New Home, New housemate?

[Eradoogon]

Hey there!

It's been YEARS since I have had rats, however recently one of the girls from work had let me know that as she was moving she would unfortunately have to re home her rats Noodle and Ratthew, and I jumped at the chance! however with Corona happening it was slightly delayed in this time the older housemate sadly passed and I am now the Carer of Noodle, I know rats are not allowed to live alone however I thought for a few days I would let her settle into a new environment, I've been handling her daily to try and calm her a little, however I think it's time for a new housemate, She is Spayed and her old housemate was a non-fixed boy, I know that girls are a little more active in terms of climbing and general shenanigans and boys are a little more lazy, however, is there an easier route to take for introductions and success with this? I'm happy to go with either, I always had girls before so a boy would be a new area but I'm more than willing to learn any bits along the way, I know that my companionship will never match that of a friend for her. I'm so sorry if this is in the wrong forum however behaviour seem to fit the general aura of what I was going for

[[cub]]

In most cases, the best way to introduce rats is the carrier method. There's an article about it here and a video linked to at the end of the article: http://www.isamurats.co.uk/the-carrier-method.html

I suspect the easiest intros are likely to be with a pair or trio of doe kittens. That said it really does depend on the individuals in question. A lot of people find doe to buck intros easy, and I've seen other people report that entire bucks don't bother spayed does, but I had an entire buck who was obsessed with his spayed doe cagemate's genitals which she did *not* appreciate, so your mileage may vary.

Most good breeders have long waiting lists but if you explain that you have a lone doe they may be able to move you up the priority list. Some rescues are now homing out as well now that lockdown rules have eased somewhat. In a semi-emergency situation like yours, buying from a petshop or less good breeder may be acceptable, but I would urge you to quarantine any rats from such sources in a separate airspace (i.e. separate building) for at least 2 weeks beforehand; there's been at least one case recently of backyard breeder rats turning out to be carrying SDAV – one of several nasty viruses that circulate in wild rat populations and sometimes get into the pet rat population, particularly via commercial and backyard rodent breeding outfits.