Introducing two young male rats?

[Rose]

I bought a male rat about three weeks ago, i would say hes about 13 or 14 weeks old. I went back to the pet shop today and fell in love with another, im picking him up tomorrow but im worried they won't get along. He said hes happy to take him back if they don't, the new rat is about 12 weeks old.
They are not brothers, but do come from the same place.
Do you reckon they will get along and if they do is their a chance they could fight a few months down the line. Ive had and introduced females in the past and know they get on fine but im not sure about males.

 

[my own pavement]

The first answer is incorrect. Rats can be introduced at any age, simple as that. You just need to educate yourself on the right process which will keep fighting to a minimum.

You DO NOT just put the new rat with your current. This will make your current rat feel as though his territory has been invaded, and he will instinctively defend himself through fighting. This type of territorial fighting can be dangerous and bloody, and you want to avoid this obviously.

What you MUST get is a second, temporary cage for the new rat to live in for 1-3 weeks.

Ideally, you should put the new rat through a 2 week quarantine period to watch for signs of illness. This is one way to have to pay one vet bill instead of two. It's a precaution, not necessary but a good idea. Keeping in mind that rats in pet stores can be ill without obvious symptoms, the new rat could infect your current one, and a quarantine period is a great way to avoid this. If quarantined, the new rat needs to live as far from the current one as possible, in separate rooms.

The introduction process itself takes around a week. In this time, you will take the two out of their cages, and allow them to meet on neutral territory only (bed, dry bathtub, etc). Here they can get acquainted without feeling the need to get territorial. These meetings should be brief, just a couple minutes at first, but keep increasing the time they spend together. Take them out like this once or twice each day until you see they are okay. They WILL fight a bit, but for dominance only. Dominance fighting does not intend to hurt the rats, though it may seem that way. All it does is establish the "alpha" over the submissive one. As long as there is no blood, they are fine and you should leave them to sort out themselves.

After a week, scrub out the cage you want them to live in to clean it of its old scent, and move them in. Dominance fighting will happen, but again, this is fine and not dangerous. Good luck!

 

[Natalie]

You can introduce males as long as one of them is under 3 months old. You can not introduce two that are over 3 months old or they will likely fight.

Just do the introductions slowly and properly in a neutral area and they should be fine.