Friend for my Rat

Question
Hello! What a great site! I just adopted a 9 month old male albino rat from the shelter, (I volunteer and he had been there for a month alone in a tiny cage with nothing in it and almost no interaction.) I know almost nothing about rats but have read on numerous sites that it is absolutely necessary to have a pair of rats.  I would like to adopt another male rat from a shelter but I am wondering what would be the best for my current little guy.  He doesn't seem aggressive at all but doesn't really seem to enjoy being held too much and is not very playful.  Should I look for an older rat or is it best to go with younger?  From what I know he has had multiple previous owners and I do not believe was ever kept with other rats. I do not know this for sure but I figure I should just assume this as the worst case scenario.  Should I look for a playful rat or a more calm one like him?

Thanks so much!

Answer
Hi Liz

Have you gone to my website, Critter city?

Here is the URL

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/trainingshyorbitingrats.htm

If you dont know much about rats, this is a surefire way to learn about them, and even though I am the author of this site, I have been told by people my site is easy to follow, not real "clinical" and I try to keep the big medical terms limited and also have outlined many subjects that seem to concern rat owners the most, from common ailments including tumors, how to set up a play area for your rat to keep safe during his time out of the cage, a page on proper nutrition since alot of people buy the rat seed mix from the pet store and thats it, unknowing that the high protein and fats will take its toll on the rats kidneys later in life, and I have a page dedicated to training shy rats or even rats that bite. I think you would benefit from that because you dont want to NOT bond with your little guy or your missing out on alot of fun! Rats behave like dogs and are super intelligent and they also bond strongly to their owner along with their cagemate. They are fiercely loyal and also very strong willed with a strong will to survive.  

As for a friend for him, I would opt for one a bit younger but not too much younger but remember that you cannot just put them together right off, you will need to make it a slow but smooth transition. After quarantine is up (check out my page on quarantine too) you will want to park the new rats cage right next to the existing rat but not so close that tails can accidentally fall into the other rats cage or this can lead to tail biting and cause serious injury and degloving to the rats tail. After a day or two of them next to each other, switch rats into the others cage, and let them smell around. I would do this for at least 5 days and also during playtime, have one rat out at a time and they will mingle through the cage bars. After a week or so, let them meet, one on the floor, you holding the other.....let them sniff each other but be right there, ready to squirt them with a water bottle should they                                                            really get into a fight.  You should expect some wrestling around and stuff but never anything where they draw blood. A super angry rat will stand up, puff his fur out to make  himself appear larger, and he will hiss or make a really odd grunting sound. We can cover more about intros later, first, lets work on getting the rat.