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| Question about Pets:Thinking about introducing a new rat to my current one.? |
Yes, absolutely get a second rat ... maybe a third, too. A lot more rat keepers are finding it best to have rats in threes, especially if there is one resident rat already.
Remember, rats are a very social animal and thrive with other rats. Although I strongly do not recommend single rats as pets, it is still possible but requires a great deal of time to keep your pet rat company.
I would recommend younger rats than your current girl, and of course the new rats should also be females. Mixing males and females makes for a lot more rats than most pet owners are prepared to care for. Make sure you have a proper quarantine cage and area for the new rats. They should be kept separate at first.
As far as care and cost, you are already tending to one rat, taking care of one or two more will be very little additional time if they are all living together. The cost of feeding one or two more little mouths is not much more than feeding the first one.
Start with your quarantine. After you are satisfied with your quarantine period. You can start with neutral ground introductions. If that goes well put the cages near each other and try a few more neutral ground visits. If all continues smoothly try putting all the rats together in the same home.
Keep an eye on the rats the first little while (sometimes up to a day), to make sure that there are no territorial cage issues ... there may still be squabbles but that is normal
Thinking about getting a pet rat again? (previous)
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