Hey there! I would like to add an immediate disclaimer saying I know it generally isn't recommended to house mice and rats together in case the rats get territorial and attack the mice. I take very good care of my pets and I'm willing to take the time to ensure the safety of everyone involved.
Right now my current situation is 2 rats and 4 mice. The two rats I have are some of the most gentle creatures I've ever met. They both lost siblings and then I ended up caging them together because they were lonely (I originally adopted sisters named Mocha and Angel, Mocha very unfortunately had a heart attack, and then I adopted a neutered male named Beerus). I read so much about getting rats used to each other over time because they might get defensive and territorial. These two were the opposite of defensive, they started cuddling and grooming each other almost immediately and have been housed in the same cage together since day 2 of knowing each other without a single hiccup. I put Angel into my mouse cage for like 2 minutes last night and she seemed genuinely interested in the mice and didn't show any signs of aggression.
My rat cage and mouse cage are different enough in size that I can actually comfortably put the mouse cage inside my rat cage with the mouse cage fully closed and secure. My current plan in to put the mice in the rat cage and leave it there for a couple weeks so they can get used to each other's smells. Then I would transition that to monitoring the rat cage with the mouse cage door open for a couple hours a day for a week or two. After that I would leave the mouse cage door permanently open, and then after about a week of that just remove the mouse cage so they have all their room inside the bigger cage again. I would also be putting mesh on the rat cage bars to prevent mouse escape once I start letting the mice and rats get used to each other. Do any rodent enthusiasts see any obvious holes in what I'm doing or have any advice for extra steps?
TL;DR
Trying to house mice and rats together by getting them used to each other with barriers preventing possible territorial attacks from the rats for several weeks. any advice or extra steps for safety would be much appreciated.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/b142f3/housing_mice_and_rats_together/
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