Rats Nesting in Litter Box

[MarleyBear]

Heyo everyone!
So, I recently purchased two litter pans for my nine week old rats, set them up in their cage with their old bedding (their new cage has a floor instead of bedding) and have been putting their poop into the box in hopes of training them.
They... Haven't really gotten the hang of it, they started out by playing in it and snuffling around, but I just caught one of my boys sleeping in it while the other brought him bedding.
Theo, one of the boys, also likes to pull allllll the bedding out, push it to the side of their cage and push it onto the floor :l
This is particularly annoying because they're located on carpet and have the carefresh paper bedding.
I have no idea what to do. I'm going to clean out their cage and put much less bedding than I had before, but it doesn't seem like they even associate it with a bathroom. They've continued to poop everywhere, and I haven't caught either of them going in the box.

 

[Sheldon]

Lol. This is their way.

Less free bedding will help because then they have less to drag into the box. Keep putting the poops in there too.

 

[SQ]

Do they have hammocks, at least one thing to use as a house, tubes etc? I use unscented pelleted paper (kitty litter) in the litter boxes. Mine do store food etc in litter boxes but they build nests in their house or hammocks.

It is always a good idea to protect the floor under the cage, as well as the wall behind it (from urine etc), A large piece of thick linoleum can be put over the carpet (btw cages need to be at least 12 in above the floor because of drafts) and a piece of chloroplast behind the cage will protect the wall.

 

[SqueakingJellybean]

No matter how lovely and cozy you make their house, inevitably someone will sleep in the poo-box (or the wheel, or the food dish, or...).

Our ladies are pretty good about using their box-- or at least sitting on the edge to poop just outside it-- and Milo has self-trained, preferring to use his wheel as a toilet, but the other boys only use the litter boxes as often as they use anywhere else. They have preferred corners which, due to the design of the cage, are the only places the litter box really can't go (bottom of various ramps, for instance).

If you pick up the stray raisins and put them in the litter box, they may start to get the idea that that's where poo belongs. On the other hand, they may just add it to the list of places where they think poo belongs and carry on about their Important Rat Business.