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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jun 7, 2009 21:21:38 GMT -4
Ok, the new boys have a nest on the top level of the cage (a chinchilla bath-house, actually), and a hammock. I'm ordering more soft nesting places.  They have an igloo on the bottom level, similar to this, but a bit bigger, square and with 2 entrances:  They prefer sleeping in the bottom one. On the bottom level, I have the pan lined with fleece, and in the nest, they have paper towel. Now I have the concerns with at least Earl Grey possibly eating the paper, and someone was chewing holes in the fleece. I think it's also EG who likes to pull it all into the igloo. I had been thinking of switching to hemp shavings on the bottom level, which I used with my first rats, and which I really liked...attractive, low/no dust and easy to maintain. Is there a problem with them sleeping that close to it? Are shaving generally just used for "floor areas", away from sleeping areas? (jeez, I feel like a dolt asking these questions...it's just that none of this ever came up with my other rats!!) If I use shavings on the ground level, should I encourage them to sleep elsewhere? Admittedly, if I do that, they have alot more floor space to run around in. Then again, they DO like sleeping down there. If it's ok for them to sleep near it, what ought I to opt for inside the nest. I'm thinking if he/ they already chew paper, is something like CareFresh right out. I know that fluffy nesting stuff isn't supposed to be good. I'm worried about them ingesting stuff that can harm them, and alot of the worry stems from the discoloured pee (which --by coincidence or not-- is coming from EG, I think). I've removed the coloured wooden toys and will call the vet in the morning. He's fine otherwise, very active and with a good appetite. They are at the end of the antibiotics they had for the respiratory thing, which would have hoped would nip a UTI in the bud, so I'm hoping there's not something else bad going on. |
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Jun 7, 2009 21:55:05 GMT -4
If they sleep next to hemp shavings won't they get the munchies?? ;D I would say hemp bedding - which I have heard of for horses only - would be softer for rats than aspen, and thus better. www.hemcore.co.uk/ Don't they like sleeping where the house is?? Sleeping on aspen is fine, it just does not seem soft - maybe why they line it with tissue. I would encourage them to sleep off the ground level. What color IS the pee? I don't think you said. One St Patrick's Day in bars I drank loads of green beer and ate green guacamole dip - but the pee stayed the same color.  Tell us what the vet says about the wooden toys, and the pee. I doubt very much if paper towels are a potential problem - at least the soft Bounties! I really should use some. - - - - - - I cleaned several tanks today, three messy big GP cages, and several other tanks yesterday. Whew. More to come - as soon as I get more trash bags - big heavy thick ones.  |
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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jun 7, 2009 22:26:34 GMT -4
If they sleep next to hemp shavings won't they get the munchies?? ;D I would say hemp bedding - which I have heard of for horses only - would be softer for rats than aspen, and thus better. Don't they like sleeping where the house is?? lol they don't need recreational drugs to get them eating! LOL So...sleeping in the igloo NEAR the shavings, or even ON it should be ok, you're saying. As for the little bath house, it took them a while to figure both it and the hammock out. Now I find them in both spots quite often, but still the bottom igloo is the place of choice. Sleeping on aspen is fine, it just does not seem soft - maybe why they line it with tissue. I would encourage them to sleep off the ground level. More for comfort, or for possible resp. issues? What color IS the pee? I don't think you said. One St Patrick's Day in bars I drank loads of green beer and ate green guacamole dip - but the pee stayed the same color.  You say that like you were hoping! Ok, the pee... First I saw it on the fleece and was flipping out because it looked so dark...and perhaps reddish. I dabbed it up to get a better look and realized with better light it didn't look bad after all...just darker than clear. The lightshade on that lamp is purple so everything looks dark! And the shelves are dark purple, so that doesn't help! However, sometimes when I look at it on the fleece, it still looks darker than it should. Verging on brown, which I don't think it good. I don't know if that's because it's sat a bit (?). On the old cage, the top portion (the metal wire) sat inside the pan, resting right on the bottom. Pee would collect there and when I'd clean it, it was pretty gross, usually brownish. However, I don't want to be rationalizing away any potential problems. When I see a pee in question, I dab it up and run to better light then it doesn't look so bad, so maybe I'm imagining it. I haven't seen *red*, but it does seem quite a bit darker than it ought to be. |
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Post by pinky on Jun 7, 2009 23:26:33 GMT -4
Can you put some plain white paper down in a favorite pee spot? (though I realize that you can't control which rat pees where. . .)
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Jun 7, 2009 23:27:31 GMT -4
Sleeping on aspen shavings is safe, of course. But hemp would seem to be softer for them than shredded bits of wood. Bet they'd prefer it. The only shavings that are bad of course are pine and (ugh) cedar. I have too many moths; wish I could fumigate the whole house. Can't do it. Have any ideas for moths?? Even less than a day after I clean a tank and put in new bedding moths are in there! >> You say that like you were hoping! << Yea, the gf would have gotten a laugh out of it. But my point was just consuming certain colors in foods should not change the pee color. An excess of B vitamins can make it bright yellow, but that is the only "color" I could get. As a kid I hoped eating lilacs would give me lilac pee. No deal. Too dark pee. Maybe they need more water?  Forget the wooden toys. What are they eating - anything new or different? Are ALL of them showing this color?? Oh, see the Toys thread I started in this forum tonight. |
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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jun 7, 2009 23:51:10 GMT -4
Earl Grey seems to be the one doing most of it (the chewing, that is). I'm not sure how much they drink...they do, but not tons.
I think I have it narrowed down to him doing the pee, too.
I've put them in a carrier lined with paper towel, but they don't pee then, of course! I guess I'll have to try keeping them there longer.
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Jun 8, 2009 0:18:32 GMT -4
You may need to keep each in a carrier separately to be sure who is doing what when.
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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jun 8, 2009 0:36:50 GMT -4
You may need to keep each in a carrier separately to be sure who is doing what when. Oops, I should have said. Yes, I am doing that. |
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You say that like you were hoping! 
