# Rat Eating Poop, Essential?



## Trenix

I recently noticed one of my rats eating poop and tried my hardest to stop her. After failing to do so and being disgusted, I went to the internet and found that coprophagy (eating your own poop) is essential to rats. Someone even said that not allowing them to eat their own feces can cause them health problems and ultimately die because it provides nutrients along with beneficial bacteria. Whatever the case is, I am litter training them in a litter pan that has a lid which makes their poop slide through the bars into the litter. The product is called All Living Things Deluxe Scatterless Litter Pan for Rabbits & Ferrets and I used it because some rat owners on youtube recommended it to me. So the question is, what is the best litter pan for rats (corner one preferred) and is it recommended not to have a lid?


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## Daniel

I've read that they do this for health reasons, but I have never seen my rats do it. And I hope to keep it that way (since they 'kiss' me). They seem pretty disgusted by their feces. This is the opposite that I saw with hamsters - I once witnessed one of my Syrians pull a piece out of his butt and devour it! Yuck!


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## AJ Black-Savage

Never seen an of mine do it either (never heard of rats doin it before, however it doesn't surprise me. Quite a few mammals do it, including elephants... Like Daniel... Mine kiss me, so hopefully they don't do it on the sly xxxxxx


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## DustyRat

I have read that rats actually eat crap right from their own butts. It apparently is a part of good digestive health for them. I have yet to see it though.


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## nanashi7

I would get a snap on litter pan that goes in the corner, the grate isn't necessary. What is their diet? Often times eating poo IS normal, but can be resolved by a nutritionally complete diet.
My rats haven't ate their poop, but they do sometimes like to sniff it (even as it is exiting) :/


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## Trenix

For now I'll keep this litter pan. My rats are fed lab pellets and occasionally fruits and vegetables. I'm just very confused cause some people say this should be required while others say they never had their rat eat their own poop before.


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## nanashi7

It is relatively normal. From my understanding, the way their digestive track is set up food can go through without all the nutrients being absorbed. They then eat these coprolites (I believe that's the name) to try and get that back.

Keep in mind every one of us rat owners doesn't have the privilege to watch our rats 24/7. It may very well be the case that all of our rats are eating their crap and then licking our faces haha. It's not that bad, though.


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## Trenix

nanashi7 said:


> Keep in mind every one of us rat owners doesn't have the privilege to watch our rats 24/7. It may very well be the case that all of our rats are eating their crap and then licking our faces haha. It's not that bad, though.


Possibly, so you think I should get one without the lid? Any particular product name that'll be best for rats because I'm beginning to think that the one for ferrets and rabbits is too big with the dimensions of 9.5"L x 14"W x 7"H. I know the lid increases the chance of bumble foot and I don't think they like the idea that the pan is so big and high up. However without the lid I'm afraid that they'll eat the litter (is it toxic?), bring it to their homes, or make the litter pan all messy.


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## nanashi7

Won't it just remove from yours?


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## nanashi7

It's up to you. The big plus of scatterless is that they can't mistake it for a dig box, like mine decided to do.


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## Trenix

Yes I can just remove the lid, but I'd much rather return it and get a cheaper one that doesn't have the grate if it's better for them. Also I edited my post above, hope you can help me out.


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## nanashi7

Possibly, so you think I should get one without the lid? Any particular product name that'll be best for rats because I'm beginning to think that the one for ferrets and rabbits is too big with the dimensions of 9.5"L x 14"W x 7"H. I know the lid increases the chance of bumble foot and I don't think they like the idea that the pan is so big and high up. However without the lid I'm afraid that they'll eat the litter (is it toxic?), bring it to their homes, or make the litter pan all messy.​They won't likely eat it and toxicity depends on what you are using? Some girls may try to use it for nesting material, unfortunately. Offering alternate sources will reduce or eliminate this as they get better with training. As for making it messy, try to put a rock in it (helps for pee too!) and they might not bother it much. Not sure what messy means though.
This might be good for not having such a high pan: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11147317&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No That has a bit of an indent to step into. Keep in mind rats love to jump and climb so probably won't mind a step-up.
There is this disposable one as well : http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754967&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No

(I just went with the assumption you were shopping at PetSmart)

The lid only increases the chance of bumblefoot if their foot already has a wound and you aren't cleaning it regularly (just a whipe down)


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## Trenix

nanashi7 said:


> They won't likely eat it and toxicity depends on what you are using? Some girls may try to use it for nesting material, unfortunately. Offering alternate sources will reduce or eliminate this as they get better with training.




I'm using whatever litter has a rat on the package or is used for small animals.



nanashi7 said:


> As for making it messy, try to put a rock in it (helps for pee too!) and they might not bother it much. Not sure what messy means though.




Messy as in having them dig all the litter out of the pan. I'll make sure to get a pan that hooks onto the cage.



nanashi7 said:


> This might be good for not having such a high pan: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11147317&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No That has a bit of an indent to step into. Keep in mind rats love to jump and climb so probably won't mind a step-up.
> There is this disposable one as well : http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754967&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No
> 
> (I just went with the assumption you were shopping at PetSmart)
> 
> The lid only increases the chance of bumblefoot if their foot already has a wound and you aren't cleaning it regularly (just a whipe down)


Yeah I make sure to wipe down any wet spots and I also shop at Petco. I read some reviews about the Super Pet Little John Hi-Corner Litter Pan and people said it's way too tiny for a rat. I also want a pan that's reusable. Just wondering what pan you're using? Does it have a lid? Is it homemade? In Petco they have Small Animal High Corner Litter Pans, I'm thinking of getting one of those instead, what you think? http://www.petco.com/product/5300/Petco-Small-Animal-High-Corner-Litter-Pans.aspx


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## nanashi7

Those are what I meant for the ones that snap in the corner. I have two litter pans, and that is the only one that is successful. The other I made into a dig box, it was one of those giant square ones. That one is a lot like the precise one I purchased, the lock-n-litter pan (not jumbo/scatterless): http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=6067+15323+17020&pcatid=17020


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## TexasRatties

I use the one that is about guinea pig or ferret size. It is about the middle size one I have two and they sit in the corner. They work well but my rats also think they are a bed.


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## Trenix

So everyone uses the one without a lid, right?


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## PurpleGirl

nanashi7 said:


> It is relatively normal. From my understanding, the way their digestive track is set up food can go through without all the nutrients being absorbed. They then eat these coprolites (I believe that's the name) to try and get that back.


Yep you're right. They struggle to absorb some nutrients the first time through their system (I think it's mainly fibre they find difficult) and so eating some of that nutrient-rich poop lets them absorb what they didn't the first time it passed through them. It's apparently a necessary practice for them and they know the difference between a 'good' poop and a normal one, so they don't eat their regular feces.


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## Siringo

I use litter pans with the grate lid on it. I think it's worth getting, because I didn't want my rats to hop in the litter and get it everywhere and stuck to the fleece. They can still reach their tiny hands through the grate if they really want to dig, but it helps. I have only seen one of my rats eat her poop a couple of times.

Pretty sure my favorite litter pan is the "Scatterless Lock-N-Litter Pan", but I bought it from petsmart... looks just like the blue one on DrsFosterandSmith that someone linked.


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## Daniel

The most I have ever seen them do with their poop other than moving it is 'taste' it - one nibble, and they drop it (but it seemed to be an error, confusing it with something else). But that was awhile back.

I wonder if it is only with certain diets that they do it with. Most of the people on this thread haven't seen theirs do it, it makes me wonder if perhaps they are eating a more plant based diet they may do it more often?


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## WhiteWidoW

This comes from the evolutive trajectory of mammals. Some of the mammals evolved being ruminant and they can eat cellulose, but humans and the other mammals can't digest this type of nutrient.

One of the chances that mammals had to do a right digestion was evolving to have "2 stomachs" like the ruminant or eating 2 times the same food to redigest all the nutrients and take a second time to take advantatge on the food they already ate. This don't says that rats can digest cellulose but they can digest better than us some type of nutrients. I would say NO, it's not essential for their lives but you can't avoid it, comes with their instinct.


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## Trenix

As for an update, I've seen all of my rats eat their poop, they definitely do it but very rarely. The grate isn't a problem because they could always reach in and get what they want. I highly advise everyone to get the litter pan with the grate, it makes things less messy.


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## The Rat and Another Rat

i caught my rats eating poop too! i'm not sure if it's each of them eating her own poop or they eat each other's poop or a bit of both since i can't tell their poop apart.. i still let them lick my mouth though... they don't seem to get bad breath


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## a1phanine

It's ok some humans do it too but I wouldn't advise it.I've never seen my guys do it, but they do have a pretty varied diet between meat, veggies and rat food. They've always got food in their bowl so I guess they don't see the need.Perhaps try scattering food so they get to forage a bit.


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## Vampiric Conure

I wonder if they're recycling nutrients? I know some animals will do it even though they don't produce a special poop like rabbits do.


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## athenianratdaddy

Eating own poop is a survival mechanism for rats. In an end-of-the-world, starvation-type scenario rats can derive some nutrients from eating their own poop. Pet rats are not starving, of course. Well, I hope not. But they haven't been domesticated long enough for this behavior to be weeded out. They hoard their food, something there is also no need for. Hoarding is 'smart' (highly adaptive behavior). It ensures that there is food at different locations, at different times, and available to different members of the pack. Even lesser rats will get to eat some since it's impossible for the alpha to be present at multiple locations at once. Also, if there is a burrow that partially collapses and blocks the access the main stack, there's food elsewhere to keep the pack going. So many useful applications for hoarding, really. This is also one of the many situations that rats have lend their wisdom to humans, except we call it different names. "Don't put all your eggs in one basket', diversify, leave some for later etc. I don't know how I went from writing about rat poop to evolution. I really can't help myself sometimes.


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