New rats
As some of you may know, I got two new rats about a month ago.
I'd like to defend myself and say that ever since I moved into the Old Apartment, I had planned on getting a hairless rat to be a companion for Vincent and Claude. When things went to shit and Claude passed away, I knew Vincent would need some ratty-friends, but I held off for a month or so until I had at least a vague idea of what my living situation would be.
This made apartment hunting difficult, because most places wouldn't even let me have even one rat, let alone two or three. That's one of the reasons I like my New Apartment so well; they only make you declare cats or dogs, and they don't care one way or the other if you have small animals as pets.
So after my emergency commissions were filled and I knew I would be fine financially, I found an online rat breeder and began negotiations.
Enter Salvador Dalí the hairless rat, and Piet Mondrian the dwarf rat. I only intended on adopting Salvador, because that's really all I could afford, but I told the breeder I was interested in the dwarfs as well.
She brought Piet (then un-named) with her, and his bold personality caught my eye. She told me that he was a two-for-one deal: Piet has ruby eyes, which means no one wants to adopt him, so if I bought any hairless rats Piet would be free.
Salvador was the least-timid of his hairless-litter, which says a lot: because even now he is cautious with every step, and basically uses Piet as a security blanket.
It's been a long road with these two: I am very spoiled with Vincent (and pretty much any other rat I've owned) because they've been highly socialized from the day they were born. Vincent and Claude (and their sisters) were the most hand-socialized rats I've ever owned (duh) so the difference has been staggering. At this age, Vincent couldn't get enough of people and if I passed him off to a new person he would make friends immediately: sniff them, beg for treats, start playing with their fingers, and maybe even licking them.
The first week with the newbies, the only time I saw Piet or Salvador was when I turned off the lights to sleep or watch a movie and they thought I wasn't looking. Even then, the moment I moved they would dash back into their hut. When Henrique got back from his trip he helped a lot in socializing them, mainly by waiting quietly and patiently at their cage while the TV played in the background, and then offering Pringles as a treat when they would act curious. (His reasoning being, and I quote, "well, if I was a prisoner and I was scared for my life, the only thing that would make me feel better is Pringles.")
The first bedding-change was exciting and a wee bit stressful because Salvador struggled like a little maniac to get out of my hands, and Piet (being so teenie) got loose and hopped around on the floor until I could scoop him back up. I gave them lots of treats after that.
Week two I encouraged them to take treats from my fingers, instead of waiting for me to drop them on the floor of the cage. Piet was eager for the food so he was the first to lose his fear: it took Salvador almost all week to learn that just because my hands were present didn't mean I would grab at him.
They were less scared for the second bedding change, so I took some time to play with each of them in my hands. Piet got curious and even climbed around in my hair, Salvador just fear-froze and sat in the crook of my arm until I put him away.
Small improvements.
The first time I held up Vincent to the bars of their cage to sniff them he flipped the fuck out: he grabbed at them, started huffing and puffing, and didn't calm down for nearly two minutes after I put him away. I've been slowly trying to get him used to them, and he's gotten to the point where he won't freak out if I hold him up to their cage, but he still gets upset if they're near his cage: even to the point of nipping at my finger after I handle them. (It wasn't a bad bite, he didn't latch on, and if I would have been one of them it just would have been a warning nip to say, "this is my space stay away!" He calmed down the instant he realized it was me and immediately started licking my fingers, probably because he was just happy to find a nest-mate.)
Piet and Salvador are slowly growing bolder. I bought Piet a wheel (dwarf rats are 1/4 the size and have 400% the energy of regular rats) and I've actually watched him use it on a few occasions! Salvador no longer flees to the hut the moment I'm in the room, and will even begrudgingly sniff and lick my fingers when I open the cage to pet him. They're socialized enough to play on my bed, which is a huge step in progress.
As far as socializing the two newbies with Vincent, the next step is to put some fabric in their cage and get them to dirty it up so it smells like them, and then leave it in Vincent's cage so he has no choice but to get acclimated with it. After that, I'll take the two small boys in their cage into the bathroom, and then let Vincent nose around. Then I'll reverse the process, putting Vincent in their cage and letting them sniff about.
By then, in about 3 weeks, Salvador will be 3/4 adult size (or thereabouts.) Piet isn't going to grow any more, so that will present its own challenges (like wrapping the big cage in chicken-wire so he can't escape.) At that point, I'll start slowly, and under intense scrutiny and supervision, introducing all of them to Vincent individually until he understands that they are friends.
Honestly my biggest concern is for Piet: he is bold and fearless, and will probably bound right up to Vincent. If he were a regular-sized rat he would have no problem; but Vincent is an Andre The Giant of rats (even on his diet) and dwarf rats have much more brittle bones: even under a good circumstance, Vincent could hold him in a domination-stance and still accidentally hurt him. So those two will need closely monitored until I know for a fact they get along.
Worst circumstance: Vincent will have to live out his life as a hermit in his own cage, and I'll have to get a special cage for Salvador and Piet.
Still, not a bad circumstance.
Best circumstance: after Vincent gets over himself he'll learn that he can play, chase, and tickle his two new friends: they'll all learn a new pecking-order and Piet, having the energy of the universe in him, will help keep Vincent active so I don't have to keep him on such a strict diet.
I'm already fantasizing about watching them all nustle up him a hammoc together. I picked these two rats because I had a good hunch, as a mama, that they would learn to get along with my sweet baby Vincent: regardless of Piet's two-for-one special, the reason I liked the idea of a dwarf rat was because it would be someone to keep Vincent on his toes. And Salvador was just curious enough that I knew that once he learned to trust a rat he would go along with whatever plans and schemes that other rat had - and he has proved it in his bond with Piet. Salvador and Piet really could help Vincent live out his little ratty-dreams, if he would just let them.
Vincent is my absolute baby: his sister Georgia bonded to me alright, but when Vincent broke his hip my heart went out to him, and ever since then he and I have been Buddies. My first thought has been for him: can I find him ratty-comrades that will help him live out a fulfilling and exciting ratty-life? I think I've found two new buddies that he could get along with, now I just have to help set the stage and help herd them all into friendship.
My only consolation in this dilemma is that I've helped hers incredibly despairing ratty-personalities into friendship before: I've had crotchety old man-rats befriend feisty little lady-rats before, and he was even neutered so hormones had nothing to do with it!! I just have to get my two newbies so comfortable with me that I can get them to use me as a security-blanket when Vincent is around.
I'd like to defend myself and say that ever since I moved into the Old Apartment, I had planned on getting a hairless rat to be a companion for Vincent and Claude. When things went to shit and Claude passed away, I knew Vincent would need some ratty-friends, but I held off for a month or so until I had at least a vague idea of what my living situation would be.
This made apartment hunting difficult, because most places wouldn't even let me have even one rat, let alone two or three. That's one of the reasons I like my New Apartment so well; they only make you declare cats or dogs, and they don't care one way or the other if you have small animals as pets.
So after my emergency commissions were filled and I knew I would be fine financially, I found an online rat breeder and began negotiations.
Enter Salvador Dalí the hairless rat, and Piet Mondrian the dwarf rat. I only intended on adopting Salvador, because that's really all I could afford, but I told the breeder I was interested in the dwarfs as well.
She brought Piet (then un-named) with her, and his bold personality caught my eye. She told me that he was a two-for-one deal: Piet has ruby eyes, which means no one wants to adopt him, so if I bought any hairless rats Piet would be free.
Salvador was the least-timid of his hairless-litter, which says a lot: because even now he is cautious with every step, and basically uses Piet as a security blanket.
It's been a long road with these two: I am very spoiled with Vincent (and pretty much any other rat I've owned) because they've been highly socialized from the day they were born. Vincent and Claude (and their sisters) were the most hand-socialized rats I've ever owned (duh) so the difference has been staggering. At this age, Vincent couldn't get enough of people and if I passed him off to a new person he would make friends immediately: sniff them, beg for treats, start playing with their fingers, and maybe even licking them.
The first week with the newbies, the only time I saw Piet or Salvador was when I turned off the lights to sleep or watch a movie and they thought I wasn't looking. Even then, the moment I moved they would dash back into their hut. When Henrique got back from his trip he helped a lot in socializing them, mainly by waiting quietly and patiently at their cage while the TV played in the background, and then offering Pringles as a treat when they would act curious. (His reasoning being, and I quote, "well, if I was a prisoner and I was scared for my life, the only thing that would make me feel better is Pringles.")
The first bedding-change was exciting and a wee bit stressful because Salvador struggled like a little maniac to get out of my hands, and Piet (being so teenie) got loose and hopped around on the floor until I could scoop him back up. I gave them lots of treats after that.
Week two I encouraged them to take treats from my fingers, instead of waiting for me to drop them on the floor of the cage. Piet was eager for the food so he was the first to lose his fear: it took Salvador almost all week to learn that just because my hands were present didn't mean I would grab at him.
They were less scared for the second bedding change, so I took some time to play with each of them in my hands. Piet got curious and even climbed around in my hair, Salvador just fear-froze and sat in the crook of my arm until I put him away.
Small improvements.
The first time I held up Vincent to the bars of their cage to sniff them he flipped the fuck out: he grabbed at them, started huffing and puffing, and didn't calm down for nearly two minutes after I put him away. I've been slowly trying to get him used to them, and he's gotten to the point where he won't freak out if I hold him up to their cage, but he still gets upset if they're near his cage: even to the point of nipping at my finger after I handle them. (It wasn't a bad bite, he didn't latch on, and if I would have been one of them it just would have been a warning nip to say, "this is my space stay away!" He calmed down the instant he realized it was me and immediately started licking my fingers, probably because he was just happy to find a nest-mate.)
Piet and Salvador are slowly growing bolder. I bought Piet a wheel (dwarf rats are 1/4 the size and have 400% the energy of regular rats) and I've actually watched him use it on a few occasions! Salvador no longer flees to the hut the moment I'm in the room, and will even begrudgingly sniff and lick my fingers when I open the cage to pet him. They're socialized enough to play on my bed, which is a huge step in progress.
As far as socializing the two newbies with Vincent, the next step is to put some fabric in their cage and get them to dirty it up so it smells like them, and then leave it in Vincent's cage so he has no choice but to get acclimated with it. After that, I'll take the two small boys in their cage into the bathroom, and then let Vincent nose around. Then I'll reverse the process, putting Vincent in their cage and letting them sniff about.
By then, in about 3 weeks, Salvador will be 3/4 adult size (or thereabouts.) Piet isn't going to grow any more, so that will present its own challenges (like wrapping the big cage in chicken-wire so he can't escape.) At that point, I'll start slowly, and under intense scrutiny and supervision, introducing all of them to Vincent individually until he understands that they are friends.
Honestly my biggest concern is for Piet: he is bold and fearless, and will probably bound right up to Vincent. If he were a regular-sized rat he would have no problem; but Vincent is an Andre The Giant of rats (even on his diet) and dwarf rats have much more brittle bones: even under a good circumstance, Vincent could hold him in a domination-stance and still accidentally hurt him. So those two will need closely monitored until I know for a fact they get along.
Worst circumstance: Vincent will have to live out his life as a hermit in his own cage, and I'll have to get a special cage for Salvador and Piet.
Still, not a bad circumstance.
Best circumstance: after Vincent gets over himself he'll learn that he can play, chase, and tickle his two new friends: they'll all learn a new pecking-order and Piet, having the energy of the universe in him, will help keep Vincent active so I don't have to keep him on such a strict diet.
I'm already fantasizing about watching them all nustle up him a hammoc together. I picked these two rats because I had a good hunch, as a mama, that they would learn to get along with my sweet baby Vincent: regardless of Piet's two-for-one special, the reason I liked the idea of a dwarf rat was because it would be someone to keep Vincent on his toes. And Salvador was just curious enough that I knew that once he learned to trust a rat he would go along with whatever plans and schemes that other rat had - and he has proved it in his bond with Piet. Salvador and Piet really could help Vincent live out his little ratty-dreams, if he would just let them.
Vincent is my absolute baby: his sister Georgia bonded to me alright, but when Vincent broke his hip my heart went out to him, and ever since then he and I have been Buddies. My first thought has been for him: can I find him ratty-comrades that will help him live out a fulfilling and exciting ratty-life? I think I've found two new buddies that he could get along with, now I just have to help set the stage and help herd them all into friendship.
My only consolation in this dilemma is that I've helped hers incredibly despairing ratty-personalities into friendship before: I've had crotchety old man-rats befriend feisty little lady-rats before, and he was even neutered so hormones had nothing to do with it!! I just have to get my two newbies so comfortable with me that I can get them to use me as a security-blanket when Vincent is around.