Post by Mil on Oct 30, 2011 12:40:56 GMT -5
Trasferred from the TRRQ Discussion Board Formerly on Facebook:
Laura Carpenter
i have yet to figure out how to potty train rats. i've heard it can be done and would love to. any suggestions?
about 11 months ago
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The Rodent Reader Quarterly
I asked this on the Wall of this page once and received many responses -- not to mention mixed results as to the efforts' success. It seems to work better with a double level cage (since many rats will keep their [usually upstairs] sleeping area clean). I hope some of those who responded will post their tips here as well. It's an excellent question!
about 11 months ago
---------
Lisa Partridge
i remeber potty training my rats.....we got a corner toilet and some special rodent litter.
they werent sure about what to do with it at first and used to curl up and fall asleep in it. after a few days of them just getting used to it being there i started to put a few droppins of their poop (and on a night a small amount of soiled bedding) in the potty. i found that they usually followed the smell (it helped that i put the potty in the corner they used but at first they messed in front of the potty because they couldnt get to the corner) if they had used the potty during the night they got a small treat (dried bannana chips etc) they learned quickly that if they used the potty they would be rewarded....after a week i started to withdraw the treats after they used the potty and they didnt mind.
i found this worked really well and cleaning out the litter every evening helped them to use the potty more (as the boys wanted to leave their scent and the girls were used to having the potty in the poop corner)
it made it alot easier to give them a quick clean every night as before i would spot check twice a day and found it took a long time as although they had their poop corner if they were feeling lazy they would just go anywhere.
about 11 months ago
--------------
Laura Carpenter
okay. thank you. this helps some. the boys i have now came from a very crowded environment and so were not taught, or did not learn, cleanliness very well. ALL my other rats always picked a corner or a spot to use, these are my first ones who go anywhere and everywhere. they are almost a year and a half now and i'm not sure i can train them but good suggestions for my future rats. i halfheartedly tried to train the very first rat i ever had but he thought the litter box was a bed. so through his life i left it in there for him to use as his bed. wasn't sure how to change his mind about what it was for
but, again, thank you for your help
about 11 months ago
-------------
Ashley Ann Atkinson
Hmm... we usually never had a problem with any of our rats going outside their cage, unless we kept them out for too long, but I also think having a multi-level cage helps. They liked to go down to the bottom to do their business in the litter.
about 11 months ago
-----------
Laura Carpenter
see, the thing with my rats is that they don't care where they go. we have a three level cage and all the levels are always dirty. i keep unscented baby wipes around and try to remember to wipe them out dailly. don't always remember, though. so they smell bad a lot too. i bathe them but they still smell. but i love them and am trying to take care of them the best i can. poor guys. i think this all stems from being born into such a large number of rats in a little cage. i feel bad for them. and when we got them they were unhealthy.
about 11 months ago
-----------
MrPam Gaypornmama
I love rats soooo much and have lived with over 20 in the past 15 years, but that was something I could not conquer. I'm looking forward to reading this post. magic? Gotta love when my baby is on my shoulder and then pees and I can feel it run down my back. ahhhhh.... still love 'em!!!
about 11 months ago
-----------
Penny Akester
Laura - are you having any luck? my boys are 18 months + and although they generally use a corner to poop, they pee in their beds (hammocks) and on their shelf - all over - i'm still struggling with them and not sure how to stop them (or if it's too late) pee isn't like the droppings that you can move around!! they are fine when they're out, apart from little 'marking' dribbles. They came from a lady who had a lot of different families of rats and probably not a lot of time for training etc, so the mum rats probably didn't help start the baby training off well - i'm with you - i think it must be partly what kinda home they came from - my previous rat was much neater and tidier!
about 9 months ago
-------------
Lee Elliott
all we did was put some of there poo in the pan . after awhile like 2 or 3 days they got the hing of it. my 1 girl Lilly takes her food there all the time and @ the sametime she go to the bathroom too. it's great i love. they are so smart they catch on fast.. lee
about 9 months ago
------------
Laura Carpenter
penny - no. they just go everywhere still. just try to clean their cage more often. i love them, but next time i will be more careful who i buy from. the lady i bought from had multiple litters in the same cage. she said she was pretty sure the two we got were brothers. but she wasn't 100% sure. and they have been the sickliest rats i've had. all my other rats in the past were clean and didn't need any meds for health problems till around 2 years or close to. my boys are only about a year and a half and have already been on lots of meds for different problems. i'll definitely be more careful who i buy from next time. and i have had a hard time bonding with them. haven't had that problem before. it's just like our personalities don't mesh. anyway, i'm getting off onto a whole new subject. LOL
about 9 months ago
------------
Lee Elliott
i'm sorry to hear that you have had so many problems . I hear you about getting rat with health troubles i to have 1 that we got and is a lot of meds. do you buy from a breeder or apet store ? i hear that boy rats r very loving too more so then girls.. we have 5 rats now just got a new little 1 but i think she is about 3 wk old and not 4wk like they told us , no matter we love them all the same. Good Luck and hope we can be friends .. bye for now Lee
about 9 months ago
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Penny Akester
Mine have been rather poorly too! they came with mites (not a good start - i didn't see them till a day or two later, or i would have doubted the breeder more up front!) and one has had a series of cists, the other two major resp problems - in fact one died a couple of weeks ago from respiratory complication, the others are on a high dose of meds to try and sort them out, but it doesn't seem to be doing much. Poor little guys, they seem happy enough and well in themselves despite the respiratory problem at least.
They are boys, and i think boys are super friendly - they are very chilled out - my previous one was a boy too - he was from a pet shop and lived a happy and healthy 4.5years, never needing a vet once, but these guys have already been to the vets many times each, came from a supposedly reputable breeder and are not 2 years yet! guess it's just luck, i know you're not meant to use pet shops in case they use the horrible mass breeding farms, but i guess it depends on the shop..... ideally i'd get 'rescued' ones but there weren't any i could find to rescue!!
about 9 months ago
-----------
Laura Carpenter
ours came with mites as well. i have never bought any from a pet store. i went in once to buy a couple but they happened to have some for adoption that someone had just left in a bag in one of the isles in the store. they found them after they closed one night. i had them for a year before they passed. they were the sweetest things. i miss them. my last two, before these two, i got from a lady who was raising a litter to feed to her friends snake. her friend got rid of the snake and she didn't know what to do with the rats. i took two and the rest she donated to a school as classroom pets. it's funny how this has spiraled from litter training to breeders i'm enjoying this, though
about 9 months ago
---------
Lee Elliott
to Penny Akesterthe pet store that deal with , they breed there own rats .
so fare we have gotten 4 rats from and have had not troubles with there health. the only 1 rats that we have with health proublems is Bea . we saved from beening snake food.she came to us with a respiratory troubles all ready.
beside i have been looking for rat breeders up hear in canada or on vancouver island for some and with no luck... later Lee
about 9 months ago
--------
Dantes Zaatara
i have not yet read previous posts, but- what has been so easy for me--- oldest ratty 'Canoli' always uses hefty big water bowl- at first, it was annoying- till i noticed any new ones i put w her, learned to do same. now, they have sep. bowl to play in- yes-they play in water!- 'tought' some to fetch favorite marble! so much easier when bathing. how this started-no idea-
it seems instinctive- survival-a way to not leave trace ?
about 8 months ago
----------
Dantes Zaatara
big pet store i've used, no problems, so far- even if most are 'feeders' got my originals there, bred , chose favs...etc.i just breed for smarts, health, outgoing/show-off charachter (easy to train), high bonding ability -only drawback to that is , they get so attatched,not willing to be too much w other people unless know themfrom early on.
about 8 months ago
Laura Carpenter
i have yet to figure out how to potty train rats. i've heard it can be done and would love to. any suggestions?
about 11 months ago
------------
The Rodent Reader Quarterly
I asked this on the Wall of this page once and received many responses -- not to mention mixed results as to the efforts' success. It seems to work better with a double level cage (since many rats will keep their [usually upstairs] sleeping area clean). I hope some of those who responded will post their tips here as well. It's an excellent question!
about 11 months ago
---------
Lisa Partridge
i remeber potty training my rats.....we got a corner toilet and some special rodent litter.
they werent sure about what to do with it at first and used to curl up and fall asleep in it. after a few days of them just getting used to it being there i started to put a few droppins of their poop (and on a night a small amount of soiled bedding) in the potty. i found that they usually followed the smell (it helped that i put the potty in the corner they used but at first they messed in front of the potty because they couldnt get to the corner) if they had used the potty during the night they got a small treat (dried bannana chips etc) they learned quickly that if they used the potty they would be rewarded....after a week i started to withdraw the treats after they used the potty and they didnt mind.
i found this worked really well and cleaning out the litter every evening helped them to use the potty more (as the boys wanted to leave their scent and the girls were used to having the potty in the poop corner)
it made it alot easier to give them a quick clean every night as before i would spot check twice a day and found it took a long time as although they had their poop corner if they were feeling lazy they would just go anywhere.
about 11 months ago
--------------
Laura Carpenter
okay. thank you. this helps some. the boys i have now came from a very crowded environment and so were not taught, or did not learn, cleanliness very well. ALL my other rats always picked a corner or a spot to use, these are my first ones who go anywhere and everywhere. they are almost a year and a half now and i'm not sure i can train them but good suggestions for my future rats. i halfheartedly tried to train the very first rat i ever had but he thought the litter box was a bed. so through his life i left it in there for him to use as his bed. wasn't sure how to change his mind about what it was for
but, again, thank you for your help
about 11 months ago
-------------
Ashley Ann Atkinson
Hmm... we usually never had a problem with any of our rats going outside their cage, unless we kept them out for too long, but I also think having a multi-level cage helps. They liked to go down to the bottom to do their business in the litter.
about 11 months ago
-----------
Laura Carpenter
see, the thing with my rats is that they don't care where they go. we have a three level cage and all the levels are always dirty. i keep unscented baby wipes around and try to remember to wipe them out dailly. don't always remember, though. so they smell bad a lot too. i bathe them but they still smell. but i love them and am trying to take care of them the best i can. poor guys. i think this all stems from being born into such a large number of rats in a little cage. i feel bad for them. and when we got them they were unhealthy.
about 11 months ago
-----------
MrPam Gaypornmama
I love rats soooo much and have lived with over 20 in the past 15 years, but that was something I could not conquer. I'm looking forward to reading this post. magic? Gotta love when my baby is on my shoulder and then pees and I can feel it run down my back. ahhhhh.... still love 'em!!!
about 11 months ago
-----------
Penny Akester
Laura - are you having any luck? my boys are 18 months + and although they generally use a corner to poop, they pee in their beds (hammocks) and on their shelf - all over - i'm still struggling with them and not sure how to stop them (or if it's too late) pee isn't like the droppings that you can move around!! they are fine when they're out, apart from little 'marking' dribbles. They came from a lady who had a lot of different families of rats and probably not a lot of time for training etc, so the mum rats probably didn't help start the baby training off well - i'm with you - i think it must be partly what kinda home they came from - my previous rat was much neater and tidier!
about 9 months ago
-------------
Lee Elliott
all we did was put some of there poo in the pan . after awhile like 2 or 3 days they got the hing of it. my 1 girl Lilly takes her food there all the time and @ the sametime she go to the bathroom too. it's great i love. they are so smart they catch on fast.. lee
about 9 months ago
------------
Laura Carpenter
penny - no. they just go everywhere still. just try to clean their cage more often. i love them, but next time i will be more careful who i buy from. the lady i bought from had multiple litters in the same cage. she said she was pretty sure the two we got were brothers. but she wasn't 100% sure. and they have been the sickliest rats i've had. all my other rats in the past were clean and didn't need any meds for health problems till around 2 years or close to. my boys are only about a year and a half and have already been on lots of meds for different problems. i'll definitely be more careful who i buy from next time. and i have had a hard time bonding with them. haven't had that problem before. it's just like our personalities don't mesh. anyway, i'm getting off onto a whole new subject. LOL
about 9 months ago
------------
Lee Elliott
i'm sorry to hear that you have had so many problems . I hear you about getting rat with health troubles i to have 1 that we got and is a lot of meds. do you buy from a breeder or apet store ? i hear that boy rats r very loving too more so then girls.. we have 5 rats now just got a new little 1 but i think she is about 3 wk old and not 4wk like they told us , no matter we love them all the same. Good Luck and hope we can be friends .. bye for now Lee
about 9 months ago
----------
Penny Akester
Mine have been rather poorly too! they came with mites (not a good start - i didn't see them till a day or two later, or i would have doubted the breeder more up front!) and one has had a series of cists, the other two major resp problems - in fact one died a couple of weeks ago from respiratory complication, the others are on a high dose of meds to try and sort them out, but it doesn't seem to be doing much. Poor little guys, they seem happy enough and well in themselves despite the respiratory problem at least.
They are boys, and i think boys are super friendly - they are very chilled out - my previous one was a boy too - he was from a pet shop and lived a happy and healthy 4.5years, never needing a vet once, but these guys have already been to the vets many times each, came from a supposedly reputable breeder and are not 2 years yet! guess it's just luck, i know you're not meant to use pet shops in case they use the horrible mass breeding farms, but i guess it depends on the shop..... ideally i'd get 'rescued' ones but there weren't any i could find to rescue!!
about 9 months ago
-----------
Laura Carpenter
ours came with mites as well. i have never bought any from a pet store. i went in once to buy a couple but they happened to have some for adoption that someone had just left in a bag in one of the isles in the store. they found them after they closed one night. i had them for a year before they passed. they were the sweetest things. i miss them. my last two, before these two, i got from a lady who was raising a litter to feed to her friends snake. her friend got rid of the snake and she didn't know what to do with the rats. i took two and the rest she donated to a school as classroom pets. it's funny how this has spiraled from litter training to breeders
i'm enjoying this, though about 9 months ago
---------
Lee Elliott
to Penny Akesterthe pet store that deal with , they breed there own rats .
so fare we have gotten 4 rats from and have had not troubles with there health. the only 1 rats that we have with health proublems is Bea . we saved from beening snake food.she came to us with a respiratory troubles all ready.
beside i have been looking for rat breeders up hear in canada or on vancouver island for some and with no luck... later Lee
about 9 months ago
--------
Dantes Zaatara
i have not yet read previous posts, but- what has been so easy for me--- oldest ratty 'Canoli' always uses hefty big water bowl- at first, it was annoying- till i noticed any new ones i put w her, learned to do same. now, they have sep. bowl to play in- yes-they play in water!- 'tought' some to fetch favorite marble! so much easier when bathing. how this started-no idea-
it seems instinctive- survival-a way to not leave trace ?
about 8 months ago
----------
Dantes Zaatara
big pet store i've used, no problems, so far- even if most are 'feeders' got my originals there, bred , chose favs...etc.i just breed for smarts, health, outgoing/show-off charachter (easy to train), high bonding ability -only drawback to that is , they get so attatched,not willing to be too much w other people unless know themfrom early on.
about 8 months ago