Rat owners! Question!

JessLough

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#1
What kinds of bedding do rats use? Would things like the level/floor covers be useful? Is there the fear of them breaking their feet in the ramps too (in CN/FN cages) so ramp covers? Do they like beds? blankets? hammocks?

Does anybody happen to have the dimensions for the CN or other popular rat cages?

THANKS!
 
K

Kaydee

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#2
I understand Aspen bedding is good, I know it smells good and our girls haven't had a problem with it. They have one of those multi level cages from the Dr Foster and Smith catalog, really well made and roomy.
 
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#3
Going off the top of my head here (and had a couple G&Ts tonight :O) but for the CN my bottom shelf covers are 2'x3' and the half shelves 2x1 1/2', I use fleece and then have litter boxes. My rats are NOT litter trained but they do use them mostly. I put towels under the fleece and it works great for me. I dont cover the ladders, tends to make them "slippery", especially for older ones. The younger ones just climb the walls
 

Southpaw

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#4
You have an FN for your ferrets right? The CN is the same size :)

Standard small animal bedding can be used - your aspen and carefresh and whatnot - I use fabric liners. And I don't have litterboxes because I know they wouldn't use them lol. I don't have ramps in my cage but would leave them bare if I did, since they wouldn't be spending much time on them. But wire floors in general I would want covered up.

Hammocks and other snuggly things are very much loved by them.
 

JessLough

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#6
To clarify, I'm not getting rats :p

I'm starting to offer FN bedding sets and hammocks and such, and was asked if I'd be offering things for rats :)
 

PWCorgi

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#7
Anything snuggly is a huge plus!! Also fabric liners FTW! All of my girls love to burrow underneath them though, and I don't want to ruin their fun.

Here are 4/5 in a hammock:


<3
 

*blackrose

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#11
Since this is talking about bedding in a FN type cage....instead of starting a new topic I'm going to ask my question here and see if it gets answered. LOL

The girls are currently in a little wire cage. One story, I think it's 30"x18" or something like that. They have a shelf, a hammock tube, and we rotate out toys and other climby things so they don't seem unhappy in it, but when they come to live with me in August I was going to just transfer them over to one of the halves of the FN142 I have, since Dameon only uses half of it. (Their current cage is 1" bar spacing, so I'm not worried about them escaping.)

But, what would be the best way to line it? I won't have easy access to a washer/dryer, so I really don't want to use fleece over the entire cage...is there a way to customize the bottom try to keep bedding in?
 

PWCorgi

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#13
Most people who want to use bedding order bass pans to go in the bottom
This.

Honestly, I don't wash my bedding, I chuck it. When I wash it (I've used Nature's Miracle and vinegar with it) it always makes my washer/dryer smell like urine. Plus, they like to make holes in it to burrow underneath and run around on the plastic pan :rolleyes: (I could stop this with binder clips, but they have so much fun doing it that I feel bad ruining their fun)
For the bottom I use $4 towels from Target that come in like 15 different awesome colors! For the top shelf and hammocks I use anti-pill fleece.

I have a $15 Dirt Devil that I suck all the poops up every day (cause with 5 rats in one cage, there's a lotta poop!) and then I change out the bedding about every 2 weeks. I have only thrown one hammock away and that was because I needed a bigger one when the babies moved into the big girl cage!
 

maxfox426

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#14
What kinds of bedding do rats use? Would things like the level/floor covers be useful? Is there the fear of them breaking their feet in the ramps too (in CN/FN cages) so ramp covers? Do they like beds? blankets? hammocks?

Does anybody happen to have the dimensions for the CN or other popular rat cages?

THANKS!
When it comes to bedding... no pine/soft woods or sand. Aspen is good, I liked Carefresh for a while, and Yesterday's News. Another option (I think PW does this?) is to use layers of fleece.

As for ramps, fine mesh and ladder style (wide gaps) are fine, as well as solid ramps or covers.

Beds, blankets and hammocks will all be loved by rats. ESPECIALLY HAMMOCKS. For serious. They will love hammocks to pieces.

I had a Martin's Cage. The brand isn't known for being very pretty, but they are well made and I really liked it.


ETA: Clearly, I didn't ready all the other posts before my response. I think you're pretty well covered here! :D
 

JessLough

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#15
When it comes to bedding... no pine/soft woods or sand. Aspen is good, I liked Carefresh for a while, and Yesterday's News. Another option (I think PW does this?) is to use layers of fleece.

As for ramps, fine mesh and ladder style (wide gaps) are fine, as well as solid ramps or covers.

Beds, blankets and hammocks will all be loved by rats. ESPECIALLY HAMMOCKS. For serious. They will love hammocks to pieces.

I had a Martin's Cage. The brand isn't known for being very pretty, but they are well made and I really liked it.


ETA: Clearly, I didn't ready all the other posts before my response. I think you're pretty well covered here! :D
:rofl1: thank you anyway ;)

I'm making a suggie bedding set soon, SO EXCITED.
 

Southpaw

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#16
I had a Martin's Cage. The brand isn't known for being very pretty, but they are well made and I really liked it.
I feel like I am so in the minority in the rat community, because I loved my Martins waaayyy more than I am enjoying this CN. There are a lot of things I love about the CN (size, full front doors, storage shelf) but I find it such a PITA to clean, poop easily falls out the sides, and I hate that I have to go to extra work if I were to want to use "real" bedding.

But anyway.

Plus, they like to make holes in it to burrow underneath and run around on the plastic pan (I could stop this with binder clips, but they have so much fun doing it that I feel bad ruining their fun)
Hahah! My guys do that too and I DID put a stop to it with binder clips :p I feel like a jerk but they were just using the bare shelves as a toilet and it was gross to clean and made their bodies REEK. I do provide them with other loose towels/scraps of fleece for burrowing in though so they still can, they just don't find it as fun as doing it the NAUGHTY way.

btw - I see your siamese girl (sorry I don't remember which name belongs to who!) had her points come in!! Reptar's nose smudge started to become noticeable about a week ago, and now it's super dark and can't be missed!
 

PWCorgi

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#17
I'm such a pushover with them, lol! They get whatever they want, plus I don't think binder clips would completely stop it as they sometimes just chew holes anyway, and I get worried they wouldn't be able to find their way out! I never find nasties under there though, just food that Petunia drags down :p she prefers laying under there to being in the hammock with the other girls.

And yes, Peony has gotten waaaay darker. Especially her back end, so cute!!
 

JessLough

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#18
I'm such a pushover with them, lol! They get whatever they want, plus I don't think binder clips would completely stop it as they sometimes just chew holes anyway, and I get worried they wouldn't be able to find their way out! I never find nasties under there though, just food that Petunia drags down :p she prefers laying under there to being in the hammock with the other girls.

And yes, Peony has gotten waaaay darker. Especially her back end, so cute!!
Pictures or it didn't happen
 

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