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My new pet rat is fighting with my existing one!

21 17:35:29

Question
Hello, I have had an albino fancy rat for five months and her name is Daisy, she is very lovable.  I made her a house and i bought her a Rat Mansion. On December 26th of 2008,my parents finally gave in to getting her a friend, another female fancy rat that is white and black.  Her name is Suzie.  Suzie is very curious of Daisy and likes to go up and sniff her.  Daisy is very big and Suzie is only 2 weeks old so she is very scared of Daisy as well.  Daisy goes up to Suzie and sometimes raises her hair and starts hitting her and trying to bite her which causes Suzie to squeak loudly and hide.  Daisy is very loving, she has never bit anyone, and is very sweet, Suzie is just as sweet and lovable, but is scared of Daisy and cautious at the same time.  What can i do?  I can't buy another cage, I sprayed all of them with febreze so they smell alike and that DID help.  I put them in the bathtub and that DID help, but SOMETIMES they still bite and fight. Ive only had her for about 5 hours as of this question.

Answer
I think you mean two months, not two weeks - at two weeks a baby is barely able to toddle and have their eyes open. Why did you use febreeze? Be very very careful spraying anything like that on a rat - if they breathe in the fumes it could be harmful, and I'm not sure how safe febreeze is! In the future if you want to give them a neutral smell, use real vanilla extract dabbed just behind their ears and at the base of their tail.

You need to clean and sanitize the cage and rearrange things while you let Suzie and Daisy hang out in a neutral area (a clean dry bathtub or safe secure room). After you have the cage in order, put them back in there, and let them work out a pecking order. With rats, the rule of thumb is NO BLOOD, NO FOUL. Which means if Daisy isn't actually hurting Suzie, don't separate them or intervene, they need to work out the pecking order themselves. The more you interrupt, the more agitated Daisy will become.

Good luck.