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More general questions

1K views 19 replies 6 participants last post by  Rats_for_life 
#1 ·
Hello!

So I have some more general questions that I really need help with, these are some questions that I have been wondering now as I have been living with our rats for almost a week. Some of these questions are just to get some reference and see if I'm doing okay, like I know that cleaning out the litter box depends on the size of the litter box and how many rats you have and stuff but I still would like to know so I can reflect a bit on how often I should possibly be doing it.

1. How do you know when you need to wash your rats' tails?
2. How often do you guys feed fresh foods to your rats and how much?
3. The people who have pee stones in your litter boxes, how often do you wash the pee stones and how?
4. How often do you clean your litter boxes anyway?
5. How often do you clean the whole cage? Like take out all the bedding and clean all the surfaces?
 
#6 ·
1 well my rats tails do get a little poopy so i take a baby wipe when ever l feel that its bad enough for a little wipe
2 well about two times a week if you asking like veggies
3 my rattos luv luv luv to pee on a lava ledge so i scrub that down with a toothbrush dedicated to that twice a week
4 every day
5 once a week
Awesome, thank you! Oh and a toothbrush for the pee stone seems like a great idea, I might have to do that!
 
#3 ·
1. Whenever they get dirty I guess. I haven't needed to wipe down Comet and Spark's tails yet.
2. About every other day, I usually fill a bowl with some veggies and take it away after 20 or so minutes.
3. I wash the pee rocks every time I spot clean lol, I rinse them off really thoroughly and scrub them.
4. Usually every day, sometimes I skip a day lol.
5. Every week, I also scrub the bars because I've found that sometimes odor clings to the bars.
 
#4 ·
1. How do you know when you need to wash your rats' tails?
You can wash your rats' tails as much or as little as you want. I try to take a second to wipe them down with a wet rag once a week or so. I don't really care if they're a little discolored as long as they're clean.

2. How often do you guys feed fresh foods to your rats and how much?
I give my boys around 5-10 grams of veggies each a couple times a week

3. The people who have pee stones in your litter boxes, how often do you wash the pee stones and how?
I swap out the litter every 2-3 days. I wash all of the hard items like litter boxes, Sputniks, plastic hides, etc. once a week. I'll wash the pee rocks at this time. I wash pee rocks the same as other hard-surface items. I just scrub them with a little bit of soapy water, rinse, spray with water/vinegar mix, and rinse again.

4. How often do you clean your litter boxes anyway?
See above.

5. How often do you clean the whole cage? Like take out all the bedding and clean all the surfaces?
I use aspen shavings on the floor of my boys' cage. There are a couple areas that get soiled a little more quickly than others so I'll do a partial swap-out of bedding every 1 to 1.5 weeks but I generally only fully change their bedding once every few weeks (as needed). I only fully dismantle the cage and deep clean it every 2 or 3 months but I wipe cage bars and surfaces regularly.
 
#8 ·
1. How do you know when you need to wash your rats' tails?
You can wash your rats' tails as much or as little as you want. I try to take a second to wipe them down with a wet rag once a week or so. I don't really care if they're a little discolored as long as they're clean.

2. How often do you guys feed fresh foods to your rats and how much?
I give my boys around 5-10 grams of veggies each a couple times a week

3. The people who have pee stones in your litter boxes, how often do you wash the pee stones and how?
I swap out the litter every 2-3 days. I wash all of the hard items like litter boxes, Sputniks, plastic hides, etc. once a week. I'll wash the pee rocks at this time. I wash pee rocks the same as other hard-surface items. I just scrub them with a little bit of soapy water, rinse, spray with water/vinegar mix, and rinse again.

4. How often do you clean your litter boxes anyway?
See above.

5. How often do you clean the whole cage? Like take out all the bedding and clean all the surfaces?
I use aspen shavings on the floor of my boys' cage. There are a couple areas that get soiled a little more quickly than others so I'll do a partial swap-out of bedding every 1 to 1.5 weeks but I generally only fully change their bedding once every few weeks (as needed). I only fully dismantle the cage and deep clean it every 2 or 3 months but I wipe cage bars and surfaces regularly.
Thank you so much for this thought out answer! I was also thinking about trying to do a big clean like once a week since any more often would probably be a bit too much for my cage at least since there's nothing significantly dirty or smelly in there yet. I also have a big litter box so I don't need to clean it everyday so I do it like once every 3 days, today would be my second litter box clean with my rats and it's been working well!
 
#5 ·
1. How do you know when you need to wash your rats' tails?
I've never washed my neutered boys' tails, but I did clean my intact male rat Mink's tail with a wet toothbrush whenever it looked dirty
2. How often do you guys feed fresh foods to your rats and how much?
They usually get some apple every day, some berries, and whatever else I have on hand.
3. The people who have pee stones in your litter boxes, how often do you wash the pee stones and how?
I wash them at the weekly clean, I let them sit in a container of hot/boiling water
4. How often do you clean your litter boxes anyway?
Since my cage is large, usually at the weekly clean, but if it's one they use lots every 3 days
5. How often do you clean the whole cage? Like take out all the bedding and clean all the surfaces?
I have three large cages attached to each other, so I clean a cage a week. The smallest cage first, then the Ferret Kingdom, then the birdcage
 
#11 ·
OH and if anyone sees this, one more question!! So I remember reading that green bananas are not good for rats (don't remember why so if someone knows, I'd like to know too) but.. since I'm no expert in bananas I need to ask.. all bananas are green at first but then later they go yellow, so when the banana is completely yellow and has no more green in it, it's fine for rats?? 😅
 
#18 ·
Sorry I’m late !
HOW OFTEN DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU NEED TO WASH YOUR RATS TAILS ? personally I have never cleaned my rats tails I normally only do it when they have poo or bits of food squished on their tail 😂😂
HOW OFTEN DO YOU GUYS FEED FRESH FOODS TO YOUR RATS AND HOW MUCH ? I feed my rats a bowl (their normal sized bowl ) of fruit and veg around 2 or 3 days a week and I will not feed them anything else until they have finished it all so I know they are getting what they need :)
THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE PEE STONES IN YOUR LITTER HOW OFTEN DO YOU WASH THE PEE STONES AND HOW ? I do have a pee stone and I wash it around twice a week , I live in the uk so I litterally just leave the pee stone outside on the grass , because it rains here all the time so it just washes all the pee/poo off😂 but you ca get some washing up liquid and dilute it a lot and just scrub the stone.
HOW OFTEN DO YOU CLEAN YOUR LITTER BOXES? I take out any poos everyday but I fully clean the litter tray (by scrubbing it with diluted washing up liquid) around once a week.
HOW OFTEN DO YOU CLEAN THE WHOLE CAGE ? I do that around once a week :)
 
#19 ·
Sorry I’m late !
HOW OFTEN DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU NEED TO WASH YOUR RATS TAILS ? personally I have never cleaned my rats tails I normally only do it when they have poo or bits of food squished on their tail 😂😂
HOW OFTEN DO YOU GUYS FEED FRESH FOODS TO YOUR RATS AND HOW MUCH ? I feed my rats a bowl (their normal sized bowl ) of fruit and veg around 2 or 3 days a week and I will not feed them anything else until they have finished it all so I know they are getting what they need :)
THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE PEE STONES IN YOUR LITTER HOW OFTEN DO YOU WASH THE PEE STONES AND HOW ? I do have a pee stone and I wash it around twice a week , I live in the uk so I litterally just leave the pee stone outside on the grass , because it rains here all the time so it just washes all the pee/poo off😂 but you ca get some washing up liquid and dilute it a lot and just scrub the stone.
HOW OFTEN DO YOU CLEAN YOUR LITTER BOXES? I take out any poos everyday but I fully clean the litter tray (by scrubbing it with diluted washing up liquid) around once a week.
HOW OFTEN DO YOU CLEAN THE WHOLE CAGE ? I do that around once a week :)
No worries, it's great to get as many answers as possible, so thank you so much for this!! 🥰
 
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