Rats interacting with other animals
Introducing your rats to other animal members of the household is generally a bad idea. Whilst it is very useful for all members of the household to be familiar with the smell and look of all the occupants it is not advised that you physically introduce them, or let / encourage them to play together (even when supervised). This is because animals are not set up to be sociable with each other. In the wild groups of the same species live and function together, they do not naturally seek out the company of other species (in fact humans are fairly unique in this). As such they do not speak the same language, different signs and signals can mean subtly different things in different species. When you add in to this that rats are both predator and prey animals to different species it complicates matters further. In general the only reason that a rat and another animal will become friends is because its human thinks it is a good idea. This is very much something done for the humans benefit and does not benefit the rats (or other animals themselves). In reality we are placing both animals in danger of injury and stress.
All animals have natural instincts; our pet rats and indeed any domesticated animal are no different. Domestication and proper raising have shaped our pets into the sociable animals they are now. In many cases the animals now actively seek out human companionship and are gentle and loving, as well as easy to train. However under every domesticated animals surface there is still the thousands of years of genetic programming which made them successful wild animals, this comes with wild instincts which are very much under the surface most of the time. These instincts come in to play when the animal is under stress and can cause them to act entirely out of character. Ultimately this isn’t something we can control, any more than we as humans can control an unexpected panic attack, or a shock reaction. If we sometimes fall into instinctive reactions it shouldn’t be a surprise that our pets can too.
This is where cross species interaction carries very real dangers. Whilst you may be able to train your animals to tolerate each other or even get on well, if something trips the switch to an instinctive response you can very easily end up with an animal being attacked, badly bitten or even killed. This is more important when talking about animals with a significant size difference or those with a predator prey relationship (such as cats/dogs and rats or rats and mice). All it takes is the animal to see something in the corner of its eye, hear a loud and scary noise etc and act without thinking and you could well have injury or even death. It wouldn't be the animals fault either, ultimately it is the owners decision to take this risk.
All animals have natural instincts; our pet rats and indeed any domesticated animal are no different. Domestication and proper raising have shaped our pets into the sociable animals they are now. In many cases the animals now actively seek out human companionship and are gentle and loving, as well as easy to train. However under every domesticated animals surface there is still the thousands of years of genetic programming which made them successful wild animals, this comes with wild instincts which are very much under the surface most of the time. These instincts come in to play when the animal is under stress and can cause them to act entirely out of character. Ultimately this isn’t something we can control, any more than we as humans can control an unexpected panic attack, or a shock reaction. If we sometimes fall into instinctive reactions it shouldn’t be a surprise that our pets can too.
This is where cross species interaction carries very real dangers. Whilst you may be able to train your animals to tolerate each other or even get on well, if something trips the switch to an instinctive response you can very easily end up with an animal being attacked, badly bitten or even killed. This is more important when talking about animals with a significant size difference or those with a predator prey relationship (such as cats/dogs and rats or rats and mice). All it takes is the animal to see something in the corner of its eye, hear a loud and scary noise etc and act without thinking and you could well have injury or even death. It wouldn't be the animals fault either, ultimately it is the owners decision to take this risk.
Predator smell response
Rats who have not been brought up around the smell of certain predators can exhibit a strong fear reaction when exposed to the smell. This is usually in response to cats or ferrets though in some cases the smell of dogs or snakes has been known to trigger the behaviour. This is very much a form of genetic memory. The rats have no reason to fear that smell yet it is hardwired into many rats that they should. This doesn’t mean that they can’t learn to overcome this (especially when they move into an environment with existing pets) just that it is useful to be aware of it and take it into account. Different rats will be affected to a different degree and a rat can be relatively unaffected one day and freak out another. This is very much due to where they are right now.
A typical fear response to predator smell would see the rats becoming very jumpy and prone to panic responses, in an extreme case the rat may become “flooded” and mentally switch off leading to a very frozen and tense rat. In the case where the rats are jumpy and panicky then pick them up firmly, trying not to get stressed about their response, hold them firmly close to you for a short while to see if they calm down, talking to them calmly and stroking them can help some rats. If they don’t calm down put them back in there cage and return all the other rats.
A typical fear response to predator smell would see the rats becoming very jumpy and prone to panic responses, in an extreme case the rat may become “flooded” and mentally switch off leading to a very frozen and tense rat. In the case where the rats are jumpy and panicky then pick them up firmly, trying not to get stressed about their response, hold them firmly close to you for a short while to see if they calm down, talking to them calmly and stroking them can help some rats. If they don’t calm down put them back in there cage and return all the other rats.