 |
| BEDDING |
| LITTER The most important thing to know about bedding is NEVER USE CEDAR OR PINE SHAVINGS. These have natural oils in them that, although pleasant-smelling to us, can fatally irritate a rat's delicate respiratory system. The problem with owning a rat in New Zealand is that cedar and pine shavings are generally the only beddings available in most pet shops. A good rat bedding should be absorbant, non-dusty, non-toxic, and preferably not too expensive. Some people use shredded paper, or coarse-grade river sand - I've even heard of someone using sterilised topsoil! My pick for best bedding available is Breeder's Choice cat litter. It's made of recycled paper pellets and meets all the requirements of a good bedding, although can be a little dusty (some bags are worse than others). I use this in my cages. It's available from Foodtown and Woolworths. I buy from Woolworths as they sell the 5kg bag, which is priced at $10NZD. Rats can be litter trained - mine are (mostly!!). I found that by initially filling the whole base of the cage with the litter, the rats would get used to going on the litter. Then I would provide a litter box in the part of the cage where the most raisins were, and use a towel on the rest of the floor to soak up pee. The ratties would search for the stuff they were used to pooping on, and just go in the box because that's the only place they could find it. The Dapper Rat has a good page on litter training. NEST BOXES For bedding inside nesting boxes I use plain paper towels. They are absorbant, soft, and rats love playing with them. I often hear the sound of ripping coming out of the nesting boxes! CARPETS This is another idea I got from Robyn's Rats. She uses old towels and pieces of fabric held down by velcro to cover the surfaces in her rat's house. I think this is an excellent idea, as picking up a rat who has just dragged her tail through a puddle of cold pee is not pleasant!!! I buy my supplies from Spotlight. I use flanelette pyjama material ($3.50 - $4.50NZD p/metre). Be sure to pre-shrink this first!!! I wash it in warm water and tumble-dry it to get maximum shrinkage. There is nothing worse than spending ages making a shelf carpet only to have it shrink to smaller than the shelf after the first wash. Cut the fabric larger than the shelf so you can make a nice hem, then sew it to size. To attach the carpets to the shelves I also use velcro. I buy stick'n'sew stuff to go on the shelves. The hard loopy side should be the sticky part (this is best on the shelves as it holds less pee should the rats manage to uncover it). The soft furry side should be non-sticky, and this can be sewn onto the corresponding part of the shelf carpet. Don't try to sew sticky-backed stuff onto fabric with a sewing machine - it ruins the needle (don't ask me how I know this). Obviously you will need more of the furry side of the velcro than the other, as you will want to make about 3 covers for every shelf (to give you time to wash the dirty ones). Unfortunately you cannot buy this part on it's own (believe me, I've tried!). The best thing to do is purchase the cheapest sew-on stuff you can get. The sort I got was not the actual "Velcro" brand so was much cheaper (less than $3.00NZD p/metre). You will end up with a whole load of the hard loopy side left over, but that can't be helped. Affix the sticky bits to the shelves in the corners (and at intervals down the sides if you have enough), then sew similar sized bits of the furry side in the same places on each carpet. TIP: The bigger the bits of velcro, the less chance you will find your carpets torn up, stashed in the bedroom and chewed to pieces within 24 hours! |
|