New rat mom in need of advice

[Ratmom01]

I just got my 3 girls last saturday!
Of course being a new pet owner i have worries, like am i doing it all right? No amount of research is going to calm that so i thought asking people who have owned rats for awhile would be the best.
I have a starter cage, its deep and wide with a second level. A mineral block and Lots of wood chew blocks/toys, i put ripped up shirts in there. I used the Care Fresh bedding for the bottom and for the top level i put down a T shirt and microfibre
towel.
They have a little hut on the bottom floor and a litter box. I know im suppose to clean the cage as often as possible and to make sure their food and water are never empty.
I left them alone for the first day to get used to their new home, then i started putting my hand in the cage thinking they would be skittish but they ran right up to me and started licking my hand all over,
even taking a couple steps onto my hand. They are also letting me pet them now a little bit which I'm so happy about.
But i'm not entirely sure when i should start
picking them up and handling them.
We were told that they were litter trained and that seemed true as they were using the litter box the first night. But when i cleaned it out the next day it seems they have reverted and are now just doing it
around the cage so im a little stuck on that one.
Please give me any advice at all or if any of the products i mentioned aren't any good please tell me better alternatives. I just want to give them the best lives so i will take ANY advice i can get.

 

[julian]

They seem to have settled nicely! About the cage, bigger is always better, but it's advised that there is at least 2 cubic feet per rat. If you don't have already, hammocks are a must for a rat's cage. It's good you've added old clothes for them to chew up too. I've used carefresh bedding in the past and i'll tell you it's not ideal for controlling odour, I think your best option would be pellets, I use them with no issues! Food wise, you should make sure you're using good quality food like the stuff specially curated for rats diets so they get enough nutrients, I'm not sure about where you're from, but I've heard Science Selective is good so that's what I use. Just search for lab blocks. Lastly, although I'm sure there's a lot more to say, is that they should be handled as much as possible! They should have at least an hour out of the cage, I'm sure you know and if you can't rat proof your rooms I advise you to let them roam in a bathtub or maybe make a pen out of boxes - make sure theres lots of toys outside of the cage too, I've found saving old boxes and cutting holes in them and hiding treats inside is something my rats love (they love anything with treats though ). When you're away, you could also hide treats in their cage so they have something to do. There's sooo much you should know, there's a video I love on youtube by Shadow the rat called "How to care for pet rats" It's super informative and helped me in the past!
By the way, your rats are really cute!!! Good luck!!