Did you know that you can potty train your rats? Rats are very intelligent and it is easy to teach them to go in a litter box! The benefits of potty training rats is you can extend the period between cleaning the entire cage because you can just empty out the litter box for mid-week or daily cleanings, and then deep clean once a week if you use at least an inch of bedding such as kiln-dried aspen, kiln-dried pine, or hemp. If you have bedding or items in the cage such as fleece, bare shelves, or paper, you still need to do cleaning every 2 days as those bedding types accumulate dangerous levels of ammonia and can contribute to deadly respiratory issues. Potty training rats also keeps the smell of the cage down because once the litter boxes get emptied, the majority of the cage smell goes away!
Rats usually already have a favorite corner to go in, so just buy a small animal corner litter pan off Amazon/Chewy, put a different substrate than your main bedding in the litter box, and add a "pee rock." If your main substrate is kiln-dried aspen, put paper pellets in your litter box. Remember that paper has no ammonia control and is very dangerous to a rat's sensitive respiratory system so remember to change out the litter box at least twice a week. I use Vitakraft Ultra Strength recycled pellets from Amazon.
For bigger mischiefs (3+) your litter box may need to be emptied every other day or every day. A pee rock is a smooth flat rock that is at least 1/3 the size of your biggest rat. Adding a pee rock encourages your rat to pee in the litter box because rats naturally like to scent mark flat surfaces. If you find a good pee rock from outside, make sure to boil it in water for 10 minutes or wash it really well with bleach water to disinfect it. I get my litter boxes off Amazon and I like to buy the ones with grates because it keeps the poo from sticking on my rat's feet. I have never had an issue with rats spraining their feet on the grates or getting bumblefoot. Chewy.com also has litter boxes, I like the "Ware Scatterless Lock-N-Litter Small Animal Litter Pan." If you prefer not to use grates there's normal small animal corner litter boxes as well!
How do I get started? Set up your litter box in a corner where they seem to enjoy going, and at least twice a day, spot clean any poo that doesn't make it into the litter box by scooping it into the litter box. I use one of those plastic sporks you get from take-out for the scooping. Eventually, they will get the message and start to go where they smell themselves.
This is also beneficial to teach your rats because during free roam, they will seek out a litter box to do their business instead of leaving it around their free roam space. If you ever catch them actively using the litter box, as soon as they are done, tell them good job and reward with a treat!
From my experience, it takes about 2 weeks of consistent scooping poo from around the cage into the litter box for rats to be successfully potty trained. Sometimes rats will be really tired and not make it to the litter box. If after potty training them, you notice that they are going somewhere other than the litter box, the litter box may be too far away from their favorite sleeping space. Try moving it directly under their favorite sleeping spot, or buy a second litter pan for the cage. I recommend at least 1 litter box per level of cage. So a double critter nation would need at least 2. When I first litter trained my boys I put 3 litter boxes in my single critter nation and as they became potty trained, I removed the one they used the least!
When doing weekly deep clean, save a few poos and a little bit of soiled bedding and deep clean the entire cage with vinegar water to eliminate ammonia and other odors, replace all bedding and litter, and then place the saved waste into the litter box. This way the entire cage smells clean except for the litter box. Naturally they will want to go where they “have gone before.”
If you still notice a smell and it is bothersome, buy equine stall refresher and sprinkle it in your substrate to eliminate ammonia. It is also beneficial to buy a small air purifier and set it near the cage, far enough that they can't access the cord. Stay on top of cleaning and remember that kiln-dried aspen, kiln-dried pine, hemp, and bio-active substrates are the best at controlling smell and extend the length you can go between cleanings. You should never be able to smell the waste in the rat cage because they have a better sense of smell than you and it is a lot more irritating to your rats to be living in those conditions. Remember that ammonia from the breakdown of their urine causes respiratory diseases and infections which can be fatal and chronic to your rats.
Our baby rats begin potty training before they go to new homes and should either be fully trained or understand the concept by the time of adoption!
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