Litter for Rats | Rat Bedding
There are many varieties of rat bedding available, either commercially or home made from materials you may already have around the house. But what makes the best bedding for rats? And is using litter for rats a good idea?
Rats have particular bedding and litter needs arising out of their natural behaviours. Here we will take a look at what those requirements are and show how using SmartBedz as part of your rat bedding solution meets the needs of your rats and also provides you, the owner, with considerable benefits.
Litter For Rats click here to buy our universal bedding litter from our online shop
Avoid Health Hazards
Your choice of rat bedding should be, at the very least, non-toxic and non-harmful to your rat(s). The main things which can pose a health hazard to rats are dust and toxicity.
Rats are foraging animals that constantly sniff the ground as they go, looking for food and exploring. They have an extremely sensitive sense of smell and small nasal passages and lungs. Living in a permanently dusty environment will cause respiratory problems and very likely eye problems too. This means that your choice of rat litter must be a low dust variety.
It is crucial that you never use conventional clay based cat litter as litter for rats, as these are inherently very dusty. A clumping variety is particularly dangerous as it contains agents which are designed to make the litter sticky when it comes into contact with moisture. This isn’t something you want getting into your rat’s eyes, nose, lungs or even digestive system. Even a natural product like sawdust, which is a traditional cage liner for all kinds of pets, is just too dusty for rats and similar animals to handle.
SmartBedz as a virtually dust free product. It is made of straw whose dust has been extracted and then compressed into pellets. This makes it completely safe for ground dwelling animals and avoids allergy problems in both your pets and humans.
The next major concern is toxicity. Many litters contain chemical additives for one reason or another. We’ve already mentioned clumping agents above. Other litters contain, for example, added perfumes to help mask odours. Newspaper can be a problem as some inks (non-organic varieties) can be toxic and is easily absorbed into the skin when there is any kind of moisture present. And some types of wood based litters (cedar and pine) contain scents which, although natural, can be a problem when used as a litter for rats.
SmartBedz is also chemical free. It does not contain clumping agents - having natural clumping qualities due to the pellet formulation. And it does not contain any type of artificial scent, depending entirely on its rapid absorbency action to control odours. As such, it is completely safe to include in your rat bedding, and can even be safely eaten by your rat.
Keep Odours Neutral
Rats depend on their sense of smell for finding food and identifying other rats and humans. They tend to dislike overpowering odours which can interfere with their normal sense of smell.
As mentioned above, avoiding artificial scents is important from a toxicity point of view, but strong scents which are natural, even if they are non-toxic, will also be disliked, so avoid scented rat bedding materials of any kind. Avoid using sprays such as air fresheners unless you are absolutely sure they are suitable for pets.
The best solution is to use a litter which automatically has high levels of odour control, to keep down ammonia smells. Rats will dislike a strong ammonia smell and it is also unhealthy to allow ammonia levels to build up (although if the cage is kept indoors, most humans will feel compelled to clean out the cage long before this stage). Ammonia is formed when urine is exposed to the air. If urine is soaked up quickly enough by the litter base this chemical reaction cannot happen and odour is controlled naturally. SmartBedz pellets soak up liquid at a very rapid rate, giving excellent odour suppression without the use of scent or other chemicals.
Keep Them Dry
Keeping your rat’s environment dry is essential to maintaining health, so the best bedding for rats is something which remains dry and comfortable for as long as possible. This is a considerable challenge as rats cannot be litter trained and will generally use the toilet just about anywhere. The best bedding for rats is therefore a multi layer arrangement consisting of a suitably absorbent litter for rats, topped off with a layer of soft nesting material of some kind (see next section).
SmartBedz is just about the most absorbent litter for rats you can buy which is also organic, non-toxic and dust free. The pellets can absorb up to 4 times their volume of liquid and do so very quickly.
Provide Nesting Material
Rats love to make a comfortable nest so it is best to provide them with some type of soft material which they can pull around and make a nest. Suitable materials include paper towels, rags, napkins or hay. They especially like materials which they can shred and organise such as paper or cardboard.
Respect Sleeping Habits
Rats love human interaction and attention and are lots of fun to play with, but they are also nocturnal so are naturally sleepy during the day and awake in the evening. This sleep pattern evolved to help protect them in the wild from predators that could spot them easier during daylight.
Your rat will be happiest and least stressed if it is allowed to sleep and rest during daylight hours, with a place to sleep which is away from the light, relatively quiet and with plenty of nesting material. So it is a good idea to avoid disruptive cleaning out during the daytime, and especially not to disturb its sleeping area. This can be a problem if you need to clean out very frequently.
SmartBedz litter requires only spot cleaning on a daily basis, and relatively infrequent complete changes - so this helps to minimise disruption to your pet as well as meaning less work for you.
Using SmartBedz as your Rat Litter
SmartBedz pellets come in two sizes, either of which are suitable for use as rat litter, although the smaller 6mm pellet (purple and green bag) is recommended if in doubt.
Put a layer of SmartBedz as the base layer throughout the cage. Put extra in the sleeping area and in any areas known to be favourite places for urinating. Place nesting material on top of the base layer as needed.
The litter can be selectively cleaned, preferably daily, by scooping out saturated areas (indicated by swollen pellets), and removing solids. A daily spot cleaning regime will help to make SmartBedz litter last longer between complete changes and will mean less litter required overall. Some rats are cleaner than others and will go to the toilet in the same place - if you notice your rat doing this just clean this corner out more regularly. The cage will need cleaning out completely when it begins to smell. This means completely removing all litter and additional nesting materials.
The final stage is to dispose of any used litter. SmartBedz is completely biodegradable and so can be used in the garden, burned or even flushed in small quantities.
Rat Bedding click here to buy our universal bedding litter from our online shop