# Ready For The Big Cage?



## shibezone (Feb 5, 2018)

Hi Rat Forum

I recently brought home a pair of baby boys to add to my mischief and they seem to be getting along wonderfully with the big boys so far! This is my first set of intros so my question is this: How do I know they're fully ready to be moved into the big cage?

They all can easily spend upwards of a couple hours together in a carrier with no issues. No aggression, just the regular 'I GROOM YOU!' stuff they do to work things out and some very minor boxing. I haven't seen a snuggle pile yet but they'll willingly walk into the same boxes with eachother and hang out together.

The babies got to play in the regular play pen with the big boys last night (set up around the big cage) and they all did excellent and kind of just did regular rat stuff with or around each other. One of the babies did hop into the big boy cage and the big boy in there did NOT like it, but he didn't immediately attack the baby, he just puffed and sidled at him while the baby really didn't care all that much. To me it seems like once the major cage clean happens they'll get along fine, but what do you think?

Also the babies are still on baby rat food, they'll need to be transitioned to the adult food. Is it going to be a problem to just mix that food in with the adult food and let the big boys have some of it?


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## shibezone (Feb 5, 2018)

Update: Decided to try it anyway and it went sort of good? The big boys did really well and the babies did so-so. One baby is integrating pretty well, the other not so much. He spent a lot of the night in one corner of the cage and by this morning he was screaming whenever any other rat came near him, even the other baby. I took them out and I'll go back to bonding exercises, I'm a little bummed I spent that long cleaning for it to not work but what can you do, right?


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## Kelsbels (Aug 12, 2015)

Hey! You can always move them back to the smaller cage stage and try the bigger cage later. Some rats need a bit longer to bond with each other.

How old are the babies?


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## shibezone (Feb 5, 2018)

The babies are 10 weeks old, I brought them home three weeks ago this Saturday! We started intros last Thursday, going from neutral territory, to sitting in the big boys' carrier, to the playpen which is home turf for the big boys, all of it went fine, no fights. They've been able to sit calmly with each other for an hour or more easily.

I'm wondering if maybe they weren't as bonded as I thought or maybe the big cage was just too much of a shock for that long for Luca (the scaredy baby) considering he did cry during the first intro. By cry I mean he whined like a teeny tiny tea kettle.

Do you have any tips or pointers on making sure they're bonded well? They snuggle piled in the carrier waiting to be put in the big cage, so I thought we were good but I'm not sure if I'm mistaking them ignoring each other for comfort or something.

What I'm thinking I'm going to do is go back to the tub with all of them and smear them up good with some baby food to get them grooming eachother, or possibly take them in the carrier on a car ride for a while.


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## Kelsbels (Aug 12, 2015)

What I do now with intros I'm not 100% sure are working is to always go back a stage if they seem like they suddenly are picking on eachother. This might mean some back and forth between cages, but it's better than having an accident. I do not freerange them at this time either, since it disrupts the bonding process.

Pile ups are a really good sign, and watching why your scardy boy is squeaking is important. You want to rule out any aggressive behavior from the one your boy is squeaking at. Sometimes you'll have noisy rats, I certainly have a few rats who love being vocal.

During the big cage stage it's not necessary for them to be piled up right away either. What you want to be sure of is that no one is attacking the other.


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## shibezone (Feb 5, 2018)

There's been no aggression to speak of, really and basically none of it towards scaredy baby. A couple small slap fights that were over in less than five seconds (they didn't nose off beforehand, they just slapped eachother a bit), and a couple instances where a baby thought they were cornered but that's all. The worst their interactions ever are is the babies getting a little tense, so I think what happened to Luca (scaredy baby) is he got cornered and got freaked out, then didn't calm down because he was scared in a new place.

Since there's been no aggression I'll put the babies back in tonight, give them all something to play with and eat and see how it goes.

I'd sent an email to the breeder to chat about it and she basically said if the big boys aren't being aggressive it's just a matter of letting the scaredy baby get over his fear himself and that does make sense to me.


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## Kelsbels (Aug 12, 2015)

Yeah that sounds good.  Best wishes!


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## shibezone (Feb 5, 2018)

Thank you! I made little 'rat lunches' of some grapes, celery and tuna wrapped up in paper towels for them, put the babies back in and it was a hit. So far so good! No fights and no screams!


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## Kelsbels (Aug 12, 2015)

That's very promising! They're probably getting used to eachother.


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## shibezone (Feb 5, 2018)

Another update: They're all getting along fine! I have yet to see snuggle piles, but I think that may be due in part to not having a hide large enough for all five of them. I've been adding back in more things as they continue to settle, so I'll find a nice big one.


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## rattified-ruthie (Mar 14, 2020)

shibezone said:


> Update: Decided to try it anyway and it went sort of good? The big boys did really well and the babies did so-so. One baby is integrating pretty well, the other not so much. He spent a lot of the night in one corner of the cage and by this morning he was screaming whenever any other rat came near him, even the other baby. I took them out and I'll go back to bonding exercises, I'm a little bummed I spent that long cleaning for it to not work but what can you do, right?


Wow- the screaming in a corner part sounds bad. Like, scarred for life kind of bad. How are you going about rehabilitating him, socially?..... on the plus side though, maybe he will become a mama's boy  and cling to you for all his companionship needs


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