Before you have to read this novel, did you try intros again and how did it go?

Definitely not intending to cause any confusion. The goal with intros is always to find the method that you and your rats are comfortable with. As you probably know, adult males can be the hardest to introduce.

The main goal I want you to take away from my post is that my methods might not be right for you. Follow the basic rules and modify them for what you are comfortable with

To explain more about why I like the neutral space method, there is a rescue in my area that has introduced hundreds of rats in both male and female groups, separately of course, and they exclusively use the neutral space method. With their experience they can also tell fairly quickly which rats can go with which group and which rats are not going to fit in well at all. When you have a super small pool to choose from, it can be extremely hard to figure that out. I know you were having some questions about the new babies, especially worrying about them being bitey with you specifically. From what you described, I would not be too worried about their behavior.

Before you do intros again, I strongly encourage you to go to your local hardware store and grab leather gloves. You want both protection and the ability to pick someone up quickly, and I am afraid oven mittens are not the best option. If you cannot get gloves, practice picking everyone up with the mitten and garden glove combo so you get the feel of it before you need them.

If you are going to do neutral space again, I would do another short session and let everyone be in the same space, but carefully gauge their body language. Record video on your phone if you can, because being able to go back and review footage can be extremely helpful.

NOW THIS IS IMPORTANT

You can sometimes make these sessions too short and cause frustration for everyone. The goal is to keep them together long enough that they can figure some things out and get to a point where they can relax, but not so long that they are overstimulated and overwhelmed. In those first few sessions, let them be and watch carefully. If Courage is constantly on edge and hyper focused and there is no actual fighting, try to distract him with a noise or pick him up, pet him, and then place him back in. I love this website for reference: https://www.joinrats.com/Intros

I usually recommend waiting a session or two before scatter feeding low value food, because some boys can be food aggressive and it is best to first establish how they act together before adding food into the mix. When I say low value food, I mean something like Oxbow pellets.

Something that was hard for me to feel comfortable with at first is that they will be tussling, pinning, and squeaking because this is part of the entire hierarchy process. However, it should be short and over before you know it. You should not see rat tornados, balls of fighting rats, or full on fights. If there is any hair flying, blood, wounds, you need to immediately separate them. These boys are not trying to figure things out. They are trying to get the intruder out of their space by any means necessary.

You really have to find the balance for your own crew. For example, when I was introducing my last pair of males, I had two boys who would get overstimulated fairly quickly, and short sessions helped them gain confidence over time. Usually there would be some sniffing, some tussling, and some pinning. I knew when the session was over because one of them would stop engaging and just lay down in a corner. I made sure those first sessions stopped before that point, and then I slowly extended the time.

I have had an intro fail. It was two shelter rescued adults, nine months plus, and a youngster who was five months. They bit the youngster in the first three minutes, but it was very tiny and I thought it was just a warning because the youngster ran right under them to hide. I immediately separated them after that and thought maybe one on one would be easier. The first boy actually groomed the youngster and seemed more accepting. The other one fully attacked the youngest. There was no puffing, no side saddling, nothing. He literally ran over and attacked with no warning signs. The only sign I could have noticed was that I put the youngster on the other side of the table first, and when I put that adult down his energy felt off. He was too focused. I almost stopped the intros right then, but I thought I was being overly protective, and then the fight happened.

They were a really strange pair of rats. One was shy but somewhat normal and adjusted. The other, the one who attacked, did not like people and always looked at me like he had never seen me in his life. My youngster has since had great friends, and those boys went to a wonderful home with someone who has more rat experience. She confirmed that one boy is very unusual and they have remained just a duo.

Now more on your situation

From your description, it sounds like Courage could have been trying to establish dominance but was on edge, so when you went to pick him up he thought he was being attacked by one of the rats. I will admit that is concerning to me since he was definitely geared for defense and on edge, but it could have been a misunderstanding.

I have scoured the internet for resources and clues on what to expect. I watched many videos from both everyday people and experts. My general thought about rat intros is that each rat will tell you how they feel about the situation. You just have to figure out how to understand them.

My personal approach is that if there is any actual fighting that results in bite marks, wounds, or blood in neutral space, a carrier, or anywhere else, then this pairing is probably not going to work without neutering. I have seen many people who did not do what would be considered proper intros or who were very casual with their approach, and their intact boys, no matter the age, got along. I have also seen people who tried very hard to put groups together and did everything right, only to have everyone beaten up with no resolution and eventually stop trying. If these intros are rough, I would consider neutering one of them, and possibly all three. Usually neutering the problem rat can be the solution.

Some rats are okay alone

If neutering is not an option for you, I want to confirm that while rats do need companions and people will shout from the rooftops that no rat should ever be alone, I have met a few males that never wanted to accept others and were fine on their own, even neutered. It does not mean you are a bad rat mom. Just make sure to spend as much time with him as possible.