Fleece/Bedding Questions

[nshortfinger]

I'm going to be a first time rat owner in about a month. I am a high school student and will be paying for most, if not all, of anything rat related. I bought a cage already that can house up to 3 rats, even though I'm only getting two, male rats. The bottom is a metal flooring with a plastic shelf underneath that slides out (no my rats cannot access this area) and the shelves have metal flooring. Also, the plastic shelf cannot fit into the cage, I have already tried. Do I need to add a layer of something between my fleece, or will it be thick enough to protect their feet? Someone advised me to put rubber shelve lining between the fleece and the metal. And my other question is if I can use shammy cloth (a fleece-like cloth that is super absorbent for drying cars) because it is sold for 20 in x 12 in at my local dollar store for $1? Does anyone know if it's harmful to rats?

 

[SQ]

Rats need solid floors so if the floors are bars or grids, you will need to cover them ……. a piece of thick linoleum (or coroplast) cut to fit is good for full levels, dish drain trays cut to fit and attached with zip ties are good for small levels
See the Reference Thread https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/reference-thread-read-only.35894/ for Fixed up rabbit cages to see what I mean

I have no idea if the cloth would be harmful or not
Personally I wouldn't use it unless I knew for sure that it was safe
Things sold at dollar stores are often cheaply made items from China that are full of toxins

 

[_ratowner]

If you want to use fleece as bedding and you want to get it cheap, you can buy a fleece blanket at the dollar store for around $4.00 and just cut it up to fit your cage. Don't buy anything that is advertised for cars as it probably has a bunch of chemicals and toxins in it. If you do buy fleece from the dollar store, make sure that it is the proper material as the dollar store advertises things as fleece but there is a whole bunch of variety like stretchy materials and such and a bunch of different textures. Also, clean/wash the fleece with a rat safe detergent before you use it because if it was in the dollar store, you don't know what it has been in contact with. A fleece blanket would be a good option if you want to get something affordable.

 

[SQ]

dollar store fleece blankets are used by many, but are also full of dyes and chemicals