Male VS Female smell

[Emawebee]

Okay I wouldn't say I wait 10 days, maybe 7.. That's more accurate, once a week. And no it doesn't really smell that bad. Esp If you spot clean everyday.. I vacuum my cages every single day. That might help with smell. And I always keep the rat room windows open. The only time I find the smell a problem is when it's very hot outside, my upstairs doesn't get the coolest, so I have fans and what not in the rat room but that's the only time I notice very badly, other than that it's not bad, maybe slightly noticeable And ATM I have 32 rats, bc I just had 2 litters of babies. My baby cages smell the most. And I don't put anything under my fleece. I just got the large CN for my females and it's pretty easy to clean. I usually just take off fleece and then wipe down the boards. If you keep the cages clean, it's going to be fine. But I actually think my males keep their homes picked up better than the females. The females throw everything and chew everything, my males are so much more relaxed and when I spot clean everyday I just have to clean up poops and put them in the litter box not basically restore the whole thing so that's nice too!

 

[Aida]

I'd say smell is all about how often you clean and what you use as bedding/lining. Fleece, which is most recommended on here because it looks pretty and is cheap and is absolutely dust free, has absolutely no odor control-- whereas Carefresh and some wood chips have great odor control but are very dusty and can result in respiratory problems. When you get ratties and the smell becomes an issue, you may just have to clean more often.

If you get females I would advise spaying. My girl Matilda is unspayed and developed a pituitary tumor. It's a horrible condition, though she is taking it amazingly. My other girl, Oreo, is unspayed and she developed a mammary tumor that ruptured. It was terrifying, and she had to have surgery that, along with all medications and post-op complications, cost me around $700. My rattie NoName, who was unspayed, developed an internal tumor that also had to be operated on, but she didn't survive. I'm not trying to scare you out of having rats-- you sound very caring and informed, I WISH more owners came out like you. The point is that I wish I had my girls spayed.

You may have to get boys neutered too, although that is much simpler and cheaper as others have mentioned. Still, the second you get your rats, set up an emergency rat fund. Always be prepared for something to go wrong, because it may put you in debt within a couple of days. All of my rat's problems mentioned above came out of the blue- I mean literally overnight. If I had no one to borrow those hundreds from, they probably wouldn't be alive.