Obviously this is on average and for a healthy rat.
Last night I had the girls out on the bed in my spare room. It's a queen sized bed and I thought they'd have fun running around. I'm still nervous about having them running freely everywhere, and I do have two cats so that's not likely ever going to happen anyway. I am also not a huge fan of having rat urine everywhere. At this point we are cleaning the cage and blankets about once a week and so far there is no noticeable smells (or we are getting used to it??). Anyway...I had some toys and the lid from the old hamster cage for them to play on. Sprocket when inside, found a corner and peed on the bed that I had JUST made up with clean bedding for them to play on.
Is there any "standard" for how often they pee? Can you train them to ONLY pee in their cage? Am I expecting too much? I'm not a neat freak but I am also not a fan of urine all over my house! They seemed very interested in exploring and at one point I lost Cricket inside a pillow...bit of a panick there. We played until Sprocket peed...about a half hour...then I put them back. They also seem to poop everywhere in their cage...particularly where they sleep! Do they like to sleep in a "messy" nest? Can you train them NOT to?
Also...can you teach them to only go certain places? At what age can "training" begin? How do you let them have "free" time outside of the cage without losing them?? Will they not wander off and get lost? My house is about 2500 sq feet not including the basement and there are so many things for them to get into! Is it a good idea to have them all out at one time or should I only take one out at a time? I tell you once they got going on the bed it was a tad overwhelming to keep track of all three of them by myself!
I hope I've posted this in the right place! Thanks all!
Last night I had the girls out on the bed in my spare room. It's a queen sized bed and I thought they'd have fun running around. I'm still nervous about having them running freely everywhere, and I do have two cats so that's not likely ever going to happen anyway. I am also not a huge fan of having rat urine everywhere. At this point we are cleaning the cage and blankets about once a week and so far there is no noticeable smells (or we are getting used to it??). Anyway...I had some toys and the lid from the old hamster cage for them to play on. Sprocket when inside, found a corner and peed on the bed that I had JUST made up with clean bedding for them to play on.
Is there any "standard" for how often they pee? Can you train them to ONLY pee in their cage? Am I expecting too much? I'm not a neat freak but I am also not a fan of urine all over my house! They seemed very interested in exploring and at one point I lost Cricket inside a pillow...bit of a panick there. We played until Sprocket peed...about a half hour...then I put them back. They also seem to poop everywhere in their cage...particularly where they sleep! Do they like to sleep in a "messy" nest? Can you train them NOT to?
Also...can you teach them to only go certain places? At what age can "training" begin? How do you let them have "free" time outside of the cage without losing them?? Will they not wander off and get lost? My house is about 2500 sq feet not including the basement and there are so many things for them to get into! Is it a good idea to have them all out at one time or should I only take one out at a time? I tell you once they got going on the bed it was a tad overwhelming to keep track of all three of them by myself!
I hope I've posted this in the right place! Thanks all!