Newbie-Use of fleece lining? Please explain

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RoxieRat

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I'm about to adopt two little girl rats soon and I'm getting a single-level critter nation cage, which looks great.

I have been reading that the pan is a bit shallow, which concerns me. And then I am looking online and I see these videos and pics of these lovely CN cages lined with fleece on the floors and it looks wonderful and clean but I don't understand where the ratties are going to the bathroom? Do they just go on the fleece and you wash it every couple of days? What is the difference between this and using bedding? Would you use bedding in the tray even if it is shallow like it appears in the photos? I am a little confused about this.

Sorry for the all questions! I would love to be able to use less bedding somehow and make it work.

Thanks!
 
Lol no worries, bedding is a much debated preference in the rat world!

Hopefully I don't miss any questions...
Firstly, I would not use loose bedding in the shallow pans. If that is the direction you decide to go you will want to get bass pans to fit the levels. There are several threads here that mention them, so you could probably do a search and find something.

I much prefer fleece myself. They do pee on it, yes. It will depend on how many rats you have and how messy yours are as to how often you will change it. I have 7 well behaved girls in . A DCN and I change mine once a week. They go poop in their litter boxes, of which they have two. Yes, you read me, LITTER BOXES. Great, eh? Much like cats and ferrets, rats can easily be trained to use the litter box. Mine even run back to them during out time to do their business. I'm sure there are different trading methods, but all I did was take any oopsies poopsies a few times each day and put them into the box I wanted them. They got the hang of it in 3-4 days. Babies may need a little more time and may have some accidents.

Hope I got it all ;)

Edit: also, WELCOME, and way to jump right in!
 
We used fleece liners (made by MomRat) in our Critter Nation. Our average colony was in the 3-5 rat range and the liners got washed weekly along with the hammocks. Our fuzzballs were mostly literbox trained (Yesterdays News) but the liners still needed washing.

More rats per space will need more frequent liner washing, fewer you can tell by smell and touch of the liners (wet or stiff).
 
I use non-looped 21"x34" bathroom mats in my double CN. :] I've never had an issue with them. They are plastic backed and extremely absorbent, but rats do like to tear them up if they get bored.
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I use fleece liners too, with several litter pans (Yesterday's News) - 5 in a Double Critter Nation.
Pick up poop and seed the litter pans. It's also a good idea to pay attention to where they like to go potty, and put the litter pans in those places. I buy plastic food containers with low sides from the dollar store for the pans. That way if they chew it up, it's no big deal.
As far as bedding goes, they get hammocks to sleep in as well as exam glove boxes and huts. Then place scrap fleece in there and let them rearrange it. They usually like to bury or move their food. If it is buried, then you don't have to go looking for it. LOL
Using fleece, you have to be willing and able to do rat laundry often.
If you elect to use bedding like Carefresh, definitely buy the deeper pans.
 
Welcome! I too have been wondering about fleece. You beat me to the question ☺. I have a shallow pan and use bedding but I use very little, just enough to cover the bottom. My girls like to push it out. I want to start litter training them soon now that they have adjusted to their cage and being with me.
Best of luck! ☺
 
Litter with the critter nation pans mean sweeping/vacuuming every single day.

You can buy bass pans for the cages here http://www.bassequipment.com/Cage+Pans/Ferret+Nation+Pans/default.aspx

I made the switch to fleece. It does mean more work on my part, since mine seem to thinking pooping in front of the litter box vs in the litter box is okay. But it's worth it, the fleece looks really good and doesn't cause ratties to sneeze.

Litter is a fine option as well, just find an option that is sneeze-free for your babies.

The critter nation is well worth it!
 
I really appreciate all the info! So helpful. I really like the bathmat idea. I think I will try that along with litter box training.

Look forward to learning more:)
 
I have a few double CNs and use bedding in all of them. I used to use fleece but I got really tired of them alway chewing through the fleece. I would end up going through a liner a week at times.
It really depends on your rats though. I have 2 boys in half of a double CN and they dont chew their fleece at all, and they use a litter box. So they get fleece on their shelf and bedding (boxo) in their pan. On the other end of the spectrum, I have one girl and 2 boys (all my boys are neutered) in a single CN. Anything fleece you put into their cage is destroyed in seconds. They have bedding on their shelves (care fresh) and bedding in their pan (boxo). I have not used fleece on the bottom level of any cages, unless I have a sick rat, then they get fleece.

I got my pans for the bottom of my CN here: http://www.chinchilla.ca/detail.php?ProductID=MW6000
These pans are already painted and ready to use, they work quite well. I would not use bedding in the bottom pan unless you buy scatter guards or the metal pan for your CN. I would not bother with the scatter guards either though, i would just go with the actual metal pan instead. The scatter guards are expensive and are also kind of a pain - you have to remove them to get all the bedding and poop out from behind them which means removing the whole pan, taking off the scatter guards, and cleaning behind them. The metal pan can just stay in the cage and you can do cleans from there, taking it out every time that you want to wash it down fully.

Personally, I prefer bedding. That may just be because of the amount of cages that I have. I would love to go back to fleece, but i find it more expensive for me then just using the bedding (I pay to do laundry in my laundromat).
 
crumbilina said:
I have a few double CNs and use bedding in all of them. I used to use fleece but I got really tired of them alway chewing through the fleece. I would end up going through a liner a week at times.
It really depends on your rats though. I have 2 boys in half of a double CN and they dont chew their fleece at all, and they use a litter box. So they get fleece on their shelf and bedding (boxo) in their pan. On the other end of the spectrum, I have one girl and 2 boys (all my boys are neutered) in a single CN. Anything fleece you put into their cage is destroyed in seconds. They have bedding on their shelves (care fresh) and bedding in their pan (boxo). I have not used fleece on the bottom level of any cages, unless I have a sick rat, then they get fleece.

I got my pans for the bottom of my CN here: http://www.chinchilla.ca/detail.php?ProductID=MW6000
These pans are already painted and ready to use, they work quite well. I would not use bedding in the bottom pan unless you buy scatter guards or the metal pan for your CN. I would not bother with the scatter guards either though, i would just go with the actual metal pan instead. The scatter guards are expensive and are also kind of a pain - you have to remove them to get all the bedding and poop out from behind them which means removing the whole pan, taking off the scatter guards, and cleaning behind them. The metal pan can just stay in the cage and you can do cleans from there, taking it out every time that you want to wash it down fully.

Personally, I prefer bedding. That may just be because of the amount of cages that I have. I would love to go back to fleece, but i find it more expensive for me then just using the bedding (I pay to do laundry in my laundromat).
Click to expand...

Do you know if they ship to the states?
 
Well, I just placed an order, but I'm a bit confused since I was given an order number, but was never asked for a form of payment?????
 

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