Hi everyone, there seems to be a lot of rattie lovers here so thought I'd ask some advice. I have 3 young boys, Bilbo, Bino and Frodo...about 4 months old. Today, I was given 2 old boys, Rocky and Lucky. They are 4 years old and lovely old gentlemen. Lucky has had a dislocated hip but walks quite well tho with a limp. Now my question is, how do I go about putting the old boys with the young-uns or is it better not to? Main reason being that I really don't want to have 2 cages and would love them all to be together. Thanks in advance for any advice.

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The more people I meet, the more I like my dogs.

I would advise against putting them together if possible. Your older boys are very old for rats and this is the time when they need their rest and should probably be kept in a retirement cage (a low level cage with everything they need at the bottom). The young boys will want to play all the time and may go through a slightly aggressive and hormonal puberty. To be honest the old ones will probably get very tired of the energetic boys. The cage needs of both groups are so different. The young boys will need lots of levels and toys (its not fair to take this away in the interest of the older ones). Its also not fair to put the old ones in a big cage with ramps they can't climb up, shelves they can't reach and dangers of them falling due to impaired mobility. I would suggest looking for a smaller cage for the oldies. Good luck.

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Christina
Owned by Freya & Gobi - My two gorgeous oriental cats
RIP Bea, Murrey, Monty, Flicks, Kitten and Blue (ratties)


Virkon Disinfectant - For veterinary and domestic cleaning of cages and surfaces

i have to say i dont agree, i would put them in the same cage if they get along. In a natural setting this would be very common and i've never had a problem having very old and babies in the same cage. At the moment we have 3 different ages of rats, the most we've had is 5 different ages, from 3 and half years to 8 weeks old and have only had personality problems, never age related problems.

The younger rats won't bother the older ones much as you think as they will get told off if they get too close to a grouchy older rat anyway and will learn the new cage dynamics pretty quickly.

i always think it's good to have a good range of ages so that the older rats can teach the younger rats their habits, tricks etc. The older rats can be a calming influence and the younger rats will give the older rats some exercise and something interesting to do.

having different tiers of your cage and loads of toys again shouldn't be problem as long as there are hammocks or something else to break falls of any rat (not just old ones, all rats fall off sometimes), there shouldn't ever really be a full length of cage that a rat can fall down without a soft break at least half way down.

what your older rats can no longer do, you will probably find they don't bother doing it anymore, you shouldn't restrict your rats movement simply because YOU think it's too much for it. there is no such thing as too much toys for rats, they're highly intelligent and making their cage bare means their cage is boring and will lead to them doing nothing and like old humans doing nothing all day means they pop their clogs sooner due to inactivity and lack of stimulus.

assuming they don't know each other already, introduce them on neutral ground, clean the bigger cage out so that the older rats don't feel as territorial and the younger rats can lay down some scents of their own etc. take it slow, keep an eye on them, squabbling is bound to happen as long as no open wounds happen you should be fine.

good luck

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This is not a game of 'who the fek are you'.

Not a single gram of fek shall be given today.

Thank you both so very much for your great advice. I really appreciate it. The 'old boys' came in a very large cage so that is what they have been used to. Today, I put the young-uns in with them and all went very well. I kept an eye on them for a couple of hours...they are in my computer room. Since then, all seems to be fine. I have hammocks everywhere. Should the toys be loose in the cage or should they be tied on the cage?

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The more people I meet, the more I like my dogs.

glad alls going well. as for the toys it depends on what kind of toys they are, they don't have to be tied down unless that's how they work.

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This is not a game of 'who the fek are you'.

Not a single gram of fek shall be given today.

I guess it was rather a silly question re the toys but my ratties have never had them. I have always had lots of boxes and tunnels for them. The "old boys" brought toys with them. They are mainly the type you put in with birds. I put them in the cage but they just end up in the paper shreddings. LOL.

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The more people I meet, the more I like my dogs.