Settling 2 new rats in - advice wanted

Kelinik

divadee wrote: »

What bedding do you use? There are so many different types its so confusing.

I use either Ecopetbed or Finacard, both are cardboard but the ecopetbed is squares and the finacard is finer shreds. Eco's site seems to be down but this is the other one www.finacard.co.uk/.

eira

If you go to a local shop they throw out boxes that Smarties etc come in They are usually thrilled to be shot of them. Rats totally love these as hidey holes. They don't last long as they get nibbled but it doesn't matter as you can throw them out. They also like old sweatshirts-the more worn the better.

jammy_dodger

Hi Divadee how your rats doing ? it was by luck i found this thread as i have just bought two girls for my daughter picked them up yestaerday.. its our first time as rat owners too, she has named them crumble and custard ..they are quite shy at moment but daughter is patiently chatting to them and getting them use to her scent cant wait to cuddle and play with them though look forward to reading how yours are getting on

csi

hi, i have been a ratkeeper for over 15 years and presently keep 10 male rats in one huge cage
can I suggest you visit

http://z15.invisionfree.com/Ratville/index.php
for fun and relaxed ratkeeping with lots of serious stuff delivered in a relaxed way

or for very very serious ratkeepers
http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/home/
be prepared to be very serious on this site though

I use hemcore for my rats [ megazorb isnt the best tbh]which works out a around £7 per bale and can be got from most horse suppliers or any petshop that caters for rabbits/gp, not normally P@h though

Please dont ever use shavings/sawdust as they will damage your rats respiratory system

If you want to litter train I suggest you get a corner tray and put some biocatlet/yesterdaysnews [ any 100%paperbased catlitter]in. Its important that its different to the cage substratae. watch to see if they use a particular corner and pop it there. If not then pop the tray in the corner and pick up the poos whenever you see them and pop them in the tray, they'll soon get the idea. You may need to cabletie through the little hole in the top corner onto the bars to stop them pulling it over

Is that a jenny cage ?[ i seem to be able to make out a tube there, with a beautiful black roan peeking out] If so be prepared to have to paint it with child safe plastikote or japlac as this cage is reknown for rusting and holding wee smells, however hard you scrub, even with animal friendly bleach

Welcome to the world of ratkeeping, well done for not sourcing from a petshop and beware of two dreaded diseases that come with your rats. They are
GMR = get more rats disease
and
GMC=get more cages disease
both of which are completely unaviodable and once you get one, the other follows fast behind
Believe me I started with two and been up to 15 and thats a few compared with some

divadee

sorry i havent updated had a busy busy weekend, including lots of play an cuddle time with our 2 new additions!!!

The rats have settled in very very well, scarlet is still quite a shy girl, so with her we just sit by the cage and leave the door open and she comes out and then poos on us and then falls asleep!!!

splodge is the cheeky girl, as soon as she hears our voices she up and waiting at the door to come out for a play and cuddle. she has been asleep on mr divadees shoulder for 45mins at the moment!!

the only thing we are trying to get them out of gently is as soon as we bring them out of their cage they poo loads!!! normal poo but about 5-6 times each!!!! i read in a book if they do it to say no and put them back in the cage with the poo and they should learn is this right? Its not to much of an issue at the moment, as now all we do is get an old sheet and as soon as we get them out put them on that until they have pooed and then play with them after that (probably doing it totally wrong!!)

I have order when megazorb and hemp bedding from the local horse feed place, i pick it up on wednesday so i can give both a go.

Just to source the litter now for the litter tray. I have got some cable ties so will attach it to the cage when i get the litter.

csi how good are you, it is indeed the jenny cage!! I will get mr divadee to plasticote it this week as hes on holiday from work this week.

I will post some more piccys when i get some more, but they are tricky little blighters to photograph there just to damn quick!!

ZootHornRollo

we have had our jenny cage for nearly 3 yrs and it does not smell. fair enough the metal is a little tarnished but it hasn't rusted. had considered getting it powdercoated when we first got it.

happymummy24-7

well done diva,you have given your daughter a great gift.....my parents did the same for me when i was wee and now ive just given our girls the same-the love of ratties!!!
we have recently got Elvis and sunny(hes the avatar!) and they are already turning into big squishies,lol.
Lets see some more pics please!!
xxxlaura
ps when you are handling them be confident-obviously dont scare them,but hold them firmly close to you and talk to them calmly just so they know they can trust you,they need to feel you are the big rat....it takes no time before it works and they wont try to wriggle away!!

ayrshirelass

My local farm feeds shop has an online shop which sells bedxcel.

http://www.thepetfoodco.co.uk/store_main.asp?int_catalog_id=3&int_category_id=37&int_subcategory_id=0&int_product_id=158