Depressed rat

[Nebbz]

I put up a post about nipping rats, well the one in question isnt really settling in what so ever!

she sleeps in her hammock facing the wall. doesnt want anything to do with the other rats even though skye and sniffles try there best to get her to join in but she turns it aggressive.

i know rats shouldnt be on there own. but does she need to be separated! she looks miserable

[Seansmegghead]

Is it a teenage rat?

Maybe the other two rats are the weired abnormal ones
an unconformist rat.

[Nebbz]

she is going in to her teens, shes about 18 weeks old now.

Im just worried im going to have to split her up from the others because she isnt a rat rat. Ive had her about 8 weeks now. i mean as i speak they are all sleeping in the same hammock all four of them *in the smallest one mind! tut* but its the others sleeping on her, she wont go to them ?

[KathyM]

What did intros go like (ie. time, how you did it, etc)? What is her health like? Quite often we humans misinterpret things. At her age and in such a short space of time I wouldn't be thinking of making her live alone, she's just starting to come into maturity too. Just like we don't like all people we meet, rats don't necessarily click with every rat they meet - it may be that she needs more time or eventually needs different friends, but she should not live her life alone. I've had rats that didn't bond instantly, where I felt I had to shift the group round again but before I got to that point I found them curled up with each other. Give it a bit more time, if there's major injury to rats, then different groupings might be necessary.

[KathyM]

Originally Posted by Nebbz

i mean as i speak they are all sleeping in the same hammock all four of them *in the smallest one mind! tut* but its the others sleeping on her, she wont go to them ?

You're reading too much into it, if she didn't want to be with them she would not tolerate that and by gum you'd know about it.

[Nebbz]

took about three days in general to introduce her, as have a small cage i put next to large, then put it in the large cage, eventually open it up when i think its fine through the bars.

i think i am looking in to it too much and worrying far to much. Just dont want her to be unhappy u know.

she seems to get along with skye on and off, its when they start trying to play with her it all goes tits up and fights break out!

[LisaLQ]

Stick with it, I'm sure she'll settle in soon. One of my girls groups were particularly nosey with a newcomer, to the point of her hiding all day - I thought I'd have to split them up - now they're best of friends.

IME although adult male intros are more commonly tricky, girls can be just as bad, if not worse.

No blood no foul is my rule, and even then it depends on whether it's a scratch or a wound!