# Rats - what is safe for them?



## KairiLight (Feb 7, 2017)

Hi,

I have taken on some lovely rats and I was wondering if anyone could advise on what I could use to build a play area for my rats please? I cannot easily rat-proof my house so a play area would be best (they will be supervised at all times, don't worry!) but I'm worried about what would be okay to use as my boys are nibblers!

Also if anyone could recommend any foods that would be great. They are currently on Rat and Mouse Muesli and Rat Nuggets (Pets At Home brand) but they're expensive for the amount you get (particularly the muesli) and I know that the Rat Nuggets can make them overweight if given too much. I want to start introducing them to fresh foods but it's been a few years since I last owned rats so I want to double check before giving them anything. I found a site that listed loads but confirmation would be great. The site is: Pet Helpful and the topic was Rat Nutritional Information Can My Pet Rat Eat This

Also any tips on trying to toilet train 5 male rats would be appreciated....they seem to like peeing on their platforms and sleeping in their 'toilet'....

Thanks all!


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

You can try making a playpen using correx sheeting & duct tape & then fill it with lots of toys- cardboard box castles, climbing frames out of wooden wine racks, rope bridges made from dog toys, digging boxes made of washing up bowls or plastic boxes filled with shredded paper, hemp bedding, sterile organic compost.

This site has loads of ideas:

http://www.dapper.com.au/toys.htm

Food wise, The Scuttling Gourmet is an excellent book with lots of great info about feeding rats.

http://www.ratrations.com/the-scuttling-gourmet-4th-edition-p-1577.html

Lots of rat owners make their own mixes using base ingredients from here:

https://www.ratrations.com/

They also make complete mixes for those who don't have the time or inclination to make their own, & also sell a huge variety of supplements & superfoods & lots of ratty goodies!

For the toilet training, unfortunately it's a bit of an unfortunate habit that many rats pee & then 'marinade' in their beds! Daily spot cleaning & changing their beds every couple of days can cut down on smells, having litter trays on every level (& as near as possible to their favourite sleeping place- cable ties come in useful for 'floating' litter tray stations).

Generally I've found poop training a doddle, wee training a bit hit & miss!


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## KairiLight (Feb 7, 2017)

This is really helpful, thank you so much!

So for the sheeting would something like this be suitable? Please check the links in the document file uploaded (I can't seem to post links without it seeming as spam for some reason).

I shall head over to the food websites now to have a looksie.

Concerning the toilet training, hopefully it will be a bit easier once they're used to being handled properly by myself and they only have 2 levels in their current cage sadly as I couldn't find one which had more that was either affordable at the time or one that they wouldn't squeeze out of (sad really as one seemed to be great apart from a gap between the cleaning tray and the bars!).


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## KairiLight (Feb 7, 2017)

Hi, could someone please send me a link of what correx sheeting is okay? I've looked online and there are many examples but they're for different things like flooring etc haha. I would greatly appreciate it


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

KairiLight said:


> Hi, could someone please send me a link of what correx sheeting is okay? I've looked online and there are many examples but they're for different things like flooring etc haha. I would greatly appreciate it


The one for flooring is fine to use, you can pick it up at Wickes:

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Proplex-Surface-Protection-Sheet-1200mm-x-2400mm/p/118670


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## KairiLight (Feb 7, 2017)

Hi, thanks very much  t'is greatly appreciated.


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## KairiLight (Feb 7, 2017)

Hello, me...again! I'm wondering if anyone has recommendations on bedding? My rats are sneezing, one more so than the others and I'm wondering if it's to do with the bedding I'm using as they are out of drafts and I keep on top of their urine as much as possible.

The beddings I'm using now are Back 2 Nature Small Animal Bedding and Carefresh Ultra. I'm wondering whether these might be slightly dusty and is irritating the rats delicate noses.

If anyone has any suggestions I would be eternally grateful. I do apologize for the amount of posts.


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## CRL (Jan 3, 2012)

KairiLight said:


> Hello, me...again! I'm wondering if anyone has recommendations on bedding? My rats are sneezing, one more so than the others and I'm wondering if it's to do with the bedding I'm using as they are out of drafts and I keep on top of their urine as much as possible.
> 
> The beddings I'm using now are Back 2 Nature Small Animal Bedding and Carefresh Ultra. I'm wondering whether these might be slightly dusty and is irritating the rats delicate noses.
> 
> If anyone has any suggestions I would be eternally grateful. I do apologize for the amount of posts.


That's sounds expensive. I used to use finacard. It's dust extracted cardboard. Comes in a huge bale for 14 quid


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## Goldstar (Nov 12, 2011)

KairiLight said:


> Hello, me...again! I'm wondering if anyone has recommendations on bedding? My rats are sneezing, one more so than the others and I'm wondering if it's to do with the bedding I'm using as they are out of drafts and I keep on top of their urine as much as possible.
> 
> The beddings I'm using now are Back 2 Nature Small Animal Bedding and Carefresh Ultra. I'm wondering whether these might be slightly dusty and is irritating the rats delicate noses.
> 
> If anyone has any suggestions I would be eternally grateful. I do apologize for the amount of posts.


I use auboise at the moment for my boys, I get it from Amazon in a huge bale. Carefresh is very dusty and my rats were very sneezy when they had this. I literally had to remove the carefresh after a few days.


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## KairiLight (Feb 7, 2017)

Hello all, apologies for not replying sooner, been rather hectic as of late! I followed advice and switched to shredded paper bedding and it sorted the sneezing out no problem. They only sneeze occasionally now.

I must impose another question onto you wonderful people. I am needing a new bed soon and they all seem to be made of woods that are toxic to the ratties. Will just being in the vicinity of these woods (pine, oak, beech) make them ill or is it only when they actually chew on the wood will it harm them? I ask only as I know certain woods still give off fumes.


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