Pet rats are clean, intelligent, enjoy human company and make wonderful family pets.
It is always better to get rats from a breeder than from a pet store.
Introduce yourself to the breeder and ask a lot of questions.
Most breeders have application forms, do a contract and have a waiting list.
Before getting rats
When you pick up the rats
Before you extend your mischief
What happens when you introduce new rats to your existing mischief?
It is easier to introduce females to each other than males.
The best is and it is easier if the new rats are still kittens and/or if they had a lower rank in their former mischief.
Before the induction
Inductions
Following can happen during an induction
- sniffing at each other / - feeling frightened or threatened / - pushing with the butt
- humping / - puffing / - squeaking / - jumping / - standing / - boxing / - grabbing
- climbing or hiding to get away / - staring at each other / - putting down / - running
- giving or getting a clean, grooming / - snuggling and cuddling
- in the worst case: - injuries from biting; death
An induction can take a short time or a long time and sometimes the rats have to be introduced several times to each other. They can get on with each other straight away or it can take some time - it's successful or sometimes it is not. In the last event, you must keep them as 2 separate mischiefs.
Don't interrupt during an induction, only if they get seriously injured (blood). We know, it is hard not to do when you hear them squeaking and running around but if you do, it is possible that the new ones can never integrate into your existing mischief.
The most of our inductions were successful, apart from 2 where we had to keep the 3 Siamese bucks separate from our mischief. These were: two of them 18 months old and the other one ~ 1 year old.
Here you see some pictures that were taken during an induction.
The induction was successful after 1 attempt and all rats could be put together into the big cage on the same day.
New rats: 2 Siamese does ~1 year old
Existing mischief: 3 generations of does, age ~4months old - 2 years old
Method: small cage .
Before getting rats
Alternative: Print it, fill it out, scan it or take a picture and send it off.
When you pick up the rats
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