keepyourcorsetstight asked: About 2 months ago, I got one rat. Mostly because we couldn't afford a big cage, and wanted to learn how to care for a rat before trying to take care of several at once. A few days ago we got a second one (since we have a bigger cage now) and my first rat, Heather, doesn't seem too happy about it. She wants the cage to herself and wants all my attention, getting jealous if I spend time with the new rat. I thought rats were supposed to enjoy being around other rats? Will she warm up to her?
Mod 2: I answered a similar question about introductions in this post. Basically, it’s best to introduce them by having short play-dates in a neutral territory, so that they can get used to each other before they start living together. To Heather, it’s like a random stranger just showed up in her house one day and expects to be allowed to live there, no problem - even though she has no idea if they’re dangerous or not! You want to give them the chance to get acquainted outside of her territory so that when you do try to put them together in the same cage, they’re already friends. The vanilla essence tip is also really helpful, as rather than smelling an unknown, possibly dangerous rat, Heather will simply be smelling something tasty and intriguing. If you want more in-depth tips, ratforum.com is a great place to go. :)
