The Rat Room

When you bring home your rats, you need to make sure that not only their habitat is adequate, safe and fun but you must also assure that their out time will be safe as well. Rat proofing the area is very important, set it up before your rat gets into trouble. Things to look out for are electrical cords, outlets, spots where a rat can get into and anything that you don’t want to get chewed. My sister has lost a beloved couch to her rats. They have tunnelled through it and made it their own. They have since heavily ducked taped it.
I recommend making a corral around the cage, setting it up as their play pen. Rats need exercise and mental stimulation as well as daily human interactions. Out time should be at least an hour a day. Allowing them to climb, run and explore will keep them fit and healthy.
I use a great product called coroplast. It’s a corrugated plastic used mainly for sign boards. It comes in big sheets so you can cut it down to size and attach it with zipties. Recently, I had to make mine bigger, I’ve acquired rats skilled in gymnastics.
Some people will use wood boards to fasten together, it’s a little heavier but it will also do the trick. With rats that are less energetic, you might be able to use big cardboard boxes.
The bottom line, make your ratties’ home and play ground safe and secure.

My corral, keeping rats inside and safe.

My corral from a few years ago.

A small hobby rattery in southern Ontario got slightly out of hand and quickly became overwhelmed with rats. They were found out and the landlord needed them all gone. Luckily a couple of good friends of mine decided to go and check out the situation. The rats were in a horrible state. They had 29 males crammed in a wooden crate type cage and 19 females in a much too small a cage. The rats were living on pine, no food and hardly any water. Almost all the males have sores, cuts and bruises. Some are in such bad mental state, they will need a neuter to help them cope with the stress of a horrible habitat and overcrowding. I wanted to help and decided to adopt two of the males. I brought them home and when the dust settled, the true personality of Big White came through. He is one stressed boy. He puffs up like a rat in a dryer and chatters loudly. He attacks any rat that goes near him. Lucky for me, he hasn’t realized that he could hurt me too if he wanted too. He’s still scared of me which is a good thing for now. I had him with his buddy Little Mink and they seem to get along fine until we got home. Big White doesn’t really like Little Mink. So for now I’ve got the two separated until their scheduled neuters.
Big White is now named Chief. I’m guessing he’s about 6 to 8 months of age. I know his type and with a neuter, he’ll soon be jello.
Little Mink is now named Doc. He’s just a baby, about 3 to 4 months old, which breaks my heart because instead of playing and bouncing and having a great baby time, he’s just totally stressed and scared. He’s unsure of his home, unsure of other rats and very unsure of me.
It’s so easy to breed. You put rat A with rat B and make babies and money signs dance before your eyes, until you realize rats are not in demand. It takes a special person to do things right. If you really need to breed, you need patience, time and space. You need money and a good vet. You need to know your rat’s background and have full support of your family. You also must have a demand or you will be stuck with the supply. Better yet… don’t breed at all. Don’t make more of these poor rats who ultimately end up needing a forever home.

It’s going to take me lots of work, time and patience with Chief and Doc. But I know I can get them to come around and be real rats enjoying life. They’ve had a super rough start… it’s time to give them an amazing forever.

Please meet my new boys. Big White aka Chief

And sweet Little Mink aka Doc

It’s getter warmer outside and this is about the time when people notice an unpleasant odour coming from their cage. Some cages are worse for this than others, those with powder coating and those with thick plastic shelves. During the hot season, you will need to be more diligent in how you keep your cage clean.
1. Change you litter to something like Yesterday’s News, it’s great for odour absorbency. Fill the bottom of the cage with it as well as placing litter box throughout the cage.
2. Don’t over clean your linen. If you have fleece in the cage, change it every 2 to 4 days, only change the ones that are soaked. Too much cleaning and the rats will go into pee overtime in trying to make the cage smell like them.
3. Don’t use vinegar on cages with powder coated and plastic shelves. It’s a smelly mix.
4. Toss any wood that’s been marinated in pee. There’s no cleaning it once it’s been washed.
5. Get an air conditioner for the room. (for the rich rat owner)
6. Get an air purifier.
7. Don’t place the cage in a confined corner of the room, you want to get the air flowing so it doesn’t sit stagnant.
8. Make sure your cage is big enough to house the number of rats.
9. Neuter your males, although drastic, it also has health benefits, less marking, less sebum (buck grease) and no more stress.
10. Keep your rats well hydrated.

There are a number of things you can try, don’t get discouraged, you’ll find what works. Keep in mind younger rats smell way more than adult rats so in time they will settle and not assault your nose so much.
Bathing the rat is not a good idea, it will only make him produce more skin oils. But keep the rats cool and that will promote grooming which is what you really want.

A good friend of mine Velma reminded me that a good scrubbing of the cage using bleach is also very important in order to fully disinfect the cage. Be sure to rinse thoroughly before letting the rats back in. You don’t need to use bleach all the time but every few months would do it some good.

This weekend I drove 4.5 hours south to pick up a new house for the Noobs. A nice, new shiny Critter Nation. I purchased it along with Harlan food and bedding for my rats. I’m very pleased with the cage, I think this is the first time I have bought a CN/FN and there are no damage to it at all. All the other orders coming from the States came with some minor or major damage. I was thrilled with this one. It was assembled so fast too. Flower Town Chinchillas is a great online store to deal with, great products and super nice people too.
The only problem was the location of the cage. I was keeping the Noobs in my living room but that also meant they were exposed to my young cats so in the end, to keep them safe, I had to move them into my dining room behind a gated area where no cats can go. They Noobs had their out time and they loved the new spot. It’s all decorated and set up for happy rats and they sure enjoyed it. The cage is a winner and the toys are too. Happy Noobs makes for happy mom.

Max checking out his wheel.

Rory and Max in the igloo

Sweet little Molly, she could stay out all day if I let her.

For a long time now I’ve been adopting rats from rescues or rescue situations. Mostly though I’ve taken in babies. But recently I’ve adopted 6 older rats. 2 are 19 months and 4 are 14 months. Today was their first official out time as a colony. I keep them well away from my other crews just because it’s safer and better that way for all involved until such time when I feel it’s ok to mix them but that won’t be for months.
So their out time is on the couch. I thought at first they may not want to come out and explore, they’ve been through a lot in the two weeks of being here but nope… They all came out and had a good run, even Rory was out and about, enjoying the exploration. If anyone would walk by all the girls came running to you and would bombard you with kisses and cuddles. They are simply amazing. I would sit on the floor and have all of them in my arms, climbing, grooming… I could have stayed there all day.
So next time you want a rat… go rescue one. They are wonderful rats and will make you fall in love with them deeply.

You don’t have to be rich to add toys and stimulation to your rat’s play room and cage. It only takes imagination.
Rats love boxes, all kinds, mine especially love the longish soda boxes. They also love toilet tissue tubes, better yet, leave some toilet tissue on the tube, they’ll put it to good use. I’ve given mine ping pong balls from the buck store and more recently, I purchased a container from the buck store for only $2 and decided it wasn’t what I needed so I wasn’t using it. Then I caught one of my guys making a run for it and jumped up and hid inside. Well… I knew instantly that would become their new toy. I put it near their cage, add a fleece blanket inside and there you have it. A new toy. They were all over it, climbing it, hiding in it, cuddling in it… Forget all those expensive pet store toys, look around your home, I bet you have a few hidden gems. The rats will surely appreciate it.

Ok so those two words really don’t go together but sometimes you just have to turn cleaning into fun.
That’s how it is with my crew or silly ratties. Almost all of them will run after the wet rag, trying to pin it down and then hide it away in some remote corner of the cage. Good luck in retrieving it.
Seriously though, a clean habitat is one of the most important factor to a rat’s health. I do a thorough scrub down of the cage every Friday of every week. But every day I go in and wipe up little messes. I change the fleece that start to smell and always give them a clean dish of food and water. It’s actually quite fun having a half a dozen rats crawling all over you when changing their food dish. Or wrapping a stubborn rat in the fleece when he refuses to get out of the way. Just don’t throw him out with the trash. lol
The most important thing… Have fun when cleaning with the rats.

It’s really quite simple… rats need good air ventilation so cages are really the only habitat suitable for rats.
Tanks are usually too small, have no shelves and have very poor air flow.
Rats thrive on lots of interaction and being part of the family. A tank limits his involvement, not only can’t he see properly but he can’t smell nor hear when in a tank. Rats need constant mental stimulation, as they are highly intelligent.
Wire cages are the best but need to be a good size. I know the old saying goes 2 cubic feet per rat but honestly, even that is too small. Rats are active animals, they need room to run, climb and explore. His habitat needs to contain several nesting areas as well as a clean spot for his food and water.
For two rats, start with a base of 30 x 18… the height is important as well, this means it can hold shelves or levels as well as hammocks and other nests and beds.
Be careful of the bar spacing. Babies, females and small males can squeeze through a 1″ gap in the bars.
Unfortunately most cages with suitable bar spacing aren’t big enough and mainly suitable for hamsters.
Luckily, there are a few cages available to the pet rat and these cages are great.
Martin’s cages make an excellent rat cage.
Midwest’s Critter Nation is also an excellent cage for rats.

Over the years, I’ve tried all kinds… except not the dreaded cedar and pine. The softwood chips contain phenols which in turn can harm the rat’s respiratory systems and kidneys since it cannot keep up with filtering the toxins as well as their liver.
Aspen is another choice but again, I’ve found a study that suggest it’s also not the best to use with rats not as bad as pine and cedar though. Also, aspen is dusty and can get rather stinky once it’s been urinated on.
There are other types of commercial bedding marketed for small animals like Carefresh. I have used this brand in the past and found it excessively too dusty.
Clumping clay cat litter is definitely a no-no. Rats could easily ingest it when cleaning themselves. This litter clumps when moisture is added, think of the issues this can cause in ratty tummies.
Another issue for tummies would be corncob bedding. If not cleaned fast enough it will mold and rats do find it palatable. Corncob bedding is also too absorbent which can cause a condition called ringtail in rats, from which they can lose their tail unless treated. It sucks the moisture from the tail.
The best I’ve found so far is Yesterday’s News… a cat litter made of recycled material. The odor control if fantastic, it’s very absorbent and easy to clean as well.
I have yet to try Boxo which is a shredded box board. I’m hesitant to change since using fleece on my floors and YN in litter trays, my cages haven’t been stinky and it’s a breeze to do daily cleanups.