fleece blankets, and bathing rats

[Riana]

Hallo, everyone! I went out and bought a bunch of polar fleece blanket material, and made sections to line the bottom of the boys' cage with, to try to cut down on the mess, I bought some velcro to secure it to the bottom of the cage. So far it's been holding up real well! I've been changing it every two days, but even in that short amount of time it stinks so bad! Their hammocks go through the same ordeal.

I was just wondering if anyone had any tips or suggestions regarding blankets used as bedding. Is it normal for it to smell after just two days? Is there anything you use to try to make it last longer? I'm new to the blanket trick, so any information would be nice.

ALSO! I had the most... interesting adventure today bathing the boys! :heart:A friend of mine came up and helped me bathe them, they needed it. None of them have any real signs of 'buck grease' (which makes me feel as though I'm doing -something- right!), but they were a little more smelly than the typical male rattie smell. I used this wonderfully scented ferret shampoo (I used to use it for Zoey, and I figure ferret shampoo would be good for odor control). Well, Rose and Loki were okay, considering. Lots of jumping, wriggling, and trying to escape. Freyr and Guild shreiked their little heads off! I swear it sounded like I was trying to kill them! Guild even got out of my grasp and crawled into the arm opening of my Tshirt and hid in the middle of my back >_<. Margaret had to rescue me! . But a lot of splashing, scratches, and stress-poops later, I had four squeaky-clean rats.

How often do you bathe your rats? We used to bathe Zoey a few times a year, only when she got smelly. I figure less is more, but I was hoping that if it was possible to do it more often to cut down on any smell, if that would be okay. Having a bit of dog grooming experience, I know not to overbathe an animal... but is it okay for rats to have a bath every couple of months or so for maintenance? And also, anyone who bathes their rats, what do you use? I'd like suggestions, incase I should change shampoo.

No pictures, but boy, do they look handsome now all squeaky-clean and fluffy! :heart:

 

[Godmother]

the only time I ever helped to bathe rats was with SQ's Lyman and Andy, who smelled terrrible when she first got them(probably because of what they ate before they came to live with SQ). I decided never to do it again unless I was truly desperate, because the poor boys emitted the most pitiful squeaks I have ever heard. I felt like a murderer.

We used baby shampoo, but ferret shampoo is probably even better.

Female rats don't need bathing unless they are too ill to groom themselves, but males might be a different story.

 

[jorats]

My fleece will last about 2 days, maybe longer if they don't use a certain level. how big is your cage?

As for bathing rats, you really don't need to do this and in fact is not recommended at all. Rats need their body oils and if you wash it away, they will simply produce too much.
I used to give mine a bit of fun time in the bathtub with a bit of water about 3 times a year. Try not to use any shampoo at all unless the bunny shampoo, diluted as it's the mildest for rats.

Some of my rats love the water while others think I'm actually attempting to drown them. lol

 

[Godmother]

My fleece gets bad after two days, even though I only have five girls per FN. The rats like to stash and eat their lab blocks in one of their plastic houses, and it gets particularly disgusting inside, so I put a cloth underneath and change it daily.

 

[SQ]

I need to change fleece daily ... I have discovered that unaltered boys urine mark much more than neutered boys ... at least they sure do in my home.

I have both neutered and unaltered boys and have never had to give them a bath.

As godmother mentioned, we did bath two boys several years ago because they stank so bad I didn't think I could bear to stay in the same apartment ... the bath terrified them and didn't help - actually made things worse because in addition to the original smell they then also smelled like wet dogs ... poor little Lyman and Andy.

Their smell was due to conditions such as the diet they had been fed. Fortunately the terrible smell gradually faded away. Their sister Lois also had the same odor, just not quite as bad.

My unaltered boys are now about 9 months old and have little buck grease (I attribute this to their diet, but I could be wrong) and have never needed a bath.
My rats groom themselves (even the elderly ones) and have never required a bath ....

I have noticed from time to time that my rats do develop a bit of an odor but they take care of it themselves ... it always mystified me that Jordan could marinate in urine, one of his favorite activities :roll: , and yet did not smell bad.

Personally, at this point in time, I would not recommend giving a rat a bath tho I know some rat owners do it every few months to cut down on buck grease.
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On page 8 of her health book Debbi D. says " Because rats groom themselves and have short hair, its not usually necessary to brush or bathe them. If your rat smells bad, its usually because the litter or bedding isn't being changed often enough. But you can bathe them occasionally if you want."

As an alternative to bathing for those males who produce a lot of "buck grease", she suggests rubbing vegetable oil into their backs to dissolve the oily deposits, and wipe off the excess. She also discusses washing the tail and clipping toenails.

 

[lilspaz68]

Another thing you can try is to put towels under the fleece. The fleece wicks the moisture into the towel...I know guineapig owners who use this trick.

 

[lilspaz68]

Another thing you can try is to put towels under the fleece. The fleece wicks the moisture into the towel...I know guineapig owners who use this trick.

I don't bathe my rats unless they are ill, got into something messy, or are old and infirm and need the help...even then I try to do wipes with damp cloths instead of full baths. Make sure that room is warm so they don't catch a chill....and those long-sleeved shirts are a must! :roll:

 

[Vanessa]

I have never bathed any of my rats unless they were very advanced in age and had become infirm due to hind end paralysis. Then, I will rinse them off from the waist down a couple of times a day with some water. I will add a bit of shampoo or soap, but not every time. I did that to prevent urine scald and irritation from their urine on their bellies.
Other than that, I don't like to interfere with their grooming.

 

[Riana]

Great replies! Thankyou, everyone! I'm glad that I got some more information about this.

Thinking more on the subject, I realize that their smell was when I was transitioning from a full covered bottom to a litterpan, and they still wandered through the pee areas. Also, they seem to use their corner litterpan for an actual litterpan, rather than the shelf it was meant to be, so I'm sure that attributed to it. Anyone have that experience? Anything I should do? Get a flat shelf, perhaps, so they can't poop on it and have it collect?

 

[mamarat]

Can you put litter in that pan? Then just clean it out daily. I watch where they like to poop and stick their litter pan there.
As for the fleece, I put a pot holder on top of the fleece where they like to hang out, often times I only have to change the pot holder. I get them cheap at the Dollar Store, two for a buck.

 

[jorats]

I've had corner litter pans used as a shelf and if they decided it was their toilet, there was no changing their minds. :roll:
So I either filled it with Yesterday's News or removed it.

 

[Godmother]

Yes, when they decide that an area is for pooping they absolutely will not change their minds (behinds? :lol: ), so you might as well put a litter box there.

Mamarat's idea is a good one. I have to put an extra cloth in two places in Corrie's daughter's cage: anywhere they stash and eat, and anywhere they pee a lot. My girls hoard their Harlan Teklad in their little house. They eat and pee there, so I have to change the extra cloth every day.

I often wonder if some woman is looking down on my cages and rolling her eyes in horror! The cloths I use to protect the fleece liners are home-made placemats I got from a yard sale. the original owner of the house had died and her kids were selling what they didn't need. The cloths were really nice & thick, but I didn't need them for place mats and, for 50 cents, I thought they'd be great for the rats!

 

[LA]

I never bathe my girls and they always smell good to me (like grape freshie). I have never found it to be a problem.

 

[mamarat]

That is too funny, Godmother.

 

[davenjohn]

:thumbup: This is such a great resource that you are providing and it's really easy for me to SEE what you were talking about.