# Dumbo Rats and Fancy Rats introduction



## MummyRat (Jan 24, 2010)

Hi all. 
I am after a few tips for introducing my rats to each other. i have 4 fancy rats all boys, 2 are approximatley 9 months old and the other 2 are approximatley 12 months old. i introduced them to each other 5months ago and they clicked straight away and are now inseperable. 
i recently adopted another 2 male rats, they are dumbo rats and 1 is hairless. they are approximatley 7 months - 1year. 
they are very friendly towards me and one of them seems to take little notice of the other four when i introduced them. 
the hairless rat seem to be aggressive towards my other rats, and i mean arched back and fighting with the others and drawing blood. 
i tried covering their scents with vanilla extract and it worked for about 5 mins and he was at it again. 
i wud prefer to have them all in the same cage as he is a hairless rat and they are prone to getting cold etc. is there any other tips that you could recommend?
i am going to try and switch their cages for about half hour or so but i cannot leave it like that for any longer as the group of four cannot live in the cage that the pair are in as it is too small for all four of them. 

I did read a while back that Dumbo rats and Fancy rats do not get on but then i also read from other sources that they do, so thought maybe it could be that they are not supposed to be mixed lol. 

I am not new to owning rats but i am new to owning dumbo rats, especially the hairless rat. 

any tips or information would be grately appreciated 

Thanks in advance 


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2 Dogs

Bonnie - Border Collie 
Masie - Jack Russell Cross

3 Cats 

Pebbles - White Tortoise shell (mother to other two cats)
Nutmeg - Tabby Cat
Tigger - Tabby Cat

6 Rats all boys 

Ben - Black Hooded Rat
Charlie - Champagne Pink Eyed Self

Mr Tumness - Black Hooded Rat
Mr Snuffles - Black Hooded Rat 

Pinky - Hairless Dumbo Rat
Perky - not to sure as of yet he is pure white apart from a thick silver stripe down his spine, having trouble finding this one lol


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## owieprone (Nov 6, 2008)

i've not had any problems housing top ear and dumbo together.. it all dependson personalities as far as my lot have gone, not ear orientation or breed.

i've not had a hairless so can't be much help with it's particular foibles. but..
you might find your hairless is very dominant and wants to be alpha, depending on how 'mean' he is you might want to see who will get on with him and house him with that one and leave the others as a group. but only house hairless with a rat that puts up with him happily.. don't put on in that lets him do whatever the hairless wants cos he's scared. though i'm sure you know that already.
i can't assume that all hairless are like that or not, i know a few folk on here have them but can't remember who.

hope that's some sort of help.


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

dumbo rats and top eared rats are all the same.
they are the same species.

the only different thing is there ears!!!!!!!


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## owieprone (Nov 6, 2008)

blade100 said:


> dumbo rats and top eared rats are all the same.
> they are the same species.
> 
> the only different thing is there ears!!!!!!!


yes, we know that, but they are a different breeds which can cause personality clashes, just like bubs our tabby-siamese cat hates neeps our tatty-tabby due to their different personalities and traits.


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## MerlinsMum (Aug 2, 2009)

owieprone said:


> yes, we know that, but they are a different breeds which can cause personality clashes, just like bubs our tabby-siamese cat hates neeps our tatty-tabby due to their different personalities and traits.


There are no 'breeds' of fancy rats, only varieties. Absolutely no difference between top-eared and dumbo-eared rats in terms of behaviour - in fact many dumbos have one or both top-eared parents. It's a simple recessive gene that affects ear placement, no different to recessive genes for blue, topaz or any colour.


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

merlins mum is correct!

no breeds of rat just different varieties.


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## owieprone (Nov 6, 2008)

breeds/varieties same thing really.


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## LisaLQ (Dec 19, 2009)

No it's not. 

All pet rats (dumbos, top eared, rex, hairless, smooth, satin, white, black, blue etc etc) are rattus norvegicus, there are no "breed traits" because there are no breeds. It's simply ear position and coat colour/type.

Rats are not racist, their dislike of other rats has no connection at all to their variety.


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## owieprone (Nov 6, 2008)

i'll shut up then.. i blatantly know f all.


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## LisaLQ (Dec 19, 2009)

Nobody said that - just these myths are spread around by certain pet shops *cough pets at home cough* and it really isn't fair on the new owners.

They also say dumbos live longer, which is crap too!


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## MerlinsMum (Aug 2, 2009)

LisaLQ said:


> Nobody said that - just these myths are spread around by certain pet shops *cough pets at home cough* and it really isn't fair on the new owners.
> 
> They also say dumbos live longer, which is crap too!


Agreed. I owned and bred some of the first Dumbos in the UK and had years of experience with them. It's about time these rumours were quashed - mind you, they're nowhere near as bad as the nasty untruths that were peddled about when they first came in.


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## SEVEN_PETS (Aug 11, 2009)

I have two dumbos and one top eared living very happily together.


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## MummyRat (Jan 24, 2010)

well i tried to introduce them again last night, in the bath tub, all covered in vanilla essense, and yet again worked for 5 mins and then he was fighting again . i think i may leave him with his cage mate now because its not fair to my other rats who now have scabs on their backs and belly's from him biting them. dnt worry i had them checked by my sister in law who is a vet. 
he must be jelouse because they have hair and he doesn't lol! 
i even put him in the colonie's cage so he could get used to their scent (obviously there was no rats in their but him and his cage mate) 
i have seen various forums on here about introductions and one i came across said to put the aggressive one out of his comfort zone, as in put him in the cage with the colonie, but i wasn't sure if this was a good idea, due to being harder to reach them if an aggressive fight broke out  does any one think its a good idea? or shall i just leave them as the two colonie's? 

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2 Dogs :001_tt1:

Bonnie - Border Collie 
Masie - Jack Russell Cross

3 Cats :001_tt1:

Pebbles - White Tortoise shell (mother to other two cats)
Nutmeg - Tabby Cat
Tigger - Tabby Cat

6 Rats all boys :001_tt1:

Ben - Black Hooded Rat
Charlie - Champagne Pink Eyed Self

Mr Tumness - Black Hooded Rat
Mr Snuffles - Black Hooded Rat 

Pinky - Hairless Dumbo Rat
Perky - not to sure as of yet he is pure white apart from a thick silver stripe down his spine, having trouble finding this one lol


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## LisaLQ (Dec 19, 2009)

I would personally leave them in two seperate groups. If you want to keep trying though - one idea is to pop them all in a carrier together, clean the cage out that they're going to go in really well so it smells of no-one, and furnish it with the bare minimum (in different places than they're used to so they think it's neutral territory), so there are no igloos or tunnels to fight over or hide in. Once they're ok in the carrier, let them free range for a bit. It might take a few goes at this - many adult intros take weeks, not just one or two meetings. But if all goes well after free timing together, pop them in their new clean and fairly bare cage (or a small spare one) and see how they go. Back to stage one if they fight seriously and draw blood.

I'm very sceptical about adult male intros, but I know Laura/Spoiled Rat has experience of positive intros - it might be worth pm-ing her to see what she did that worked?

There is always the option of neutering, but for the sake of putting two groups in together when they already have company if you dont, I dont think the anaesthetic risk is worth it IMO.

Best of luck!


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## Littlerat (Nov 18, 2009)

There's nothing I can say that hasn;t already been said by LisaLQ or anyone else, but I would like to add that male introductions can work, I recently introduced 3 groups of adult boys together at once and all but one got on first time (But I was able to integrate the other one later once the others had bonded a bit more). 

I would say try maybe once or twice more and if that doesn't work, keep them as 2 separate colonies. You'll just have to invest in lots of nice snuggly fleecy things for your hairless boy to sleep in


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## owieprone (Nov 6, 2008)

i wouldn't put him out of his comfort zone as he may become more aggressive as he'll be scared. 

for the mo i'd keep them separate, he might mellow when he's a few months older and more settled in? (he's newish i take it?)

it's not worth the agro trying to keep him from fighting with the other lot, and could be disasterous if you leave them alone for any length of time.

as long as he's happy and your other lot are happy, i wouldn't worry about making a colony. you will occasionally get one or two rats who just aren't colony material and prefer being alone or with a particular companion. 

bit of a pain in the rear having to clean out 2 cages and the space they take up but it's better than injury or death. 

have fun anyway  is there pictures of your rabble?


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## MummyRat (Jan 24, 2010)

Littlerat said:


> There's nothing I can say that hasn;t already been said by LisaLQ or anyone else, but I would like to add that male introductions can work, I recently introduced 3 groups of adult boys together at once and all but one got on first time (But I was able to integrate the other one later once the others had bonded a bit more).
> 
> i have also introduced boys before, the four that are together atm were introduced not too long ago now but they clicked straight away after quarantine, they were introduced and took themselves of into the bigger cage
> 
> his cage mate is fine with them, seems to be alot of sniffing but then they just walk off and have a wash and what ever. but the hairless rat attacks them all.


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## MummyRat (Jan 24, 2010)

owieprone said:


> have fun anyway  is there pictures of your rabble?


i will put some up soon, im just in the middle of sorting out my room.  i h8 sorting out my room lol :thumbdown:


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