Rats that are so ratty; a page on rats and their care (pt 2.)

What things are bad for rats? 

➔ TOXIC FOODS 

DO NOT FEED THESE TO YOUR RATTIES OR I WILL KILL YOU!!!!! 

These are foods that are poisonous to rats, they should be completely avoided. - Avocado skin and pits 

- Chocolate 

- Citrus foods (causes kidney damage) 

- Mango (causes kidney damage) 

- Green Potato 

- Fluorinated and/or Chlorinated Water (use only filtered water, never tap water)

- Green bananas 

- Uncooked/dried beans (contains toxic hemaglutin) 

- Blue cheese 

- Caffeine1 

- Dried corn 

- Licorice 

- Raw sweet potato 

- Poppy seeds 

- Raw cabbage 

- Raw brussel sprouts 

- Raw peanuts 

- Rhubarb 

➔ UNSAFE FOODS 

Unsafe foods are dangerous to rats because they can cause harm or injury to the animal due to their attributes. 

- Carbonated beverages (rats are unable to burp, so the gas gets trapped)

- Sticky foods (like peanut butter) 

- Wild insects 

➔ UNHEALTHY FOODS 

Unhealthy foods won’t necessarily cause lasting harm to rats but should still be avoided because of the negative impact on their health. 

- High-fat foods

- Sugary foods 

Domestic rat care and human safety 

Pet rats, even when they look clean and healthy, can carry germs that make them and their handlers sick. 

A clean environment will help reduce the chance of the rat becoming sick and spreading germs. Taking proper care of your pets is extremely important to both of your safety. Hantavirus, and other germs like salmonella, giardam and rat bite fever can be spread through urine, feces, and saliva of recently infected rats. When you're caring for a pet rat it's extremely important to keep the animal's cage and environment as clean as possible. 

It is recommended that families with children under 5 years of age, pregnant people, or people with weakened immune systems should not own rodents because they are more at risk of serious illness. 

Cleaning a rats cage 

Keeping your rats' cage clean, odor-free and comfy requires regular cleaning. Many people think that rats are very grimy and unclean but they're actually the opposite! They're actually very clean animals, and they spend almost 30% of their time grooming and cleaning themselves! But, they need their caretakers help in keeping their home just as clean as they are. 

How often do you clean a rat's cage? 

Small things should be done daily while more thorough cleanings should be done once a week. Deep cleaning should be done once a month. All of this cleaning will ensure your babies are living in a safe and clean environment so they can be super duper cool 24/7. 

Why is cleaning your rat's cage regularly essential to keeping your rats safe and happy? 

When rats pee, bacteria starts to turn their urine into ammonia. Inhaling ammonia makes the rats more prone to respiratory illness. There is also often bacteria on rat feces in their litter and bedding, which will also be unhealthy for them if it is inhaled or ingested. 

Even though rats themselves are extremely clean, they will start to smell very bad if they themselves or their environment aren't cleaned enough. Rats have a much better sense of

smell than us humans, so we'd have to imagine how much stinkier it'd be for those stinkers. 

Important rat cage cleaning tips 

➔ Have a secondary small cage where you’ll keep the rats while you clean 

➔ Put the rats in another room so that they don’t inhale cleaning products while you clean 

➔ Don’t use perfumed cleaners as rats are sensitive to that kind of things 

➔ Try to do the cleaning outdoors or in a well-ventilated area. If that is not possible, then leave the doors and windows open while you clean. 

➔ If you have a sick rat, make sure to disinfect the cage thoroughly 

➔ Rinse, rinse and rinse… make sure all the cleaning products are gone 

Daily cleaning activities 

Make sure you do a light cleaning in your rats cage everyday to keep them happy and healthy. They don't like to live in their own poop and stink just like we don't! 

Their daily cleaning activities include; 

➔ Replacing soiled litter with new litter 

➔ Remove any poops around the cage if necessary 

➔ Remove any bedding soaked with pee or full of poops 

➔ Discard of any leftover food 

➔ Replace water with fresh filtered water 

➔ Sniff at any and all cloth items and accessories in their cage, if there is any unpleasant smell, wash them in the washing machine with unscented, hypo-allergenic soap or detergent 

➔ Quickly wipe the cage with fragrance free baby wipes (though you don't need to do this everyday) 

Weekly cleaning 

Weekly cleaning is more thorough than daily cleaning is, and it will probably take you 30-45 minutes of your time depending on how you work. 

What's needed? 

➔ Dish soap such as Dawns hypoallergenic soap or a cleaning product such as Nature's Miracle Cleaner 

➔ Scrub brush and sponge 

➔ Anti-bacterial spray that is pet safe (ProVetLogic has some of these) ➔ Unscented and hypo-allergenic laundry detergent

Empty the cage 

➔ Remove all toys and accessories 

➔ Throw away litter and dirty bedding (keep two poops, yes i will explain later) ➔ Put rats in a temporary cage 

Clean the cage 

This whole cleaning process is easier to do outdoors or in the bath/shower. If you have a cargo cage and this is not an option for you, you can do it in the room where the cage is located, just make sure you have something water-resistant under and around the cage so your floor doesn't get all wet. 

➔ Spray the cage with warm water so the residue softens. This will make the cleaning easier. 

➔ Prepare a bucket filled with water and a dish wash or cleaning product such as the ones I mentioned earlier 

➔ Soak the sponge and clean the cage 

➔ Use a scrub brush to thoroughly clean the residue 

➔ Rinse it well and do it a few times to make sure no excess soap is left 

After you've cleaned the cage with a cleaning product, the next thing you need to do is disinfect it.