Introductions

Introducing your new friends to your resident rats should be done with care. It is important to note that you should never allow your rats to play with animals of other species. In the wild, rats will kill at eat smaller rodents like mice, lizards, small snakes, or birds. Larger animals such as rabbits (who can be very territorial and aggressive, despite the media portrayal of them as peaceful little cows,) cats and dogs may injure and kill a rat, or suffer a serious bite, should interactions get out of hand. While it can be fun to let your animals touch noses and interact, it is best to keep them separate - no matter how "cute" it looks, your pets' safety is not worth the risk.

You should also keep in mind that unneutered rats of different genders should never be allowed to play together under any circumstances. A female rat in heat can mate with a male in under 2 seconds, and there have been purported cases of rats breeding through barriers. It is better to stay safe and always keep your male and female rats separate unless one or both genders have been altered, otherwise you may end up with many more rats than you intended!

The first thing to remember is that rats are territorial animals by nature. They live in social colonies, with their resources devoted to keeping their colony safe, well-fed, and with their own breeding rights intact. Domesticated rats have relaxed these rules to the extent that unrelated rats can meet as adults and maintain a happy relationship, but introductions can still be a very delicate times.

It is important to do introductions on a neutral territory which none of the rats regard as "theirs." There should be no barrier to you being able to break the rats up if necessary. Good places for introductions include the bathtub, bed, or a couch which the rats cannot crawl into, or a structure like the Martin's Playpen. I do not recommend using a very large space such as a rat-proofed room where they can wander too far apart and decide to "own" part of the room and encounter one another in a hostile manner. A large travel tub can also be used for introductions.

It is totally normal for rats to need to establish dominance with one another. Expect to hear squeaking, to see them standing on their hand legs and pushing one another with their front legs, or flipping and pinning one another on their backs. Scuffling, pulling out tufts of one another's fur, or biting/scratching to draw blood should not be tolerated, but some screaming and tussling is normal and must be allowed.

Bathing both rats before their introductions and putting them together while still wet can often be helpful. They will be too annoyed about being wet to pay too much attention to the newcomer, and may decide that mutual grooming is the lesser of two evils. Additionally, washing can help wash away their natural scent and make them smell more similarly (they'll both smell like the soap you used) and make them more likely to accept one another.

Sometimes it can take several introductions for rats to get along well - and some rats simply do not get along, but will get along with different rats. It is important that a rat not live alone if at all possible.

Make sure that once your rats are getting along in their introduction area that you introduce them into a completely neutral cage! Whichever of them lived in the cage before will have scent marked it as his territory, and may forget a new friendship when reminded that the other rat is essentially an invader. Really scrub down the cage with very hot water and diluted bleach, and allow it to thoroughly dry. There should be a little scent left on it as possible when you put the rats into it. Replace or thoroughly wash all toys - cloth or wooden toys should be completely removed until the next cage cleaning, and all bedding should be replaced with fresh. Make sure the food hopper and water bottle are full so there are no disagreements over scarce resources, and provide numerous hammocks or nesting boxes so that each rat can claim one if need be.

Rats should not be separated or punished if they scuffle! If they are not allowed to establish a dominance between them, they will never be able to live in peace together. Rats also do not understand punishment, and will only associate time-outs, being scared or spanked with the other rat, causing more negativity. Unless blood is drawn, they should be allowed to work out their disagreements between one another.