RatPalace.com - Pet Rat Care and Discussion

Fri May 30, 2003 2:33 pm

Hello everyone,

I'm still in the midst of getting my cage ready for my first ever rats (rescue boys) but I'm getting very mixed messages about the covering of wire levels.

I took the bottom bit out of my terenziani michaelangelo so that bit is solid. But what to do with the other levels? The two main viewpoints seem to be either

A: Even though wire floors probably don't cause bumblefoot, covering the wire floors with self adhesive lino or something similar makes them way easier to clean, apparently wire shelves can get nastily dirty?

OR

B: Making wire floors solid is not advisable as puddles of urine/poos may form instead of simply dropping through the wire

So what to do? I don't think that plastic needlepoint stuff with the holes in is available in the UK (and I looked in the Oxford St John Lewis's huge haberdashery dept)

All opinions welcome please!

Fri May 30, 2003 3:28 pm

It is becoming more accepted that wire shelves aren't causing bumblefoot, you're right. I think that to cover or not is really your choice. Personally, I just switched to cages with solid floors because, as someone else pointed out to me, urine stalactites are very difficult to clean LOL. If you want to cover the shelves, I know some people keep rags or fleece on each level, and wash them every few days to take care of the pooling issues. Personally, I spot clean my solid shelves as necessary and call it a day. Hope this helped you.

Oh, and good for you for getting rescue rats as first pets! What a wonderful way to enter the world of rat ownership!

rq

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Fri May 30, 2003 4:16 pm

All of our rats have had solid base pans, and wire shelves, and we've never had problems with bumblefoot.

I did put two pairs of boys in a seperate cage when they were neutered (in pairs) as a recovery cage. This one had a solid ramp and balconey, and it was a bit difficult to clean.

The balconey had a large semi-circular groove running 'round the edge, between 5 and 100 mm in diameter, and stuff would get in the groove, dry out, and stick. Difficult to clean, but not impossible.

I prefer wire balconeys, myself.

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Victor, Bandit, and Sparrow's Sweeties: Neiko & Roo. Sparrow's Boys: Oliver, Arthur, and Rabskuttle. The fRAT Boys: Jim, Jack, and George.
Good night, Witter, Kono, Rat, Olie, Metro, Calle, Mr. Ratburn, Arwen, Leather, Ohana, Zoe, Misto, and Kanga.

Fri May 30, 2003 4:43 pm

Hi Laura

I have the michaelangelo too, and have taken out the bottom wire level. The base has a layer of newspaper in it, covered with old T-shirts. As far as covering the rest goes, I cover the bits of the cage where they spend the most time.

On the middle level, I have two old t-shirts folded in half - one length wise that goes along the long bit of the 'L' and one folded width-wise that goes on the short bit of the 'L' (I hope that makes sense!). They cover pretty much all the surface.

On the small floor above that, I have their nesting box, with blankets (old dusters or pieces of fleece) in. I don't cover the wire on that top floor, since they always pee loads in the corner there and the cloths get wet too quickly, so I've placed a litterbox underneath to catch that! I haven't covered the ramps either.

It's very easy to change the cloths and litter every 2-3 days, and wipe down the exposed bits of wire. I don't find that the wire gets very dirty if I keep on top of it. I scrub the cage out every week to 10 days.

I hang a hammock off the top lid (tea towel folded in half and pinned to the lid with nappy pins) which they love! They have to climb out of it when I open the cage, but it's really the only place I could easily hang a decent sized hammock.

I've made small corner hammocks for them, by cutting tea towels in half, and folding them into triangles. They fix on with safety pins too (no sewing required!).

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P, Charlie and Snoopy

Fri May 30, 2003 4:58 pm

I did cover the wire levels of my cage for about three months, and then I gave up. It was a pain to clean and the girlies kept chewing on the plastic carpet runner I was using. Grrr. I have a Martins 690 so there are two balconies (one is the "second level" from the floor, one is the third) and a full middle floor. I put the case from a twelve pack of soda on the middle level and through lots of tissues, paper towels and newspaper (no color ink, only soy black) in there and they get to make nests in the box and where-ever they want. It works out great. Currently they have two tissues on the top balcony for "sunning" and everything else is in the box. Mr. Green

I scrub once a week and really don't have too many problems.

Fri May 30, 2003 8:03 pm

I used to use a combination of floorings: wire, covered, bedding in the bottom of course, for two reasons: rats need a variety of surfaces to walk (and chew) on, and I used various coverings (usually some sort of flexible plastic) on the areas where they tended to pee the most.

Those clear inserts to put in the bottom of your dish sink work good for certain areas, and clear carpet runner for others.

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Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Tue Dec 02, 2003 10:31 pm

I know another question from the new rat owner and soon to be rats yea 8 more days! But before i get new baby i would like to ask all of yall out there what do yall put on the bars of the cage like on the 2nd 3rd levels? The wire spacing is about 1 square inch (sorry i have no clue about the transfiguration to the other measurement scale). I think with the new baby they would like to be able to use the other space more efficently.
Thanks Yogie Dance

Thu Dec 04, 2003 4:57 am

One of our ratties pulled up pieces of everything we tried to use, so now we just make sure there are always a couple of rags (shirts outgrown by our daughters) on the top level so they're not *constantly* walking on wire. I really fretted about the walking-on-wire-floors thing before our ratties came home (almost a year ago!), and some kind soul on this forum let me know that bumble foot seems to have a hereditary link. That meant that I didn't have to stress about it too much, not unless one of the ratties turned out to be susceptible. Both seem fine so far with the cloths, which provide enough coverage so that they don't spend a lot of their time walking on wires. We just change the cloths every evening so they stay clean.

It's so *EXCITING* to be getting ratties, isn't it? I could hardly sleep the night before ours were set to come home.... Let us know how it goes and don't forget pictures! Did I mention pictures???

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Sandy ~ and Liberty, Skye, and Pyro

Wed Feb 04, 2004 12:05 am

Put bedding at the bottom of the cage. The rest of the levels, the rats are ok, but if it really worries you buy some Plexiglass and put it on the wire.

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Laura (aka RATLOVER47)
My boys: Pokey and Pepper

Rest in peace little Pipster. I miss you more than anything.

Wed Feb 04, 2004 2:27 am

I have put lino on my shelves - I just thought it would be more comfortable that way, and I found the open wire really hard to get clean. BUT if you do cover the shelves, be really vigilant over puddles of pee. I cut the lino in my cage with bits to spare so there is a lip running round the edge. That way, I can cover the area with litter and remove the wet stuff several times a day like I do on the bottom of the cage.

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Claire
Foggy, Beeker & Eski

Wed Feb 04, 2004 3:43 am

Some people also use plastic needlepoint canvas which is easy to clean and you can cut it to size. I prefer the wire floors myself because I don't like the pee to puddle and sit where they can walk through it. But needlepoint canvas will help with that since there are holes in it. Lino also works well and you can get it in cool colors and designs.

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Christy
RP Admin
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Frodo, Zorro, Erzulie, Maeve, Clara, Molly & Emily

Thu Mar 25, 2004 2:56 am

I cover most of the shelves with 2 layers of felt, held in place by safety pins(if i didn`t they would pull it all down!) I flip them over every few days and then when the other side gets dirty i wash them and put them back in again. I am not really concerned about bumblefoot, but it gives the rats a nice soft place to rest.

Sun Mar 28, 2004 2:37 am

I've been using just plastic canvas that I've stitched in place, but it needs to be scrubbed every other week or so and it's such a pain getting the big cage into the bathtub. I'd love to have something that I could pull out and wash (I'm thinking maybe towels or something), but I'd rather they didn't block out the light 'cause the bottom level of the big cage gets pretty dark anyway. Anyone have any solutions?
Sarah

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Sarah
Gus, Electra and Lillie (cats)
Artemisia Serendipity Timoune Paikea Eowyn (RIP) Nimue Chrysanthemum Mozart, Elizabeth
Ruby Sunrise, Angelina, Madeleine, Claudia, and the Angels

Sun Mar 28, 2004 7:10 am

I use newspaper and change it every day. Usually I just wipe the bars down with a baby wipe (they're seldomely dirty). If you stay on top of it (change the paper every day to every other day) it is very nice. Cheap, looks nice, and stays nice and neat. I fold down the edge nearest the cage walls to keep it in place:

Personally, I've tried towels, that stitching plastic stuff... not sure what it's called... but this is by far my favorite

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In memory of Riley, the bestest, most squishiest ratty anyone could ever hope for

Wed Mar 31, 2004 3:25 am

What type of Bedding/Litter does everyone use? I am currently using Care Fresh, but wonder if there's better. Has anyone used this product?

Green Pet Natural Corn Cobs Bird & Small Animal Litter/Bedding
Description
All-natural, 100% organic corn cob bedding absorbs from the bottom up, meaning the surface of the bedding that touches your pet remains dry. Most other bedding absorbs from the top down, meaning the surface your pet touches stays wet.
Virtually dust-free.

Earth-friendly, biodegradable bedding.

Technical Information
Natural Corn Cobs Litter/Bedding can be used for caged birds and small animals including rabbits, hamsters, mice, rats, ferrets, guinea pigs, gerbils, hedgehogs, chinchillas, and similar small animals.

Kath[/img]

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Kat

Wed Mar 31, 2004 5:03 am

I used corn cob bedding once, and hated it. It really didn't absorb anything, and didn't control the smell at all. I don't know, maybe I just used a bad brand.
Right now I use aspen. The only thing I don't like about aspen is that it gets everywhere! Whenever I go to school, friends are usually picking pieces of it off of me

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~~Mallory~~
*~Paz~Mia~Nina~Medellia~Penelope~*
Angel rat

~Eleanor~ ~Sally~Maggie~

Wed Mar 31, 2004 8:13 am

I'm using "All Natural Corncobs" right now, and I think it's fantastic. It does a pretty good job of controlling odor for me. The only issue is that it doesn't really absorb much wet, so I have to scrub out the bottom tray whenever I clean (once a week for three rats).

I do end up with corncob pieces in everything I own, though.

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Katy: Ratmom to Momo, Hedwig, and Suzie!

Wed Mar 31, 2004 7:00 pm

My opinion is based on mice, but the corn cob has no odor control or absorbtion. Hemp litter is a bit better, and it is nice and soft. Carefresh is about the same as the hemp, except it is ugly (at least the grey version). My favorite so far is Equilitter, a horse stall pellet. It is a compressed wood pellet and does a fantastic job with odor. It is also heavy enough that it doesn't get kicked out too badly. It is not particularly soft, so I provide soft material for nesting. It (or and equivilant) is pretty cheap at the farm stores, and not marked up the way the small animal litters are. And almost as good are wood stove pellets, which are compressed hardwoods. They are by far the cheapest, only $3.89 for 40 lbs at Lowes and nearly as good as the Equilitter, but you have to stock up during the cold months since they are often unavailable during summer. I also like horse and wood stove pellets because they break down quickly in the compost bin and can later be used in the garden.

Last edited by wade on Thu Apr 01, 2004 4:43 am; edited 1 time in total

Wed Mar 31, 2004 10:15 pm

I used Yesterday's News for my ratties. It is less dusty than Carefresh (by a long shot -- my rats would not stop sneezing when I had them on it) and it seems to control odor pretty well. I dump the bottom of their cage twice a week and scrub it once a week, and don't really have a huge odor problem.

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Lydelia and the Critters
... and now they are five Mr. Green

Kitties: Miss Kitty, Catbot
Ratties: Eugenuis, Ralph and Elliott
RIP Oliver -- We love you and we'll miss you!!! Cry

Thu Apr 01, 2004 4:52 am

I use Cell Zorb, and I LOVE it! I have NEVER smelled my boys with this stuff, it's too heavy to throw out of the cage, but not too hard that they don't like walking on it.

I use Swheat scoop in their litterbox, which I also love.

Both are a bit pricey, with my newly built cage I use an entire bag for the bottom base. :/ But it's worth it, my upstairs has little air flow, so any stinky smells become super monstrous!

Fri Apr 02, 2004 12:48 am

EvilGummy (how in the world did you get that name?), I recently saw Cell Zorb in PetsMart and it looks just like the equilitter I mentioned. You might look in to that since it is a whole lot cheaper, esp if you have a big cage.

Fri Apr 02, 2004 2:08 am

Well, I created an anime music video a long time back, and called my studio Evil Gummy Studios...and ever since, the name just stuck.

I have yet to see equilitter...not sure we have a farm store around here? I'll look into it, since RI is so small, I should know quickly if I can find the stuff here.

Fri Apr 02, 2004 7:57 am

I used to use Carefresh, but it would even make me sneeze. I switched to Aspen, but I can't stand the smell of it.

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+ Gina
Belly Kiss

Sandy, Lilo, Rio & Atreyu.

Fri Apr 02, 2004 5:53 pm

	wade wrote:
	EvilGummy (how in the world did you get that name?), I recently saw Cell Zorb in PetsMart and it looks just like the equilitter I mentioned. You might look in to that since it is a whole lot cheaper, esp if you have a big cage.

Correction: I was in Petsmart again last night and I was incorrect. The horse litter is not exactly like Cell Sorb. Same shape and weight, but wood based (brown color), not paper (gray). I was confusing Cell Sorb with another pet shop litter, which they appear to be out of at the moment. In any case, it might still be worth trying if you can find it since it sounds like they perform about the same. Sorry for any confusion.

Fri Apr 16, 2004 5:22 pm

I'm not sure what litter you are using, but with my mice, esp the males, the Equilitter horse stall pellet litter I've mentioned before is the only thing that keeps my living room smelling good for more than two days (and I've tried just about every litter.) I special order it through a place that sells horse feed. I saw a cat litter that looks like it is the same stuff, but I don't remember the brand. Wood stove pellets were the next best and are very inexpensive, 40# for$3.89 at Lowe's, and our Farm Store had them on "end of season" sale for $1.99.

Here is a photo were you can see the pellets.

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