Scatterless litter pan

[kelsey514]

Has anyone ever tried a scatterless litter pan for your rats? It has a wire floor panel to keep them out of the litter. It says that they're made for rabbits and ferrets, but looks like it might work. My girls will take anything they can get and bring it into their house, so I haven't been able to use a regular litter pan with them.

 

[jorats]

I think a few have tried it but ended up removing the wire part. You might see some poops getting caked in between the wires. :sick2:

 

[temblabamomo]

I have one of these, but lately we don't really use the wire part. Sometimes poo does get caked on it, as Jo mentioned, and sometimes certain big boys poos are too large to fit through the wires. Honestly, more litter ends up around the cage when the cover is on than when off - Morrissey will sit there and reach through the bars and fling bits of YN all over, but when the cover isn't on he's not interested in doing that. I've also found that certain rats are more prone to poop outside the pan when the covering is on.

The only pro I've found to that sort of litter pan is a dramatic decrease in the amount of poops that get inadvertantly stepped in and subsequently tracked around the cage.

 

[Cinderwolf]

May be wrong but aren't wire floors bad for little ratty feet? I may just be confused as to what you mean though.

 

[jorats]

May be wrong but aren't wire floors bad for little ratty feet? I may just be confused as to what you mean though.

She's talking about a corner litter pan that has a wire grid to allow poop to fall through.
But, rats do very well on any wire floor. It seems uncomfortable to us but if you look at their feet, they have tiny bumps which is how it makes them hold onto wires better. A long time ago, people would say that wire floors is what caused bumblefoot, not so. Regardless though, I like to keep all my flooring covered in fleece, the soft padding seems to be more comfortable, but again, more for me, I think.

 

[smmmiley]

But, rats do very well on any wire floor. It seems uncomfortable to us but if you look at their feet, they have tiny bumps which is how it makes them hold onto wires better. A long time ago, people would say that wire floors is what caused bumblefoot, not so.

Good to know! :thumbup:

So then what do they figure causes bumblefoot? Unsanitary cage conditions?

 

[Moon]

But, rats do very well on any wire floor. It seems uncomfortable to us but if you look at their feet, they have tiny bumps which is how it makes them hold onto wires better. A long time ago, people would say that wire floors is what caused bumblefoot, not so.

Good to know! :thumbup:

So then what do they figure causes bumblefoot? Unsanitary cage conditions?

Yes, but it seems some animals also have a genetic predisposition to it.

 

[Cinderwolf]

May be wrong but aren't wire floors bad for little ratty feet? I may just be confused as to what you mean though.

She's talking about a corner litter pan that has a wire grid to allow poop to fall through.
But, rats do very well on any wire floor. It seems uncomfortable to us but if you look at their feet, they have tiny bumps which is how it makes them hold onto wires better. A long time ago, people would say that wire floors is what caused bumblefoot, not so. Regardless though, I like to keep all my flooring covered in fleece, the soft padding seems to be more comfortable, but again, more for me, I think.

OH litter pan haha I just assumed the whole cage bottom.

I never knew haha, just seen so many people saying wire is bad. Learn something new everyday. I'll still keep mine covered too, so they don't get their little feet stuck.

 

[RatKat]

It works amazingly for my bunny-but I'd never use it as it currently is designed for ferrets or rats. Ferret poo would just lie on top of the grid and get stuck in between the wires-plus both rats and ferrets like to rearrange things so the wire wouldn't stay in anyhow. Also I'd worry about ferret or rat feet getting stuck in the wire area.

 

[crumbilina]

I never used the wire for the covering of the litter pan but i have ziptied it to a corner of the rat resort cage and used it as a shelf.

I usually covered it in papertowel or fleece to protect little feeties

 

[kelsey514]

Thanks for your replies!

I've always felt OK about my ratties having some wire flooring as long as they have a nice large space to rest their feet. Their main cage floor is plastic and that's where they spend most of their time. They're getting a ferret nation cage this week so they'll have two full levels and two shelves that are wireless.

The caked on poo sounds gross, but that's what the entire floor of their cage turns into right now since I can't find another option that seems to work for them! Ew. Maybe it'll work...and if not, I'll turn it into an extra shelf like someone else said!

I'll try to remember to post back here and let you all know how it works. Excited for the FN to get here!!

 

[kelsey514]

So far so good! I got home today and the lip of the pan was across the cage and there was a little bit of litter on the floor, but they put the wire back in place! lol
Seems like they lost interest pretty fast so I'm hopeful that they'll leave it alone once they get used to it. They're already pooping in it, I only found 5 on the floor of the cage since last night.

 

[jorats]

Everyone have different experiences. Good to read that's it's working great for you.

 

[kelsey514]

Update:

It's great! They don't pull off the lip of the pan anymore, and I only have to pick up a couple pieces of Care Fresh that Madison digs out. They even pee in or near there most of the time, but Mackenzie likes to go on her bedding in the igloo. Definitely worth the extra couple dollars.