Rat Integration

Question
I am having trouble introducing a new rat to a 1 year old. I had had two but unfortunately one passed. I waited about 3 months to get a new one so Petunia would not be lonely and have someone to groom with.
  
I have kept them in separate cages but have let them roam together outside the cage. Petunia will "beat up" on Luna and scare her. Luna did go in Petunias cage and got bit on the back by Petunia.I do not want that to happen again but I want them to be able to live in the same cage. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Patience. Patience. Patience.  Know how you had to wait forever for me to answer you (thank you for your patience! :) It takes time sometimes, depending on the rat.  As for me taking so long to write, allexperts sends me the message after filtering out your personal info such as your email address.  If for some reason my email thinks its spam, I never see it. I am trying to remedy this problem as I am not getting important email from other people, including your email.

Anyhow, how long did you wait before introducing your new rat to the old rat? Did you place the new rat in a cage next to the existing rat for at least a week before they met face to face?  Have they had a chance to go into each others cages (alone of course to avoid conflict) this allows them to mark their scent on items in the other rats cage and when the owner of the cage returns home they will smell the other rats scent. This also gets them used to each other...lets them know that there is a new kid on the block and soon they will be making new friends.

What is going on now with the two?