Owning Pet Rats - Housing
Part of offering your rats proper care is ensuring they have adequate housing.
Generally, you’ll want a cage that provides a minimum of 2.5 cubic feet per rat, with ½” bar spacing. As male rats tend to be larger than females, they will require more space. Floor space is important, as rats are fossorial animals. This means that they need to dig and burrow in their bedding. It is recommended to have a few inches (2-4" minimum) of bedding in the base of the cage.
There are varying opinions on bedding.
I prefer not to use paper, as it doesn’t soak up moisture, and contributes to ammonia production. You can use paper bedding in a box as a play, nesting, or foraging box, but I don’t recommend it as substrate.
Aspen (kiln dried) is a great option, and some stores will sell lab grade Aspen flakes, which have less dust, and are less likely to contain wood lice, which can be found in some lower grade Aspen shavings.
Currently in our rattery, we use StrawBoss Fine Cut straw bedding. It manages odour fairly well, and the rats enjoy playing and burrowing in it, and it doesn’t contain parasites.
If you offer a litter box for your rats, use a different substrate than what you use for burrowing.
If you choose to use a pellet form of litter, ensure it doesn’t contain strong scents or baking soda, as these are harmful to rats’ delicat respiratory systems.
Cleaning is imperative to maintaining a healthy rat. Daily or every other day spot cleaning is ideal. Remove loose fecal pellets and place them in the litter box if you use one. This is an important part of litter training your rats. By placing all of their poops in one area, they will eventually learn that is where they should go, and can be very helpful in maintaining a clean cage. Remove wet bedding to reduce any chance of mold growth or ammonia buildup. Remove any uneaten fresh foods daily, so that rats aren’t exposed to harmful bacteria or food poisoning. On a weekly basis, clean levels or shelves and surfaces.
Use white vinegar and hot water, or a pet friendly cleaning agent that does not contain scent.
Once a week, remove 50-60% of the bedding in the bottom of your cage, and replace with fresh clean bedding. Leaving some of the old bedding helps to maintain some of your rats’ scent in the cage so that they don’t feel the need to scent mark everything you’ve just cleaned and keeps the cage feeling safe and familiar to them.
Do not burn incense or use essential oils, air fresheners, scented candles, or heavily scented cleaners around your rats. Their respiratory system is very delicate, and these are contributing factors in compromising their upper respiratory system resulting in URI (upper respiratory infection), which is painful and sometimes fatal. If you are experiencing issues with odour from your rats, try using an air purifier in the room where they are kept, they are often helpful at managing odour and improve overall air quality for the rats.
Ensure your cage is set up for fun and safety, too. Rats need ledges and hanging baskets, hides, hammocks, tubes, wood chews and toys! One of my favourite DIY hanging hides is to cut an opening in an empty milk jug, then fill with bedding and attach to a cage wall with a shower hook. My rats really love these hides.
When considering tubes, one idea is a 3” diameter PVC elbow joint from the plumbing section, or a cardboard tube of similar size. It's important the openings of all tubes are large enough your rats do not become stuck inside.
Baskets can be purchased at the dollar store, filled with bedding or litter, and placed on the floor, or hung with shower hooks.
My favourite hammocks are tea towels from the dollar store. They’re easy to hang up, inexpensive, and easy to clean in the washing machine. Be sure to use a scent free detergent, and avoid using bleach, fabric softener, scent booster, or dryer sheets when cleaning your rat hammocks.
For a list of rat safe woods, check out https://www.thesprucepets.com/safe-and-toxic-woods-for-rats-1238293. It’s important rats have wood chews to help them grind down their teeth, but also as a boredom breaker form of enrichment. Offering wood for your rats to chew can help to reduce the occurrence of unwanted chewing of cage base and bars, or other destructive behaviour.
Foraging boxes are another form of important enrichment for rats and are simple enough to add to your cage. Take a small box or basket and place bedding inside it and bury some food or foraging mix among the bedding. Your rats will have to dig to find food, rather than readily finding it, providing stimulation of natural behaviours, and entertainment for your rat.
There are many ways to get creative with your rat cage setup, and even groups on Facebook to help you with ideas and tips and tricks! You can check out ratguide.com’s section on environment here.
For those who’d like to support small business by purchasing an enrichment box filled with really great toys that my own rats absolutely go crazy for, please visit Northern Ratties, with whom I’m proud to work as a partner in the breeding community of Ontario.
Food puzzles (like those sold for cats and dogs) can also provide enrichment to your rats, especially those who are more food-motivated.
Check out these links for a guide on feeding your rat, and which foods are safe: https://ratguide.com/care/nutrition/diet.php
https://ratguide.com/care/figures-care/diet-figure-2-daily-menu.php
Another great guide to feeding pet rats can be found here.
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