# Rats



## Araielle (Jan 16, 2014)

I recently found 2 pet type rats. Anyone have any recommendations about what to use for litter & training treats? Diet recommendations are welcome as well.  I appreciate any help.










Here is the albino one. The brown one won't come out of the hiding house when I'm around.


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## TheAnimaLover (Jun 8, 2014)

I have a creamed coloured rat she is really social and always sits on my shoulder when posting. I use carefresh for litter.


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## cheekysquirrel (Jan 7, 2014)

I wish I can remember what we used as litter... I had a pet rat as a teenager. He had heart and lung issues, so we had to be careful with dust. I think it was a kind of cat litter. As a very rare treat, we'd give him and the other rat a single piece of plain popcorn. Mum used to sneak them a little bit of beef mince rolled into a ball every now and then... He also had a fondness for toast. He liked it buttered, but I don't eat butter, so it was plain ;-)


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## Araielle (Jan 16, 2014)

Thank you both.  So far the white one has taken a liking to attention, but the brown one bit me & always dodges my tries to show her affection. She's getting braver about running around the cage while I'm near, though, & has even taken a treat from my hand a couple of times, but retreats back to her little wooden house to eat it. So far I've done horrible with training them to use litter. They just poop everywhere. I was only using the paper bedding stuff, though, so maybe once I change it up they will respond better & quit hiding their food in the corner reserved for poo...lol.


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## jennandjuicetm (May 4, 2014)

I used paper pelleted cat lotter only in the litterbox and fleece everywhere else. The besr foods are Oxbow and Harlan Teklad. Some googling will get you the correct formula for HT. (There are different protien amounts.) You can use Cheerios for treats.


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## Jennalyn (Jun 23, 2014)

My favorite bedding is actually untreated wood stove pellets from the hardware store. xD In the winter, you can buy a 40lb bag for $5. They smell pleasantly woody. Just make sure they aren't treated with any sort of accelerant/fuel and you're good. I usually stock up on a few bags at the end of the season.

I've also used Aspen and Carefresh in a pinch, though they're not my favorite. The Aspen gets EVERYWHERE with its little shavings and the Carefresh doesn't control odor all that well.

+1 for Oxbow and Harlan Teklad blocks. I've fed both with great results. Good treats for training are the Gerber baby puffs you can find in the grocery store. They're much less processed-sugar-craziness than pet store treats like yogies.

I've kept rats for many years, so please feel free to PM me if you have any particular questions!


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## jennandjuicetm (May 4, 2014)

Do you freeze your wood, Jennalyn?


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## Jennalyn (Jun 23, 2014)

No, I've never frozen the bedding and thankfully never suffered any ill-effects. We don't have the space to freeze much of anything where I am currently.


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

I always kept my rats with wood shavings - do NOT use cedar, as it can cause respiratory problems, which rats are prone to.

Rats are highly intelligent and social, and will value your interactions with them, and their interactions with each other. They will be stressed and their health may decline if housed separately. You'll want to make time to play with them for at least 30 minutes a day (although this doesn't have to be all at once).

If you haven't sexed them yet, it's fairly obvious if they're male or female, since males have very large testicles. They do breed very fast, so if you ended up with a mixed sex couple, you'll end up with a million, million babies unless you separate them. If you did end up with a mixed couple, you'll probably want to re-home one and get a second of the same sex as the one you kept. They shouldn't be aggressive, and can be happily housed all male or all female.

I've never had any success "potty training" a rat. They do just kinda poop everywhere. lol.


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## jennandjuicetm (May 4, 2014)

Pine is also no good. I just "acquired" a 10ish month old rat a week ago and so far he's learned to potty in the litter box. He still hasn't learned that i'm not going to hurt him, though. We're working on it little by slowly.


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## hgual22 (Jul 18, 2014)

I use yesterdays news cat little, at the very bottom pull out pan of my cage, and then fleece on all the levels and as hammocks and stuff.

Also make sure they are on a high quality food, like Harlan Teklad or Oxbow Regal Rat. And definitely be sure they have enough space! You can google a rat cage calculator to see if they have an adequate cage! Good luck! Rats are great pets.


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## hgual22 (Jul 18, 2014)

Edited


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## kittenfish (Dec 1, 2013)

Mine learned to use their litter box almost immediately. Just make sure you're using a different material in the litter box vs the rest of the cage, and place a litter box on each level because they can be lazy. They still pee everywhere though :/

My favorite pics:


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