Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It seems that no matter what i put in my rats (male and female) tank, it gets soiled immediately. Would this also happen with nesting materials? What does everyone else use for their nesting materials? Thanx for any help!!!

I give shredded newspaper or cardboard, but other than that they just nest on their shavings. I use a well dried pine shaving for mine. Have to change about once every 10 days.. with spot cleaning in between. Alot of people use rabbit pellets as bedding too...personally, I like to keep those in their diet rather than as their litter.

>>It seems that no matter what i put in my rats (male and female) tank, it gets soiled immediately. Would this also happen with nesting materials? What does everyone else use for their nesting materials? Thanx for any help!!!

I bed mine in either and or rabbit pellets/cellsorb and when it is nearly time for them to give birth I give them a couple squares of paper towel. I move my male around cage to cage so that I generally have all the girls birthing within a day of each other. Then they give birth, bloody it and I go in when they are done and count babies and change the paper towel out to new, clean and fresh. Give the moms a juicy snack and go on. Pelleted bedding needs the corners cleaned sometimes but that is it. I have a couple that need the security of boxes so they get soda 12pk boxes or something. I just throw them whenever they are nasty and give them a new one. Sorta recycling. Only a few of my rats are in tubs, most are in pairs and trios in 18X24" wire cages. Spoiled til I have to up numbers and move them to a rack.
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Sonya

I don't give my rats anything special to birth their babies on. I did once give then toilet paper cause I thought it was soft but was later told that it can sufficate a wet baby if it gets stuck on their mouth/nose area. I use aspen substrate and that is what my females birth on. I can the cage about 5 days after the babies are born so I don't disturb the mother. I really love my rat mommies since they take such good care of their babies.

Why would the rats use the waterbowl to go to the washroom in when they hae a whole entire tank?

I can't answer that one, but I do think that's why most of us use bottles or other external watering device.

Marcia

>>Why would the rats use the waterbowl to go to the washroom in when they hae a whole entire tank?

Because deep down rats are neat!? I don't know but do go to a water bottle and save a lot of work and bedding. I also feed in bowls...but they are shallow, otherwise the mice especially use them as a bathroom, shallower ones they don't.
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Sonya

Rats are clean animals most of the time. They don't like being really dirty hence mostly designating a corner as the "bathroom" Though whats more likely to be happening is they're kicking stuff into the water bowl and it contains fecal matter. I've taken to making my own water bottles now with the sippers from gravity fed water bottles and a half gallon apple juice bottle. Melt a hole just large enough to fit the rubber stopper with the sipper tube through so its a tight fit.. and then cement it with a good, but safe, waterproof sealent. Aquarium sealent works well for me. Plus, the benefit of having a large fresh water source is a good thing. You don't have to worry about them running out of water if you want to go away for a day or two somewhere.