How do you introduce rats?

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optimousdx

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Im getting a 1 year old rat from Craigslist and hes never been with another rat as far as I know so how do I introduce him?
 
I would put them in the same cage and see what they do,if they get along fine awesome,if they don't you should put them in seperate cages and put them next to eachother,give them a couple days and try again,if that don't work,Idk
 
I have never had luck introducing older male rats. But I've had success in introducing younger males to older males that wouldn't get along with other rats. I've always thought Skippy and Ollie would be lone rats forever, but I recently got two younger boys (around 9 weeks old).. and even though Skippy and Ollie can't stand each other, they love the younger boys. They have never showed agression towards them, except for maybe power grooming.
 
If they're both males I wouldn't even try it. If you want a pair of male rats it's best to get them together when they're both young..otherwise it almost never works out and they'll attack each other.

Females are a completely different story. First of all do NOT just throw them in a cage together, or they WILL fight! You want to introduce them in a neutral area like a bathtub, where they can get used to each others scents, then if they get along you have to completely clean the cage & everything inside of it..then move them in but keep an eye on them for about 20 minutes. Little fights now and then are okay to assert dominance..but don't allow nasty fights to happen!
 
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