New arrivals
July 31, 2005 - Today I (finally) got to pick up my
two new boys Mink &
Dylan at the
rattery. I went up there together with
my mother and stepfather, and we were there at just after 3:00 PM. After
shortly introducing my mother to
Cappy (my favourite
"little" brother of Chester &
Casey), collecting Mink & Dylan, and
watching a very educative video of does in heat (it's so funny to see their
ears vibrate), we went home again. We were back at my place at about 5:30
PM, and now it was time to introduce Mink & Dylan to Chester &
Casey.
This morning I had very, very thoroughly cleaned the cage,
hoping it would smell just as strange to
Chester & Casey
as it would to Mink &
Dylan. I put Chester & Casey inside my
spare cage while I was away to collect Mink
& Dylan. I tought I'd let them meet at neutral ground, which in my case
was on a small table. I first let Mink & Dylan out on their own, after
which I also put Chester & Casey on the table. Chester almost
immediately climbed into the transport basket in which Mink & Dylan
were "hiding out", but then showed little interest. I then lifted
Casey into the basket, and he also wasn't impressed. So I then put all four
of them on the couch, and hoped for the best.
Not much happened, actually. The new boys checked out the
couch and then the cage, while Chester &
Casey took refuge upstairs. By now they surely
were impressed, and they were clearly not at ease to say the least.
But there were no big fights or anything, and there certainly was no
sign of aggression. Nevertheless I decided Mink
& Dylan would spent the night inside the
spare cage.
The next day I came home early from work, and I let all
four rats out on the couch again. This time they went into the cardboard
boxes at one side of the couch, which clearly is the domain of
Chester &
Casey. But Mink &
Dylan were allowed there without a problem,
although there was some "boxing & wrestling" this time to
show them who's in control. I saw Chester holding down Dylan in an almost
bored but very gentle fashion, after which I sort of knew thing would work
out just fine. Mind you, Dylan turns out to be a real "cry baby";
he literally squeeks if anyone (including me) even points in his direction,
although he isn't frightened or anything at all.
I did discover a little blood on Mink, apparently from a very small wound
from last night, but it didn't seem the bother him, so I just figured it
was an "accident". Mink is a brave little fellow, who thinks he
can take on about anyone, and I wouldn't be surprised if he'd take over
from Casey one day.
They spent the rest of the evening in the cage, and there
was only one incident after which I felt I had to take action;
Dylan had found a treat that
Chester felt belonged to him, and I was
foolish enough to react to Dylan's highly exaggerated squeeks. But after
seeing all four of them togther the rest of the evening, I decided their
introduction was a huge success. So from now on my
Jenny houses four male rats, which
is just about as much as she can handle.
Related tales
|
