# Skip quarantine?



## keeta0 (Jun 28, 2016)

I am supposed to be getting a new rat soon that will be around the same age as my current rats.. But i dont have an extra cage to quarantine the new rat. is it okay to just introduce him immediately to my other two? My rats powergroom each other but aren't violent.


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

I would never ever suggest skipping quarantine and I don't think anyone else should ever. 

While it could all be safe and fine, the risk is still there. And while a proper quarantine would involve separate air space totally, still doing the best quarantine you can, will still help limit exposure to a whole host of things.

But I also wouldn't suggest getting another rat without a spare cage. Even the best rats could be off & there is always a chance intros won't go well. I mean if it doesn't go well you are kindof in a bad situation with no where else to put the other rat ya know? 

Grabbing a small cheap cage as a temp cage seems like the best idea. you could even make a large bin cage as temp but you should always have a backup cage when bringing in new rats just incase something happens or if they do not get along.

I would always suggest planning for the worst while hoping for the best. It is just better to be prepared.


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## Rattielover965 (Apr 26, 2016)

I 100% agree with moonkissed.Remember,you need a separate airspace and if you don't quarantine the new rat your whole mischief could(the chances are low) get sick and pass.


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## keeta0 (Jun 28, 2016)

alright, thank you!


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## Veileddreamer (Sep 21, 2015)

I got really excited with my second pair of rats and didn't quarantine them. Though nothing happened, I really, really regret it. Anything could have happened... they were from a Craiglist oopsie and it was really just a terrible idea. You almost never have any idea what you're bringing into your mischief when you get a new baby, you know? It's sad to think about but he could have some terrible dread disease... it'd be extremely sad if he passed, but imagine everybody getting it and getting really sick.... (For Googlers reading this quickly, *I am not recommending not **quarantining*! *Not quarantining is always a bad idea.* I am saying I didn't, and I still feel bad about it.)

I second the idea on a second cage, even a cheap, temporary one. I thought my original 2 + new 2 were going to get on swimmingly and while that seemed the case for the first couple days, it quickly turned around and they had to be separated in the two halves of a DCN for over a month before they could safely play nice without being watched all the time.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Quarantine is a matter of odds and statistics.... lots of rats have mites, so if you don't quarantine you are going to get mites sooner rather than later... But they are easy to treat, so no big deal... and they can take several weeks to show up, and some rats don't scratch so they show up on your other rats... after quarantine anyway.

But depending on where you live and where you adopt your rats from, there's likely a very small percentage of rats that are carrying something dangerous to your other rats (or you)... The odds are likely in your favor at a pretty good rate of 50 to 1 or 100 to 1 against adopting a contagiously sick rat... Most people take their chances and get lucky. But when you do get that really sick rat, you can get wiped out or run up some serious vet bills overnight.

I've been dealing with same the breeder for a while now, and before that I did business with the same pet shop that got their rats from the same mill... I usually adopt pups that cant be introduced to our older rats for a few weeks and so far I've been lucky...

Most of the nightmare scenarios I've read about have happened to rescues or larger show breeders who exchange breeding stock. 50 to 1 odds aren't nearly as good when you take in, buy or trade for 25 or more rats a year. 

I've raised and bred tropical fish most of my life, small scale and I hardly ever saw a sick fish, but at one time I had over 30 aquariums set up and was getting wild fish through contacts from all over the world.... It hardly took any time at all before just about every aquarium was contaminated by something different and lethal. I wound up at the supermarket buying a shopping cart full of bleach and starting over. It was heart breaking as some of the fish I lost haven't been seen in the US since... 

When you do a couple or a few rats, the odds favor you, but the more rats you adopt, especially from places you don't know, the worse your odds get. I would never suggest that someone shouldn't quarantine, but I'll bet just about everyone on this forum has gotten away with it at some time or another. It may sound hypocritical, but quarantine is actually a rather good idea if you can do it.

Best luck.


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## HiddenValleyRattery (Sep 16, 2015)

My knowledge on rat diseases in USA is very limited. In Australia we are luckily enough to really only risk the run of mites/lice when bringing in new rats. 

As rat daddy stated it can "take several weeks {for anything} to show up". If know the breeder and the quality of ratties they breed/house its unlikely you'll get something. But like i said i'm unaware of the potential diseases rats may have in the usa. 

Best of luck! And how exciting getting a new baby! Congrats


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

There are a few real nasty viruses here. The kind that literally wipe out ratteries almost overnight. But they are usually so virulent, that they don't spread too far. Once a rattery gets infected it doesn't have much of a chance to distribute too many healthy looking rats. The most recent outbreak I've heard of was through a rat show where breeders exchange breeding stock... one infected breeder brought in sick stock and the show was the vector for the epidemic. But again, large rat breeders may in fact be bringing in way more rats in a year than most of us do in a lifetime... And a larger rat show will bring more rats into one place from different locations than just about any other rat activity. Again, that's when the odds go against you... 200 rats in one place when most likely less than 1 in 100 is sick... Those odds almost guarantee that there is at least one sick rat in the show.

Likewise, some years ago a rescue in Colorado was wiped out as were the rats belonging to the staff. When a place takes in lots of rats from lots of places, and some twisted humans would rather give their rats away than treat them, the odds of getting a sick rat in again go against the rescue.

Most breeders have very strict quarantine policies, many won't let anyone into their rattery. Even rat mills are usually smart enough not to introduce new rats into their lines. A single infection can kill off thousands of rats and put the mill out of business. In nature wild rats are usually pretty healthy because rats are territorial and packs tend to keep a distance from each other so diseases don't easily spread from pack to pack. And for the most part rats don't necessarily play when they meet they fight, so play dates among rat owners are uncommon... 

All of this goes in our favor. It makes the worst of the rat viruses very uncommon. Would I go to a casino that offers me a bet that would be 100 to 1 in my favor... you bet I would! Winning 99% of the time would be a great way to get rich fast. Would I bet my life, or the life of my rats on it? I'm thinking there's a lot to lose and not much to gain if you can do the quarantine. But yes... the vast majority of people will get away with it.


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