Rats rely heavily on their sense of smell rather than sight, so they’ll leave a few drops of urine on you, furniture, and other landmarks to help them “smell” their way around. Rats pick up on the gender, sexual activity, stress level, and identity of other rats from these scent marks. It is a form of communication as the alpha rats scent mark their pack with their urine. When they mark you, they’re identifying you as a safe and happy place they can easily return to. It can be a sign of affection as well, as they consider us a part of their pack! Even though we don’t think of it that way.
I’ve noticed these dribbles but have never smelled urine, as they still use their potty spots to eliminate fully. They won’t release their entire bladder on you unless they’ve been holding it too long. If your rats aren’t potty trained, leave a path to their open cage so they can return to eliminate when needed. You can train them to use a litter box in their cage and then buy a separate free roam litter box so that they will have somewhere to go while they play. Scent marking is something that cannot be trained out of a rat since it is a natural behavior. As rats become older and blinder, they will actually rely solely on these scent trails to get around.
For free-roam areas, use tile or linoleum so you can mop up easily. Avoid carpet, as it may develop a smell over time. If you let them roam on a couch or bed, lay down a dedicated blanket for easy washing—and don’t mind if they chew holes into it. Wearing long sleeves can also help by absorbing drops before they reach your skin, and also helps prevent scratches. Remember that over-cleaning causes over-marking, which will stink. If you clean a cage daily, they will scent mark daily to get it to smell like them. Only deep clean a cage weekly, and the free roam every few times you let them out. If you let them play in a small room for an hour everyday like I do here at Moomoo Rattery, I mop 1-2 times a month as the rats are potty trained- so I only need to mop the buildup of scent marking drops.
Other items you don’t want to clean to often include the clothes you wear as they free roam on you, or the blanket you lay down in their free roam area. If a blanket or your clothes smells like detergent everytime they pass over it, you can bet that they will mark it to “map” it or claim it is there’s. The fragrance in commercial detergent is irritating and toxic to rats too, so you shouldn’t use it around your rats anyways.
Rats will seek landmarks they can easily mark to map their area- so don’t leave remotes, phones, or similar sized items laying around in their reach. They are prime real estate to mark!
Both males and females scent mark, though the amount varies. Some males hardly mark, while some females mark a lot—it’s all based on personality and genetics. Males with high testosterone tend to mark more, so it’s crucial to get rats from a breeder who has eliminated issues from excess hormones from their lines. Females scent mark depending on their estrous cycle and highly hormonal females will have intense cycles, marking more. Read my blog on how to find a good breeder to make sure you don’t adopt highly hormonal males or females! Neutered/spayed rats are less likely to scent mark and show aggression so that’s always an option if you end up with an aggressive scent marking rat.
In conclusion, scent marking isn’t a reason to avoid rats, especially males. The drops don’t smell, and it’s not enough to be considered peeing. With good care and training, all rats, male or female, can be clean and do not stink!
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