The BRODENTS! Rodent Enthusiast Thread!

[Kisiel]

hey guys! I am going to be getting two rats soon (I’m so excited!) and I was wondering how I should house them? I’ve seen many people prefer tanks, and many prefer cages with wire bars. I would like to see from an experienced rat owner what you recommend? I want my rats to be happy, so I also want to know how big it should be? Thanks so much for any tips and info! <3

Tanks are not suitable. You need a large cage with a deep base for substrate (dust extracted shavings or card is popular here). Forget any levels - they can be replaced with ropes, baskets, perches, hammocks etc to keep the rats busy and active. If you're in the US, a single critter nation would be fine for a pair (I'd recommend adding another pair in a few months time). It doesn't matter if the bars are horizontal or vertical as rats will climb either way - what matters is the bar spacing, which ideally should be quite small. My cage has 8mm bar spacing for example, currently houses 5 rats but it's big enough for 14.

[calculator]

ahh, just decked out the tank with christmas colored bedding. care fresh special edition christmas colors. made my room 100% more festive. c: also added a peppermint colored hideaway. have y’all done anything festive for ur rodents?

oops thought I’d mention, since it kinda was questioned above about tanks. I have a dwarf hamster so a big tank is perfect for him. c: not suitable for rats though, c;

[Eevee]

Thanks guys so much! I really appreciate the time you all took to educate me about the cages. My future ratties will thank you too

[MoonfallTheFox]

ahh, just decked out the tank with christmas colored bedding. care fresh special edition christmas colors. made my room 100% more festive. c: also added a peppermint colored hideaway. have y’all done anything festive for ur rodents?

oops thought I’d mention, since it kinda was questioned above about tanks. I have a dwarf hamster so a big tank is perfect for him. c: not suitable for rats though, c;

Mice do fine in them too. Just rats not so much.

I keep my mice in a combination of tanks and bin cages. I'm trying to get them all switched to bins because the tanks are heavy and harder to empty to clean for me. I like the bins better.

I don't think I could afford festive carefresh for all my kiddos lmao. Toooooo many. I buy my bedding in horse stall sized bags. But they will all get a special christmas treat! I have two house roosters though and they got special christmas diapers for when we go to the family dinner. They're these http://www.flightquarters.com/bird-diap ... tsuit.html and they are so cute and festive

Yep, I got house chickens. They wear diapers. And go to dinner with us.

[a snoozing skerple]

Guessing the diapers are to keep them from pooping on the table? They really are cute, they kind of look like little overalls.
dangit i want house chickens

[.Middy.]

Bin cages are the best thing ever tbh lol, especially for the mice. I hate tanks since they are so heavy and personally I like more ventilation for mice too. Now that my lone survivor of my first mouse litter is old enough, her and her mom will move in my mouse bin with my two banded does. Then once I cull the last female, I’ll finally be out of tanks for everyone lol.





Couple more photos! Sparrow is my Russian silver buck, my favorite boy and the best tempered rat I’ve had.
Next is Killian my black berk boy, he’s a total dork but my second favorite buck. I’m gonna be breeding him to Kiwi my Marble girl in January, hoping for some nice marbles since Kiwi is barely marked herself.
Finally, Tinkerbell and Gemli. Both will be bred to Sparrow soon. Gem is also his daughter, so hoping to get some nice pups out of them. Tinker I’m mainly hoping for does since last time she only gave me Gem and 5 bucks lol.



Aww, I love house chickens! We had a serama pair as house chickens, my little rooster was smaller than a coke can and the sweetest little roo! He would cuddle in my lap while we watched tv, go with me to petsmart, etc. I miss him.

[Kisiel]

Do you have more pictures of the Berkshire boy? How high up do his markings actually go? He looks extremely overmarked for a standard Berkshire lol. I love his little white chin stripe though, so adorable. I actually love Berkshires, shame not many people breed them.

Also can I just say that the larger girl in the third photo has like a perfectly clean tail and I'm wondering how that's even possible 😂

[.Middy.]

Honestly I’ve wondered if he hasn’t got something else going on too. He does seem to have more white than I’d expect from a berk, but I’m really not sure. The first photo is with his sister, I did have someone mentioned that they thought they might possibly be Overmarked whitesides? I was hoping to get a litter out of the two of them to try and get a better idea, but unfortunately their litter was stillborn.

And yes, clean tails are very important to my rats lol. They all keep their tails really clean, I think they learn from the older ones and now they all take special care to keep them clean

[emjayy]

Has anyone ever kept rats on vetbed? I’ve bought enough vetbed to do for 4 complete cage changes (including levels) and personally find it better than fleece for odour. As I’ve two mature males, do ye think there’s anything else I can do to reduce smell? I tried a bowl of baking soda near the cage but they were always sick and sneezing when I did. Not sure if it’s cause the powder in the air or?
Anyway. I’m trying my best to cut the smell. I’m not bathing them with shampoo anymore so that they have their scent. I don’t anti-bac spray like I used to so they don’t have to go scent marking crazy. It’s helped but it’s not enough. They still smell quite musty. It’s not a urine smell it’s just a pet shop stuffy smell? I don’t know. I even bought an air purifier.
What do ye find the best substrate?? I though buying vetbed at its mad expense would help..

[Kisiel]

@Middy yeah he definitely looks like an over marked Berkshire, the female has markings almos like a roan but she obviously it's since she's not faded. Does he have white on his tail too? I wish my girls cleaned their tails, it's like they forget that they actually have them lol. I usually do it for them before shows but they're never gross or anything.

@Blackiie honestly these things suck and I wouldn't recommend them for bedding. Invest in some quality loose substrate, klin dried and dust extracted shavings are great - look for things marketed for horses. In the UK most people will recommend Bendmax (I use Littlemsx, same stuff just smaller shavings), Megaspread or Finacard (cardboard). It works out pretty cheap long term too, and it actually allows the rats to forage and dig. If they're smelly you also need to look at their diet and cage layout as something may be causing issues there.