I'm adopting a rat from a fried and I already have two..........?

Question

Ok so my fried has had rats for about 8 years and the last pair of rats she got (females, 2 of them) are almost 3 now, so there old. Over the past 2 years she has developed a really bad alergy to them and when she touches them, she blows up in hives! She has a little sister (who owns one of the rats) and she only "plays" with them about twice a week :( My friend cant play with them because shes alergic so basicly the rats get no attention. About a week and a half ago, her sisters rat died and now only Weasey remains. Shes very depressed and sits there and does nothing and has no company. I think my friend is going to give her rat to me, and I have 2 11 month old girls. I was wondering, when I get her rat, should I put her in the cage with my other 2 (its big enought for 4 rats) or should I keep her in my spare cage because my babies might want to play with her and shes old so she cant (I think)....so what should I do? Any advice to make the exchange from my friend to me smoother?

Answer 1

Having raised rats myself, they sometimes don't like new rats.  :You can try taking the rats out of the cage, changing the litter and putting the new rat in first, then introduce the old ones one at a time.  If any of them fight, you can squirt water on them to try to make them behave.  If that doesn't work, you should put the new rat in another cage and put it close enough that it can see the others, so it won't be so lonely.  When I say new rat, I mean the one you may be getting.