I clean everything off the bathroom counter and put towels down all over everything except the sink. then I soak a cotton ball with running water and dab the rats with them while they run around until they are completely wet. once they are soaked with water I dab shampoo on them and scrub with my nails. once they are soapy and clean I soak the cotton ball again with running water and dab the rats with them until the shampoo is washed off and onto the towels. the towels end up soggy and wet but the rats don't seem to mind being cleaned this way as much as the "in water" way.

 

I know that rufus doesn't like the sound of the droplets of water as they come from the shower head. Sometimes I have him on my shoulder as I shower myself or I put him on this little shower hanger that is right below the shower head and keeps him dry. If I put him on the shower hanger, then I'll lower the water pressure, and gently let the warm temp. water flow onto him. I like the tear-free shampoo that we had to use when we were little kids. That is very gentle and makes it easier if they get the shampoo in their eyes when they start to scrub themselves. I use mane & tail (shampoo and conditioner) for my guy. I then will towel dry him and they use my blow dryer on low/cool setting to get in the patches of fur. He loves it and always looks forward to them.

 

thanks for your suggestions. my ratties just absolutely hate getting wet all together and I don't know how to make it 'fun'

 

One of my rats likes to go In the tub and yank out the stopper, lol. So she doesn't much mind water. The other girls are not too big on It. I usually just put a few inches of warm water in the tub and plunk them in one at a time. Then they climb up a towel where I dry them off. I don't use any actual soap unless they have gotten into some mess of some sort.

 

The real question is, why are you bathing your rats? Bathing rats stimulates the oil glands in their skin to produce more, and also increases urine marking as they need to get everything smelling like "me" again.

Unless a rat gets into something and has sticky fur, there is no reason to bathe.

 

I bath my rats because they lie in their urine. and when I don't bath them, they begin to smell really bad. in my opinion, they last at least a fortnight smelling beautiful. if I left my rats to clean themselves their room would stink. (I would know as I didn't always bath them in the past)

 

You could just wipe them down with a baby wipe or something. I don't bathe my rats and can't really smell much on them.

 

Easy rat bath. Take a hand/face wash cloth. Make up a bin of lightly soapy water. emphasis on ' lightly' and then hug and wipe and dry. ;D