Rattie Boys Introduction

Our latest pet rat, Archie, is about 3 to 4 weeks old, and is now beginning to show that he is a male.  This is good news, since our poor boy Bear (who we hoped was a girl when we bought him 6 months ago) has been without a companion, and going crazy not being able to visit the 2 girls in the cage next door to him.

I decided that I would let the boys sniff each other through the bars of the cage, and when it seemed friendly, I opened the door and let them sniff each other directly.  Archie fearlessly jumped into Bear's cage, and that was that.  We watched them for some time, and the interactions have been friendly, and unlike the girls (who still tousle often, ending with Sam on top, and Jen squeaking at her), the boys chased and sniffed each other.  In fact, our dear gentle giant Bear seemed a bit afraid of little Archie buzzing about and climbing on his tail.  Often, Bear retreated to the top of his food dish, watching Archie from above.

So I secured the second platform which we picked up at the dollar store.  The original cage was designed for birds, thus the vertical bars and lack of accessories.  We borrowed the ladder from the girls' cage, since they easily climb or jump up to their platform without it.

Bear seemed very interested in this new lower platform.  Archie was interested in everything, it was all new to him.  He figured out how to climb the vertical bars in no time, checking out the lower and Bear's upper platforms with no problem, not even bothering to use the ladder we provided.

It looks like a successful introduction.  Just in case Archie needs a place to retreat, we added a small tunnel which he can fit through but Bear can't.  But I don't think that will be necessary.

Here is a short video clip of the boys exploring together.  We are very happy for Bear that he finally has a friend to play with.