Lady's First Bath

[ZoeHale]

So I've been making an effort lately to cut down on the odor of my rats, because the landlord complained of the smell the last time she was here.
And so I gave Lady a bath (I'm not risking one with Bug, because she's a nakie).
Oh she was so mad at me!!!
I got one pic of my holding her in the towel, you can see how she's still wet.
I MSPaint'd my fatty face out though.

Tadah!
At least she smells good now.
And the pee stains are gone.
Just thought I'd share.

 

[RKbusy]

Aw... cute rattie! ^_^

As for smells... usually the rat itself is NOT the problem. Especially girls. They keep themselves really clean and they don't have that musky smell that boys have.

It's usually the dirty cage/fabric/bedding that is the cause of any smell. It's probably more work, but if you cleaned more frequently, I'm sure the smell will be less noticeable. My general rule is, if I can smell them, then I'm definitely overdue for a cleaning (and I have boys!)

 

[ZoeHale]

I did a full washdown of the cage 4 days ago.

 

[jorats]

Do you have only girls in the home?
Don't bathe them too often, it will dry out their skin.

 

I clean my cages everyday, minus the bedding which is done every 3rd day.
But I do clean all levels, all sides, all ramps, litter pans, all toys and houses everyday.
I use yesterdays news on the bottom, aspin in the litter pan and placemats on the levels.

When I used to use blankets, I would change them everyday.

I have 3 ratty cages ...one with 4 females, one with 3 unneutered males, one with 2 neutered males
I also have a bunny cage & A hamster cage all in the same room, and my room don't smell

What bedding do you use?
What do you feeed them?