Intros going south *Shrieking*

[Trillian]

Alright so some people can remember my aggresive terror Pyre and how I adopted his friend from the same person he was from and he was all better. Well he has another problam, I had been waiting untill Charon ((He friend)) was big enough to not get out of the FN to put introduce them to the big boys. Well I introduced them a couple days ago in the bath tub and as soon as one of the boys got anywhere near Pyre to sniff Pyre SCREECHED! I'm not even talking about squeaking he was shrieking and screeching like he was dieing!!!! My big boys just looked at him like he was off his rocker! SOOO I put him in a mouse cage ((A kinda big-ish one)) so he could feel a little more protected. He still shrieked when ever they got near, his cage has been located RIGHT next to them his WHOLE life with me but now he has these strange panic attack things. Charon is FINE, they all sniffed him, HE rolled over and they where like 'fresh meat...eh..ok he's cool" and that was it. I tried doing this agian in the mouse cage ((of course I moved them back to their usual cage after intros)) and he still shreiked! I don't know what to do! When he was in his cage right beside them he didn't care and would often reach in and steal treats that had been abandoned with in his reach. Any advise?

[DolciLady]

Lord, I can't help but laugh a little.  It's also heartbreaking, too, but I can't help but chuckle at the mega drama queens because it's so unexpected.  It's got to be baffling to watch.  Bless his little heart.   

I'm not familiar with your crew and history of the gang, but if Pyre is calm and more confident on/with you, have you tried intros with him and one other rat at a time while they're snuggling or crawling on you?  Maybe Pyre, you, Charon and one big boy at a time. Traded bedding/hammocks with each others smells?  Let the big boys out for a long time and put Pyre directly in their cage so he can thoroughly explore and examine "them" without having to face them directly.

As long as I live, I will loathe and fear intros.  So my hat's off to you for pressing on!

Robin

[evilhobbitgirl]

I can't believe Pyre the terror is such a sissy! Scoot did the same horrid screeching when he was intro'd to Dooley (the first furry rat he'd ever seen--I'm convinced that is why he was scared). He even jumped off ALL fours once when Dooley approached him to have a sniff which I wouldn't have believed if I didn't see it myself. His drama-queen silliness was completely ridiculous and I didn't have any option but to make him get over it and keep having play dates with them since there was never any aggression. He got over it and now he is the alpha somehow.. And a big bully!
Hopefully Pyre will get over it too and learn that they're not out to get him!