INTROS IS HELL -- Part III

/////

9) WHEN TO BREAK UP A FIGHT: if it looks like someone is going to get hurt! Avoid biting and blood. Watch for "posing": when an agressive rat puffs himself up and approaches another rat sideways, it means an attack is imminent. If a bad fight breaks out, you can separate the rats with a piece of cardboard or sweep them apart with a whisk broom. Then, PUT YOUR GLOVES ON and try some of these methods:

a) Take the aggressor out of the cage for awhile and let him sit alone in a carrier. Maybe a half hour will do it. Maybe he'll need a few hours in there. Vary your method and observe the results.

b) Bully him back! Put your gloves on, grab him and turn him over on his tummy and hold him till he squeaks.

c) Mark him yourself to remind him that above all: it is YOU who is alpha --Pee in a cup, flip him and hold him, then mark him tummy and back with your urine. Mark the other rats. Mark the corners of the cage.

10) WHEN TO LEAVE A FIGHT ALONE: If there is screaming, but NO BITING OR BLOOD OR POSING, etc., try NOT breaking up the fight. Just observe and see if they can work it out themselves. Put your gloves on a watch carefully! Be ready!

11) For 3 days, the cage will be a complete mess. It's gonna stink from all the loose stress pooping. There will be turds in the food dish. The litter box will be all over the place and so will all the boxes, toys and bedding. Try to keep it as clean as you can.

12) Feed boring food! They'll fight over chocolate chips. They won't fight over lab blocks.

OTHER HELPFUL METHODS Here are more suggestions from James Kittock's Ratlisters. Yes, some methods may seem to contradict others: but that's the whole point: THERE IS NO ONE WAY TO DO THIS: TRY ANYTHING THAT SEEMS LOGICAL! You'll see with these suggestions, the ratter has used knowledge of rat behavior in general, and their own rats' behavior in particular, to try to "think out" a possible solution to try out. You do that, too!

CLIVIA Try to introduce them in a cage none of them knows. Don't put in any houses or hideaways. Just a lot of food (like yoghurt, something they gotta eat together and cannot carry into separate corners) Stay with them! They might hurt each other badly. Try this a few minutes every day.

Go To Page: 1 2