won't fight while they're being introduced. Or putting baby food on them to encourage grooming one another? I don't really know how effective these can be though, since I've never tried them first hand.


Hmm.......I've never really thought of the baby food thing......I'll have to try that when I get the new rattie!


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## aliceinwonderland (Dec 17, 2013)

I think I read it right here on the forum but I do so much browsing I doubt I could find the thread again. Let us know how it works, Cinn!


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## Enchilada (May 29, 2014)

Ive tried both things before, I actually gave them a bath because I heard stress bonding will work for hard to befriend rats. Moose ended up attacking masala and we had to seperate them. I've even tried putting yogurt on them right before, and showing them the food, they dont seem to care, and usually they get so excited they just grab the yogurt from the spoon to get some. Every single time we've introduced them moose seems to start a fight, and I've noticed lately moose has been overeating, attempting to bulk up.


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## aliceinwonderland (Dec 17, 2013)

Sounds like Moose isn't planning to take this laying down! I'm sorry to hear that you're having so much trouble with introductions. Hopefully someone with more experience in these situations will be able to offer some better input.


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## erinsweeney (Nov 13, 2014)

Are all the rats neutered?


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## Cinn (Mar 4, 2015)

erinsweeney said:


> Are all the rats neutered?


No, you have to neuter them yourselves, or if you adopt them from a rescue, the tend to be neutered. It can cost anywhere from $50-$300.


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## Enchilada (May 29, 2014)

None of my boys are neutered. I put scout and masala in one cage and they got along amazingly well, scout accepted him fully already, we tried masala and moose again and moose again attacked masala. Masala got so scared he ran up me vertically and sat on my shoulder and wouldn't come down. We sprayed moose with water and he stopped attacking, but afterwards we saw he had been bit and was bleeding out his left arm. I watched him for a good few hours but not even 30 minutes later it stopped bleeding and he was up crawling all over the cage as normal as ever. Checked it again this morning and it looks like he'd never been bit! I think he might think twice about attacking masala now because he cant take on a large rat like him. Masala has much longer teeth, and is twice his size. We plan to intro them all together because it seems like moose always follows scout and scout loves masala, so we think he will change his mind when he realizes his brother likes him.


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## raindear (Mar 3, 2015)

When I had one girl that tried to refuse entry into my mischief of two new girls. I took the refuser out for a week and introduced the two girls to the mischief without her. Then when she returned to the mischief after the two girls had been accepted by everyone else, all went well. Hope it works well for you.


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