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Tips for Setting Up a Cage for Pet…. Keeping Hamsters as Pets: 10 Things to Know…. Why do rats need bedding? There are three types of bedding that are needed in a rat cage: Substrate in the base of the cage, to line the cage, and give the rats something to dig in.
Litter for toileting, to absorb urine and feces, and encourage good toilet habits. Avoid mineral or wooden litters, and anything with added perfume. Nesting material for rats to use in lining their sleeping areas. My rats tear up their newspaper cage lining, because the Horde likes nothing better than to take control of their own cage. Table of Contents Good bedding types for use as substrate A good loose substrate needs to be These are some of the loose substrate materials I regularly use as a bedding Wood-shavings — the good, the bad and the ugly.
You may also like. Valerie July 11, - pm Thank you for sharing!! Ellen Helsion October 1, - pm Is there a certain way I should use the litter? Monika January 7, - am Thanks for the suggestion! If you have more than one digging box, try using different substrates in each of them.
This gives rats a choice and allows them to demonstrate a personal preference. Rats use nesting materials to help regulate body temperature and to increase warmth and comfort for sleeping areas.
They are natural nest builders and will forage for useful material in their environment. Bedding used for nesting needs to be a good size for the rats to manipulate and soft and flexible for the creation of the nest. Many rats will wee in their beds, so nesting material often needs to be changed every few days. With this in mind, it needs to be easy to remove and cheap to buy or reusable.
Chopped card, soft paper, DIY shredded paper, and Vetbed all make great beddings for the nest. Having a couple of corner litter pans in the base or cat litter trays on the cage shelves can make a lot of difference as to how long it takes for the bedding on the main cage floor to need changing. Rats are easy to toilet train, in fact, often just using the pan with some different litter in it is enough.
If the rats need encouragement, you can gather up stray feces from around the cage and put it into the pan until they get the idea. The best litters for litter pans are often paper-based pellets and straw pellets as they are very absorbent and will be different in texture from the bedding used elsewhere in the cage.
This can help your rats to toilet train to the litter pans. There are several excellent beddings that can be used in each of these situations. Which one you choose is often a matter of availability and personal preference. Card is inert, low dust, and highly absorbent bedding, which comes in large bales that are generally marketed for horses. It is usually pre-consumer card waste that is mechanically chopped into shreds or squares. This type of bedding has little smell of its own.
Card is excellent bedding for structure, and a great substrate for the cage floor, being easy to dig in and carry around. The large bales make it cost-effective to buy but more expensive to have shipped.
However, a new technique of kiln drying the shavings removes the phenols and leaves behind a useful rat bedding. Kiln-dried pine has great absorbency, keeping smells down. It also has a good structure for digging and foraging.
It is becoming widely available as horse bedding and comes in large, cost-effective bales. Shavings are best used for cage base bedding or mixed with other substrates in a digging box to improve structure. Aspen is a hardwood shaving that is naturally low in phenols. Look for dust extracted Aspen and throw away the tiny bits that settle to the bottom of the bag.
This bedding has great absorbency but can be expensive. One issue with wood flakes of any kind is that shavings tend to grip onto carpet, socks, and fabric and can be a nuisance to try to sweep up.
Mechanically or chemically processed wood becomes wood pulp, which is the base material for the manufacture of paper and card. Animal beddings are often made from reclaimed wood pulp from recycled card and paper.
Wood pulp products can be anything from pellets to soft lumps, to smooth paper. They tend to have very little smell unless artificially added and have good absorbency. Price tends to be variable depending on the pulp source and processing used. However, wood pulp bedding tends to be easy to source. Hemp bedding is made from shredding the stalks of hemp plants, which produces natural and highly absorbent bedding.
The cut varies from fairly chunky to very fine, and the chunkier pieces may work better for rats. Quality also varies. Although hemp is marketed for small animals, it is also supplied in large bales for chickens and horses, which can work out cheaper if you have storage space. This kind of bedding is common in pet stores, but should be avoided for better options you can get online.
Clay bedding is generally found in cat litters, which can be used for rats, but generally clay is considered a little too dusty for rats. For this reason clay isn't a popular choice among most rat owners, but it can be used in combination with other safe bedding choices. This makes corn a tricky bedding, unless you're on top of changing your rats bedding regularly it's not an ideal choice.
Aspen is popular among certain rat owners because this hard wood goes great with paper pellet bedding to give your rats a more diverse cage environment. Paper pellet bedding is the popular choice of most experienced rat owners, this type of bedding is often the most absorbent and it's usually the most dust-free. This makes paper bedding the obvious choice for health reasons, it's also fairly cheap and is often made from recycled paper, making it eco-friendly as well.
While there's hundreds of bedding products on the market, we've reviewed the 3 that we've personally found to be the best for rats. We've also given you the tools to go out there and look for yourself at the other options available, also giving you the means to decide whether a particular bedding fits the 'good for rats' stamp of approval.
Of the 3 products reviewed, they're all well above average in terms of quality, with varying prices and benefits. If you've got the means, buying the best is obviously best , however either of the other two beddings are RatCentral approved!
Let us know if you have any questions in the comments and we'll be happy to help you if we can! Copyright - RatCentral.
Choosing The Best Bedding For Your Rats: Choosing the right bedding for your rats comes down to a few factors, but the most important one is preserving the health and quality of life for your rats.
Top Rat Bedding Comparison Table. What to look for: Once you've decided what type of bedding, or which of the types you'd consider it's important to factor in the following considerations as well:. Quantity - Generally the more you can get for a good price the better. Quality - Does the bedding contain any nasty chemicals? Is it dust free? Cost - Is the price within your budget? Value - Is the deal a good value for money or is it overpriced?
Effectiveness - Does it do what it claims? Is it absorbent enough? Signs that you should change your rats bedding brand: Did you know that if your rats get persistent porphyrin it could be due to bedding that contains too much dust?
Best Bedding For Rats Compared: These are in our opinion the best rat bedding products that we've used, but they're not all created equal. The brand is trusted. It is guaranteed to absorb up to 6 times its weight in liquid, keeping the cage cleaner and drier for longer. Not only that, but these paper pellets also contain the all-powerful baking soda, which helps neutralize ammonia odors from rat pee, leaving the cage hygienic and smelling great. The Fresh World Ultra Strength Bedding is made of percent unbleached, recycled paper that is free of chemicals, making it safe for you, your pet, and the environment.
Additionally, this fantastic bedding can absorb at least three times its weight, so your rat can enjoy a comfortable dry, and cozy environment. Like most small pet bedding, Vitakraft also promises its bedding to be virtually free of dust so that it will not cause any allergic or respiratory problems.
Hemp, uses industrial-grade hemp that is organically grown in Netherland without pesticides or herbicides to prevent any chemical residues from being transferred to your small pet. This bedding can absorb up to 4 times its weight and stays drier than wood shavings or straws. It is also low in dust, so it prevents respiratory or other health risks in your pet rat and other small animals. Proudly made in the USA, this bedding is all-natural and is good for the environment since it is completely biodegradable, recyclable, and compostable after use.
These aspen shavings are specially processed to eliminate wood debris and dust that can cause allergic and respiratory issues. The bedding is also free of aromatic oils, inks, artificial colors, or any additives that can be harmful and toxic to your rat pal.
It is also suitable for the environment since it is biodegradable and compostable after use. And although it is made of wood, the bedding is made without rough or coarse pieces to prevent injuries. However, please note that its superior quality reflects its price tag, being almost twice as expensive as other brands. Popular bedding with a 4.
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