What's your rodent routine?

[Nate]

I've been doing a little bit of reading on the keeping and care of rats. I'd like to know, for those of you who keep rodents, what is your daily/weekly/monthly routine? How often do you "freshen up" and then how often do you do a FULL cleaning?

I'm trying to evaluate my living situation and determine if I even have the space for them. Does anyone keep rats in their room where they sleep? I get the feeling that's a bad idea...as it will stink all the time...but then again, if it's a small colony we're talking (I would need about 10 females), how bad could it get?

tips, suggestions, ideas...all appreciated

[GirDance]

I kept three rats all through university - which meant I had tight living quarters, so they were in my bedroom. To solve the smell problem, I just litter trained them, and spot cleaned that out daily with a full litter change whenever it seemed required. There were accidents of course, but it kept the smell down so much because litter is designed not to absorb the smell, where aspen and other substrates (when soiled) do just that.

Using the litter method I would fully change out all the bedding once every two weeks, water every second day (rotating between two bottles so I could wash them out with the dishes) I'd wipe down the bars with baby wipes every 1-2 days, and I'd do a full scrub down once a month. My rats spent approximately as much time in their cage as out as well... The biggest issue I had with the arrangement was that they are loud. They like to chew, and it doesn't matter what they are chewing on, if you're trying to sleep it's annoying.

[littleindiangirl]

I currently have about 30 rats in my bedroom. We have one rack system, 2 breeding tubs, 1 male bachelor pad tub, and one large cage for 'vacationing/growing females'.

I will admit there is a smell, but it really isnt anything I mind, the equine fresh keeps it well under control. We change everyone's bedding every week, and I wash all the tubs and large cage at that time.

We have a fan mounted on the wall and it oscillates on medium 24/7. We also have a window fan, but that isnt rat related. (it gets hot in there!)

With the fan and air flow, the smell is down to a near minimum, and I really only smell beginning thursday night, and Saturday is cleaning day. People come over and tell us it's a huge difference with the fan running all the time.

Down side of equine fresh is that it does get a dust anywhere near by, but I'm a neat freak and dust down the entertainment center every saturday. Actually, I vacuum it up, I have a Dyson and looove it!

Otherwise, it's not bad at all, there are some nights when they squeel and squabble, but it's nothing a little squirt bottle can't handle. Good luck!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I check water bottles everyday and usually refill with fresh water every other day

I clean their enclosures once a week (wood pellet are very efficient and cut down on the smell)

Does anyone keep rats in their room where they sleep?

I would not recommend it if you want to sleep they are noisy.

If you have space problems and want to keep a colony of 10/14 rats a rack would be the best way to do it. (Take less space and is easy to clean)

http://stewartreptiles.com/Articles/...eding_Rack.pdf

[Brimstone111888]

I have just started keeping rats and it isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I have two set ups right now.

95qt Steralite (36x16x20)
1.2 group in it at the moment.

20 gal long with a mom and her 11 pups.

I clean each of these fully every week. Dump all bedding and scrub with bleach solution. The smell gets pretty bad by a the time a week has gone by. I am using aspen, but might switch if I can find something better/cheaper.

The rats can be pretty noisy and recommend them not in your bedroom, unless you are a heavy sleeper. Since rats like to fight and wrestle and run, they can get pretty loud.

On my sterlite tub I have two 32 oz water bottles that I fastened on the outside of the tub and just the mouth piece is in the tub for the rats. I have to change these bottles about every 5 days. 3 rats drink about 64 oz in water in a week ...... For me at least they do.

I also have to give them new food almost every day. My 3 rats go through a ceral bowl size amount of food every day.

I also recommend Beckys Feed mix. I use it without the block and it mainly consists of Nutro Small breed senior, Cheerios, Oat meal, Whelches dried fruit, dry pasta. Using that blend I notice a huge difference in quality of the rodent. My female gained about 80 grams the week I brought her home.

Also with a 10 female set up, if you give the female a month off between litters, that should be enough to sustain around 10 snakes.

Hope that gives you something to guage your situation by.

[monk90222]

I clean fully every Sat. I use auto water and auto food so I fill them up on the same day. I check the water sippers every other day also....

Would you consider ASF's?...they can be housed in fishtanks, don't smell and are easy to care for.

[Nate]

Thanks for the great advice guys

Would you consider ASF's?...they can be housed in fishtanks, don't smell and are easy to care for.

Is there a reason I shouldn't?

[Freakie_frog]

I check water every morning and night. I check and refill food hoppers in the morning. Every Thursday everybody get clean bedding and a hands on look over.

[monk90222]

Is there a reason I shouldn't?

I can't think of one..lol...I would go for about 2 or 3 1.4's in 10 or 20 gall long fishtanks....you can put them in a shelving unit and have them all contained in that one area....efficient!

[Rapture]

I keep my rats in my bedroom... not really by choice but it's just the best place I have for them at the moment. I have a 5-tub high rack system with an automatic watering system. They do get stinky. I change the bedding usually twice a week just depending on the amount of babies and the smell. The adult male rats can really stink the place up. I usually only keep two adult male rats and just rotate females through them. When a female appears pregnant I put her in a tub with a nursing mother or other pregnant females. I top off their food usually every time I change the bedding. I use shredded aspen. Every so often the tubs look to me like they deserve to be washed out, so I do so at my discretion. I usually sleep just fine even with the noise. Most of the time, right when I turn out the light they shuffle around and maybe bicker for a minute before settling down. Newborn pinks will usually squeak for the first day or so after they are born. I sleep like a rock so they don't really bother me. Putting a fan in your window that sucks the air out of the room would cut down the smell almost 100% for sure. I am working on getting a shed for them to live in the back yard just because I'm tired of the smell. But they are still fun to have and very rewarding when they are happy and producing babies for you.

I also have a trio of the African soft furreds. I have them in a 10-gallon tank and I change the bedding every 1 or 2 weeks. I also wash the aquarium at that time because I really hate looking at dirty glass... hahaha. They do not produce the strong ammonia smell like the big rats, but they do build up a certain musky smell if you go too long before changing the bedding. The only downside to them is that they do grow rather slowly, and you will have to wait longer to feed them off. On the flipside, they will never outgrow your adult ball pythons, so you shouldn't run into a problem where you are overrun with feeders that are too large for your snakes. These rodents are also pretty cool to have, and although they have a fierce reputation, I haven't had an incident where I've been bitten, but I do not try to cuddle them or anything either.