TorachiKatashi
Well-Known Member
I've decided to try to litter train my two ten week old boys, in anticipation of getting my fancy MomRat liners that I'd prefer to not have covered in poop all the time if I can help it. I know they will never be 100% litter trained like my cat (and even he still manages to miss sometimes... sigh) but I know people here have had success with it, so there must be some trick to it.
Here's what I've done so far. I bought the litter box yesterday (one of those triangle shaped ones that fit in the corner, a large sized one since they didn't have any medium sized ones at the store). I came home, and wiped out their whole cage with baby wipes. I put the litter box in their favourite pooping corner, filled with enough unscented Yesterday's News to cover the bottom of the pan, and took the poop that had been in that corner, and put it in the litter box. My theory was that maybe if dogs automatically poop where they can smell poop, maybe rats will too (for the most part). I had them both in the pan exploring around (complete with Oskar taking a bite out of a few pieces then spitting it out when he realized it didn't taste very good), but now they mostly seem to ignore it. I see them nosing around it sometimes, but I can't really tell if they're using it or they're just hanging out in there. They've also decided to move their favourite pooping spot a couple of inches to the right of the litter box instead. I've been picking up those poops and putting them in the litter as well. I know it's only been a day and I have to be patient, but is there anything else I can do to encourage them to use their litter box? Also, since their poop at this point is as small if not smaller than the litter pellets, I can't just scoop the poop daily like I would with my cat. How often should I change the litter out, for two rats? I was going to do it once a week (dump the entire thing out, wash the pan, fill it with fresh litter, like I do with my cat) but I don't know if that's often enough.
Thanks!
Here's what I've done so far. I bought the litter box yesterday (one of those triangle shaped ones that fit in the corner, a large sized one since they didn't have any medium sized ones at the store). I came home, and wiped out their whole cage with baby wipes. I put the litter box in their favourite pooping corner, filled with enough unscented Yesterday's News to cover the bottom of the pan, and took the poop that had been in that corner, and put it in the litter box. My theory was that maybe if dogs automatically poop where they can smell poop, maybe rats will too (for the most part). I had them both in the pan exploring around (complete with Oskar taking a bite out of a few pieces then spitting it out when he realized it didn't taste very good), but now they mostly seem to ignore it. I see them nosing around it sometimes, but I can't really tell if they're using it or they're just hanging out in there. They've also decided to move their favourite pooping spot a couple of inches to the right of the litter box instead. I've been picking up those poops and putting them in the litter as well. I know it's only been a day and I have to be patient, but is there anything else I can do to encourage them to use their litter box? Also, since their poop at this point is as small if not smaller than the litter pellets, I can't just scoop the poop daily like I would with my cat. How often should I change the litter out, for two rats? I was going to do it once a week (dump the entire thing out, wash the pan, fill it with fresh litter, like I do with my cat) but I don't know if that's often enough.
Thanks!
