# What do you use in rats cages?



## LostGirl (Jan 16, 2009)

Ie for bedding, substrate? 

Many moons ago I used *sawdust* but now I know that you can't use it I was thinking of vet bed in the bottom and on shelves etc as I can wash and dry them pretty quick. And shredded old bills (woohoo!) as bedding is this ok? 

Getting a cage on Thursday so fingers crossed it's a good one then I might have to fill it with some older rats that need a home


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## Argent (Oct 18, 2009)

I use Ecobed for substrate, it's just chopped cardboard, a big 20kg bale for £6.20 which lasts me ages! My old boys have vetbed in their little cabin to sleep on, which is very useful too  Shredded bills should be fine as bedding too.


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## LostGirl (Jan 16, 2009)

thank you  

will hunt around for it


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## Snippet (Apr 14, 2011)

I also use EcoBed. I probably pay about as much as Argent does, and it lasts me between 4 and 6 months as I only have one cage to clean. I prefer using a loose substrate because digging is an important natural behaviour which they can't do if you use vetbed. 

Shredded paper is fine for bedding.


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

I use aubiose, its brilliant stuff and very cheap, I get it for £9 for a huge bale that I can barely lift, I use it for all the rodents and they all have big cages, but it still lasts me around a month. Thats including the gerbils tanks which are really full.


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## Guest (Apr 20, 2011)

I use Megazorb


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

this is where i get my 22kg bale from
ECOBED CARDBOARD BEDDING (22 KG)


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## myzoo (Jan 13, 2010)

some may disagree but i use shredded news paper and the ratties seem to like it but it dose need changing more often than the shop bought subtrates but i dont mind as its free


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## momentofmadness (Jul 19, 2008)

After a visit to my nans to find she wanted me to burn a few bin bags of shredded paper.. I now use that.. :lol: costs me nothing..


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## LostGirl (Jan 16, 2009)

I've got loads of shredded paper lol i think I might use a mix of it so they have digging stuff and stuff they can shred themselves aswell 

Getting the cage today even though I'm
Not picking them up till July!! Gives me plenty of time to fill it with toys and getting it just right!


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## ceretrea (Jan 24, 2011)

I used Aubiose for a while but didn't get on with it, Megazorb triggered a huge respy outbreak which cleared up as soon as we stopped using it.

I went back to our tried and tested EcoPet Bed. We get it from our local horse bedding/feed supplier at £6 a bale. Never had any problems using it before, the only reson we tried other things was that it doesn't go up the hoover very well 

I also stick shredded paper in there for nesting, although the boys like to rip up the paper from underneath the bedding.


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## manic rose (Mar 12, 2011)

use a paper based cat litter mainly and add tissue paper bedding to the areas where they like to sleep to make things comfy


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

myzoo said:


> some may disagree but i use shredded news paper and the ratties seem to like it but it dose need changing more often than the shop bought subtrates but i dont mind as its free


i used to use layers of newspaper on the base of the cage and add ecobed never harmed them


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## Sophie_xxx (Feb 21, 2009)

I use a paper/wood base cat litter aswell for my ratties. And for bedding I get a big bag of shredded cloth and paper from the pet shop.


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

wood base cat litter is no good for rats as it breaks down when wet and becomes dusty also it has a strong pine smell to it that can effect rats respiratory system.


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

blade100 said:


> wood base cat litter is no good for rats as it breaks down when wet and becomes dusty also it has a strong pine smell to it that can effect rats respiratory system.


I used wood based litter for my mice a couple of times and it was terrible, it went to a powder when it got wet and was as bad as using sawdust. Luckily the mice didnt get any ill effects from it but it isnt good stuff at all is it


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## manic rose (Mar 12, 2011)

blade100 said:


> wood base cat litter is no good for rats as it breaks down when wet and becomes dusty also it has a strong pine smell to it that can effect rats respiratory system.


but paper based stuff is fine?


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## Argent (Oct 18, 2009)

blade100 said:


> i used to use layers of newspaper on the base of the cage and add ecobed never harmed them


Same, the newspaper makes it a little easier to bundle up for mucking out 



manic rose said:


> but paper based stuff is fine?


Yes, paper-based is fine


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## manic rose (Mar 12, 2011)

Argent said:


> Yes, paper-based is fine


phew, panicked a bit there. dont wanna harm my boys


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## LostGirl (Jan 16, 2009)

Thanks have loads of things to look at! Managed to get a 2 level cage with food, water bottle, food bowls, house and a wooden toy for £20 will upload a pic when the computer is up and running can't believe I have tondos wait till July tho unless I can get 2 rescue babies


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