[Eriya]

I was just wondering how long one should wait before introducing new rat to an existing group? Is it ok to give the new rat a couple or so hours to settle and then start intros, or is it best to leave them overnight, or even give the new rat a few days? My only worry about not doing it sooner is that the new rat could get quite lonely and that wouldn't help with confidence building, happiness, etc. What do you think?

 

[thedogsmother]

I always wait 2 weeks if possible, thats mainly for quarantein reasons, in case the new rat brings any illness in, especially with outbreaks of major rat viruses being reported at the moment.

 

[blade100]

But to quarantine you would need to have the rat away from yours ie not in the same air space. And you'd need to change your clothes and wash your hands when handling the new rat to going to yours.

Has there been another SDA virus outbreak again gill?

 

[Eriya]

Well, i wouldn't have anywhere to quarantine then. I guess I'd just have to take the risk then? Also, in that case, waiting two weeks wouldn't be necessary then?

 

[Guest]

But to quarantine you would need to have the rat away from yours ie not in the same air space. And you'd need to change your clothes and wash your hands when handling the new rat to going to yours.

Has there been another SDA virus outbreak again gill?

Yup, there has been confirmed cases in Worcestershire, Ipswich, Chester and Stoke on Trent now

As to the op's question, I also wait two weeks before introducing any new animals just in case any underlying medical issues arise.

 

[blade100]

I'm about 30 miles from Stoke but I'm not planning on getting anymore rats not until I'm down to 3 and hopefully that's another year or so away yet!

Have u any spare cages to do intros etc?
How big is your current main cage? Will it be big enough for one more rat?
What age is this other rat your getting? If it's under 12 weeks you'll need two of the same age so they can grow up together and they'll have the mental age of each other.

 

[Eriya]

Yes, I've now got a spare cage, we were mostly waiting for that to be sorted as we've wanted a third rat for a long time now. My current cage should be big enough for one extra. My current two boys are still relatively young (not sure how old at the moment, but between 5-6 months), would the younger one be ok with just them or should he still have a friend of the same age?

 

[Eriya]

The rat cage calculator says you can have 4 rats in my cage (I have two just now), but i don't think it actually is big enough for four, especially since I have boys. Should I still consider getting two new ones?

 

[Guest]

The rat cage calculator says you can have 4 rats in my cage (I have two just now), but i don't think it actually is big enough for four, especially since I have boys. Should I still consider getting two new ones?

What cage do you have?

 

[Eriya]

Ferplast furet plus.

 

[Guest]

Ferplast furet plus.

Personally I wouldn't put any more than 3 boys in those.

 

[Eriya]

Yeah, that's how I feel as well. So would it be better to just have one youngster and not risk an overcrowded cage?

 

[blade100]

I think it's very important to have two babies so that they can play together! Being as your other two are 6 months old they won't have the sane mental age as a rat under 12 weeks. It's like having a room with one small child and two adults. The child won't have anyone same age to play with and grow up together with.

If I were u I'd get a bigger cage then get two litter brothers. Also that way when your two older boys pass away you aren't left with one young lone rat.

 

[Cami]

Alternatively you could always try and find a rat of a similar age to your current ones, but then i'm not sure how easy it is to intro older boys together, i've always had girls

as for the introing, I rescued 3 a couple years ago and introed them to my current 2 after a day and they got on like a house on fire! but they were girls and there was only about a month age gap

 

[Eriya]

It would be nice to get a boy similarly aged to mine, but because I'm still relatively new to rats and haven't done intros yet, I'd rather stick with an "easier" option (I read that introducing adult male rats to adult male rats is one of the most difficult ones!). By the way, shame on you guys for encouraging my GMR!

Oh, and does anyone know if there are any cages with similar floor dimensions as the Ferplast Furet Plus (approx. 80x50cm) but taller than what the Furet is (approx. 80cm)? I've only really got space for a cage with that floor dimensions. I thought maybe the Furet XL is like that, but it's the depth/width that's bigger from the Furet Plus, not the height

Edit: After doing a quick cage search, I only found these two: the Liberta Abode (80x50cm floor dimensions and 96cm height), and a Hamberley Single Metal Large Cage (from equinecaninefeline), but I'm not sure about how high this cage is, as I'm assuming the height stated includes the stand. Anyone have any opinions on those cages? I do like the Ferplast one I've got, so if I were getting a new one I'd like it to be quite similar, in the sense that it should ideally have big doors on front and top, should look quite nice, and should have a relatively deep tray (not that my rats dig, but I like to have a deepish tray for peace of mind).

 

[blade100]

The abode is a great cage and can house 6 rats but personally I'd house 5 in it.
The Jenny KD cage is the new version of the old Jenny. The Jenny KD has a big door at the front and on top.
When I'm down to 4 boys this is what there going in it's a great cage also and houses up to 5 but again I'd only have 4 in it. Plus it's got a nice deep base unlike the abode.
Btw I have the XL cage for my 8 and it's got a massive floor print!

 

[Eriya]

The abode is a great cage and can house 6 rats but personally I'd house 5 in it.

Can you take the wheels off? Cause I can only keep the cage on top of a table, so I'd be worried the cage would "slide" off or something :001_unsure: Also, I've read just a few reviews saying people's rats have chewed through the tray, or just moved the tray aside and escaped - is that really an issue?

 

[blade100]

Yes the wheels come off.
And yeh the tray is flimsy plastic and if you had very small slim rats then yes they prob would get out. Quite a few abode owners buy the metal trays you can get from john hopewell which is online and costs between £25-£40

 

[Eriya]

Yes the wheels come off.
And yeh the tray is flimsy plastic and if you had very small slim rats then yes they prob would get out. Quite a few abode owners buy the metal trays you can get from john hopewell which is online and costs between £25-£40

That's good to know, thank you! I was wondering if it's possible to post a link to those trays, as I find his website really confusing! Also, it looks on the pictures like the bottom of the cage is made of wire, is that also removable? To be honest, I'm not too fussed with a slide out tray, can you buy trays that would just "sit" there and not slide out?

 

[Eriya]

After some more researching I've found a Savic Freddy 2 Max and Savic Chichi 2 which are both 80x50 floor dimension and 80cm tall. I did notice that I said my current cage is 80cm tall, but that's not true, it's closer to 70cm I think. Anyway, the rat cage calculator says both can have up to 5 rats, so I could easily keep 4 boys there I think. Any opinions on both of them? The Chichi one seems to be way cheaper than Freddy 2 max, no idea why if they're the same size, haha!

Edit: The Chichi 2 cage seems to be much smaller when sold in Pets at Home (I first looked at equinecaninefeline, but they're sold out!). I'm so confused