# Felt Bedding Guide?



## TheNameIsWater (May 8, 2018)

Hi everyone,

I have two male rats, about a year old (unaltered), and I've been using incontinence pads (aka human pee pads for night time whoopsies) for bedding. They're in a 1 level critter nation cage. I don't have the money (or space) for the addition level. Now, I've heard that you shouldn't clean rat cages more than once a week, as they might mark everything more aggressively to have it 'smell' like them. But my cage smells after about 3 to 4 days? My boyfriend doesn't notice but he can hardly smell the food in front of his face sometimes lol.

So far, I've just been cleaning once a week. I swap out the incontinence pads (which I wash with a little detergent and bleach), and wipe down the base pan and the shelf tray. I've left the hammocks alone, but cleaned the exercise wheel (that I'm not sure they use), plastic hut, litter box (which they sleep in), and whatever cardboard box I'm using with Nature's Miracle cage cleaning wipes.

I haven't done my first deep clean yet (you do that after like a month of them in the cage, right?). As far as I understand, you spray down the cage and wipe all the bars and also wash the hammocks.

Anyway, long story short, anyone have good advice or a link to a felt bedding guide? I feel like using incontinence pads is comparable. Should I be changing them out more and just not cleaning the stuff in the cage until once a week? And if I would rather just clean once a week, should I get deep pan for the bottom of the cage and switch to using loose bedding?

Thanks everyone! <3


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## desdisques (Apr 16, 2018)

I tried fleece and adult washable adult incontinence pads and my cage would stink after a few days. I switched to Yesterday's News and haven't had problems since. I wash the hammocks once a week but on a different day than cage cleaning day. (so things don't feel over clean to them) I also clean the bars once a week. Urine can really build up on them and smell. I always leave a used box in there after any cleaning also so they can have their smell. I'm sorry I don't have any experience with felt bedding. I imagine it absorbs better than fleece but probably doesn't do anything for odors.


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## TheNameIsWater (May 8, 2018)

I use yesterday's news in the litter box (they're just not trained yet). It became their safe space for whatever reason when I adopted them three weeks ago, so I'm not sure they'll ever use it for its intended use lol.


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## TheNameIsWater (May 8, 2018)

Ah, shoot. Maybe I bought the wrong thing then? whoops. <.< Just thinking about it... I think I got felt and fleece mixed up.

Maybe that's why they didn't like their felt scraps like I thought they would... Gonna buy fleece tonight.

So uhh... Everything above still applies bc I would like advice on incontinence pads but yeah now thinking more about Fleece. Wish I could change the topic title ^^;


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## CorbinDallasMyMan (Feb 24, 2017)

Here's what I understand about fabric bedding;

Its primary benefits are that it's dust free reusable. It can be shaken off, washed, and used over and over again. There are drawbacks, however. Fabric gets smelly quickly and if chewed on, loose threads can cause a tangle-hazard. Fleece is a popular choice because cut or chewed edges do not fray so it doesn't pose a risk of getting tangled around little toes. Fleece is also 100% synthetic meaning that it doesn't absorb moisture. After fleece has been "broken in" a bit, pee will travel through the fleece to whatever's below, leaving the surface that your rats walk on nice and dry. If there's nothing under the fleece, pee will form puddles and smell terrible. Most people recommend using some sort of absorbent layer (like incontinent pads) underneath the fleece. Fleece/fabric liners are especially popular with Critter Nation cages in large part due to the super shallow plastic pans that come with the cage.

I use aspen on the floor of my cage, fleece/absorbent pads on the levels, a couple litter boxes, and many fabric hammocks. The aspen only needs to be changed every couple weeks but I have to swap out and wash the liners and hammocks every few days. I also swap out the litter boxes every 2-3 days. 

I think if you swap out the liners and the hammocks at least a couple times a week, your cage will smell much better. You can hammocks and liners on alternating days so the cage always has something just a little dirty in it to keep it smelling like them. 

Besides hammocks, I wash all of the other cage items once a week. The Critter Nation is tough to deep clean but wiping down the bars weekly is easy enough. Be careful not to get the cage too wet because rust can occur if moisture gets trapped in all of the tiny little connection points or inside the hollow metal components. I would only deep clean my CN once every few months by taking it fully apart and hosing down the components outside. I would then leave them in the sun for several hours (rotating them occasionally) to make sure they were completely dry before bringing the cage back inside to put back together.


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## TheNameIsWater (May 8, 2018)

Okay cool! My hammocks don't get much use at the moment, so they don't seem to have a smell. But I think I'll add a fleece layer above the incontinent pads! Quick other question, when you swap out your fleece I assume you're also swapping out your absorbent pads?

Thank you! <3


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