Hey guys!

I now have my future breeding stock, the four pups I got from an adoption litter. Three are females and pose no issue (they'll be housed together), but the male will need to be integrated with my other two juvie males.

The juvie males are large now... Close to "medium / large" rat in size, while my pup is only 5 weeks old. I have separated him from his sisters so he's solo right now. I intend to get him another similarly sized male pup as a "friend" and possibly another addition to give me more breeding options. My goal would be to house all 4 males together and then choose which one to breed with which female, etc. (I will really need to keep litter numbers down at first, so leaving in with the girls isn't an option).

From what I've read on rat forums, I shouldn't introduce him to my current males until he's about 8 weeks so he can defend himself (hence needing a "friend" so he's not in isolation that long).

What are your experiences with introducing pups to juvie / adult males and how do you go about it? Just toss them together, etc? I've been reading what folks on the rat sites say, but I'm curious about how you guys do it since you have to work with so many more rats. I want to be cautious with my male pup as he will likely be the foundation of my breeding program / colony so want to avoid him getting annihilated if possible.

Thanks, as always, for your advice!