How to Introduce New Pets to Old Pets

There are a lot of different kinds of pets with a wide ranging variety of social behaviors, and so there is no easy, general set of rules for introducing any new pet to a household's existing pets. Still, there are things a pet owner can do to minimize the stress associated with the introduction of most new pets into a household.

Quarantine

When introducing a new animal to a household with existing pets, it is always a good idea to keep the new animal separate from the established animals for a period of time. This is especially true for reptiles and fish. Fish share the water they live in, which in turn leads to sharing organisms that live and breed in water more freely than in air. A single ill fish can sicken or kill a tank full of others in a very short time.

Reptiles may not be sharing their water, but if they are social enough to share an enclosure, they will likely climb on each other and come into contact with each other's droppings. In addition, it is easy to overlook illness in a reptile until the symptoms have advanced to a dangerous point, even for an experienced breeder.

The duration a new animal should be kept quarantined from the others can vary greatly from one pet to another, so it is a good idea to check with your vet or some other authority on the particular animal. In some cases, the quarantine may take less time than it will for the animals to acclimate to each other, socially. Here are a few guidelines for quarantining snakes,

Getting to Know Each Other

Most animals will not automatically become fast friends when one is thrust into another's territory. If animals are just thrown together, the result is frequently some kind of conflict. Dogs may fight. Cats may mark territory. Some snakes will even eat each other. To avoid these conflicts, which can be harmful to both the animals and a home, it is best to take a few precautions.

Let the animals be aware of each other without allowing them to directly interact. Set up beds or homes for them in separate rooms or enclosures. With rodents and lagomorphs (rabbits) it is a good idea to house the new animal in the same room with the old pet or pets, but in a separate cage. This way, the animals can see, hear, and smell each other, as if they were living in the same enclosure, but cannot fight or steal other's toys or food. If it is possible, letting them out of their cages to play together in a neutral area can facilitate a more speedy acclimatization to the newcomer.

Make Room

The final step to helping new pets get along with old pets is making sure they all have adequate room. If packed in too tightly, even the most docile, friendly guinea pig will turn violent and bite out a piece of a chinchilla's ear. Again, the amount of space an animal needs will depend on the animal. Some animals, like ferrets, will lie in a sort of pile, and so their housing does not need to be overly large to house more than one. They still need plenty of room to play, but not a lot for their bed. Other animals may be reluctant to share their beds or food dishes, like dogs, and so each will need its own, personal area, so to speak.

Though animals sharing a home will have to share certain things, just like a family sharing a home does, it is important to also attend to each animal's individual needs. Do this, and the new pet will certainly enjoy its new home and companions.