2007-03-18 15:45:36 · 12 answers · asked by Jana L 1 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
It depends.
If you get both the females at the same time, from the same cage at the pet store, yes, because they are already bonded.
If you get two little girls that are 5 to 12 weeks old, even if they are from separate litters and separate cages, yes, because at this age everyone is a friend.
If you have an existing lone female that is older then 8 months, then you should get another little girl around 8 to 12 weeks old and follow introduction instructions carefully.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=introducing+rats&ei=UTF-8&fr=ks-ans&ico-yahoo-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAqFmYLsucJ9Ju1A_wytuo5cazKIX%2FSIG%3D111gjvvgj%2F*-http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch&ico-wikipedia-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAjrR1DDgyctRMOV346dKZz4azKIX%2FSIG%3D11ia1qo58%2F**http%253a%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSpecial%253aSearch&p=introducing+rats
Female rats enjoy the company of other females more readily then male rats, but if you have been her number one for a long time then she might be territorial when introduced to another female.
At one time I would have just given you the go-ahead and told you it works every time. But in the last month I had introductions go horribly wrong even though I followed the intro intructions to the letter. An adult female killed 3 of my 5 8-week old babies.............so now I exercise caution.
BTW, I actually have a female rat named Jana :). She's on this page:
http://spazrats.tripod.com/alfabitratsNG.html
E-mail me anytime for more rat talk.
spazrats
"my life has gone to the rats"
2007-03-21 20:49:11 · answer #1 · answered by spazrats 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most definantly. It usually better actually. Rats, especially females, are very social animals. The love attention, if you are not around for a large part of the day to provide attention, then it is best to get your rat a cage mate to keep it company.
You do want to slowly introduce them though, it's never a good idea to just toss an animal into another ones cage.
If you already have one, then you need to clean out the cage and have the rats meet in nutral territory(an empty bath tub works well).
Put them both in the tub at the same time and watch them. They usually sniff then start cleaning eachother. Then they'll try to get back out of the tub. If they have no problems in the tub, then you can put them in the cage.
I've had many rats for quite a while. I've only ever had problems with one female(she was pregnant and didn't take kindly to being cleaned by others). Other than that...no problems with my girls.
Boys are another story, you usually can't keep them together unless they are introduced at a VERY young age, the best way to keep males together is if they are from the same litter....
...hope this helps...
2007-03-18 16:50:18 · answer #2 · answered by KaylaByrd 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Sure you can and really it is what you should be doing. Rats are very social little creatures, they like you but they also really like their own species.
I don't remember if they are territorial, the females that is but even if they are, once the pecking order is established there won't be any problems.
My 5 boys all live in the same cage, it's a 4 storey monster and there are no problems.
2007-03-18 15:54:24 · answer #3 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
yeah. if they were to ger pups, they will even look after each other's babies.
i bred with rats 4 a very long time. just make sure the cage is big enough, its clean, and they got plenty food.
i had a pet rat that lived free in my house with 3 other lady rats. they got on fine. its just the boys that fight.
2007-03-19 00:37:35 · answer #4 · answered by african_woman 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I have and they had their differences and quarrels. Any caged animal acts out aggressively at times; Even if the pair are male and female. Give them space and different places to hide. After the fighting, they will cuddle up with each other. Kind of like people. Handle them frequently so they are people friendly. have fun.
2007-03-18 15:59:05 · answer #5 · answered by firestarter 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes! I adopted 2 from Petco a few months ago. My Daughter named them Oreo and Chelsea.
They get along most of the time but at times I hear "squabbling" and I have to go and break it up!
When we pick up and hold Chelsea she gives us little-bitty kisses on our faces! :-)
2007-03-18 16:41:09 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes, and actually rats should be kept in same sex pairs.
2007-03-18 15:48:27 · answer #7 · answered by Bindi *dogtrainingbyjess.com* 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes. they get along well. Never two males and a female though. They'll kill each other.
2007-03-18 15:52:02 · answer #8 · answered by silkeng 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes,but if they get pregnant or are in season then they might get territorial in a small space other than that,no
2007-03-18 15:51:15 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
as long as you get two straight female rats and not two lesbian rats.
2007-03-18 15:51:50 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋