# No bedding on lower level of Rat Manor?



## ratsoff2ya (Aug 19, 2013)

Hi there,

I've been trying to keep my rats' cage as stink-free as possible since it's in my bedroom. My girls are mostly litter trained (I've only had them a week and a half, so it's not 100% yet) and I've been using fleece liners with a dishtowel underneath to wick and absorb urine on all the shelves and the bottom of the cage. I just read somewhere online about someone who doesn't line their Rat Manor with anything - they claim bumblefoot is only a risk when the rat is overweight, injured, or has a predisposition for it, so they just put litter in the litter boxes and wipe up the cage with a baby wipe once a day.

Irrespective of the bumblefoot thing, I know how important it is for rats to nest (my girls love making a huge mess of the paper shreds and fabric scraps i leave in their nest boxes) so I am not super comfortable having a totally cold, barren cage. But I think that keeping the floor of the cage, which is all metal, uncovered would make daily cleanups and smell reduction a lot easier. They mostly use the lower level for eating, pooping, and playing - pretty much all sleeping is done on the third level.

Is this ok? I feel a little weird about it because I'm sure the fleece is comfier but I'm at the point where I don't even want my boyfriend to come in my bedroom because it reeks like rat pee (despite my twice-weekly deep cleaning of the cage). Any input is appreciated.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

You can buy nice deodorizing bedding, or try smell-fighting techniques like baking soda.

Not all girls will nest, but it is important to offer material in case they decide to. This can be tissues, toilet paper, anything. If you don't want to provide a level of bedding, a digging box, then you need to pack houses with paper and scraps of fabric to make a mess with. Nesting is not necessarily just for sleeping -- it gives girls something to do and build.

Is the lower level wire? Because while bumblefoot is not necessarily a concern, wire flooring causes injuries, is prone to being unsanitary, and is just plain uncomfortable (in other animals I know it causes arthritis!). Having unsanitary conditions and injuries = bumblefoot.


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## JLSaufl (Jan 20, 2013)

if you're good at sewing, you could make a pad with oil cloth, which is cotton covered in vinyl. You would have to wipe it down a couple times per day, because urine will pool on the top (which causes bumblefoot) but it would be comfy and smell free.


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## ratsoff2ya (Aug 19, 2013)

The lower level is not wire - it is just a metal pan. I might try the oil cloth. Where is it available? I want to avoid buying non-reusable bedding for environmental and financial reasons.


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## ratsoff2ya (Aug 19, 2013)

Also, I have a container of baking soda next to their cage. It helps a little bit, but my room still stinks.


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## watts300 (Aug 3, 2013)

I only line the bottom and middle platform. The two shelves are left bare. In my opinion, compared to the size of my rats' feet, the tightness of the mesh in the platform and shelves isn't likely to cause injury. I'm currently using fleece as a liner (with nothing under) but I'm not totally thrilled with it. I'm eventually going to switch to terry cloth.* I don't use any fasteners or clips on the bottom pan; the liner is large enough to hang over all four sides when the cage is in place. On the middle platform, I'm switching from binder clips to snaps. Not these exactly, but this type: http://www.amazon.com/100-Piece-16-...ie=UTF8&qid=1377306686&sr=1-7&keywords=snapsI superglue one side of the snap fastener to the platform wire. Taking the cage apart to release the blinder clips is a huge pain in the neck. I pick up poop daily, and I replace the liners about once a week. The odor is mild, and I have two males. If you want less than mild odor, a twice a week replacing/washing of the liners will likely do it. Many people do it that frequently from what I've read on here. But I can't keep up that much. 


I'm also not sure that having any odorless pet is very realistic. Of course it wouldn't do any good to try to describe the intensity of the odor, because every one's sensitivity is different. But my point is to remember that at a certain point, you might just have to live with it. I think that tends to be a trade-off with animals. 


*Terry cloth is cheap, easy to work with, and obviously very absorbent.


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## ratsoff2ya (Aug 19, 2013)

that's essentially what i do, but i have terry cloth dishtowels underneath the fleece liners (the fleece wicks the urine down to the towels). i wash the liners twice a week with vinegar and good detergent to get the smell out, which works pretty well for a day or so. Every day I use a dustpan to sweep up whatever food crumbs, litter (they love to throw their litterbox litter around the cage, but they're still pooping in the box so whatever), or pellets that might have strayed outside of their litterbox. I empty the litterbox around every other day, depending on how full it is.

I don't think the issue is necessarily with my cleaning routine because I'm pretty on top of it. The fleece just gets smelly really fast and I think their cage would emanate fewer odors if the bottom level was just the plain metal tray that the Rat Nation comes with. Like I said they do all of their sleeping on the middle level, which would still to be lined with fleece so I'm not even sure they'd really notice or care if they still have places to be cozy.

I think another problem is that my room get the most sunlight anywhere in the house so it's generally on the warmer side. I keep my door closed because I have so many roommates that I think the constant hustle and bustle would be stressful for the rats. Plus there's a cat in the house who has caught and killed a wild rat in the past, so i don't want her harassing them. A slightly stinky room is exponentially more unpleasant when it's warm.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

The smaller the gaps the more prone to catching a rat's foot and pulling on it when the rat falls.


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## watts300 (Aug 3, 2013)

Hrmm.. ya I guess I overlooked most of the last paragraph in your original post. My mistake. 

Well since you're already cleaning more than I originally thought, I suppose I'm stumped. Maybe there are enzyme sprays that can neutralize the ammonia in urine. 




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## Honeydew (Jun 16, 2013)

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=6067+20836+20843+12668&pcatid=12668&s=lh
I find this stuff works surprisingly well. It's an internal odor eliminator.


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## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

I use a puppy pad instead of bedding in the bottom tray of my rat manor, and I just recently put in a litter box. The other levels of the cage all have cotton liners.


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## JBird (May 23, 2013)

Definitely consider a diet change. I had the same problem as you, trust me. I had three girls in my little apartment bedroom and it was hard to sleep in there sometimes due to the pee stank. I left the levels bare so I could just wipe it up 1-2x daily like you are talking about, but I swear that made the smell so much worse. Since the pee would pool, they would walk in it, drag their tails in it, and as a result drag pee grime ALL over the cage and every single item in it. It was awful. After putting in some paper litter bedding and stuff, it helped, but still stank. I changed their diet and within a week noticed a difference. 
Really, genuinely, they smell so much better if they are eating healthy. Their urine does not smell as potent and they do not have that musky odor to them. I switched from LM Farms and KayTee blocks to Oxbow. Per oz, it is all around the same price, so I didn't feel so bad about the price jump and didn't even look back when I noticed the smell decrease. Plus, for a while I had FIVE in that same little apartment bedroom and they still stink less.  
If I were you, I would get several towels and line the bottom with one. Change it out every 3 days and wash them all at the end of the week. Sounds like a lot of work, but really isn't. Coat the towels with baking soda, and keep an eye out for where they are peeing most. Mine pee all around the food bowl, so I found that if I hung the food bowl in a basket above the litterbox/where I wanted them to pee, they would mark significantly less and there was no more pee pooling. By keeping something absorbent in there, you are removing the added pain of them tracking the urine all over the cage, which causes it to reek fast. My wire cages begin to horribly stink when the girls climb on it when they have urine on their hands. It's awful and makes the cage grimy and sticky to the touch. Yuck. 

I'm picking up some Nature's Miracle Cage Cleaning spray today, I'll let you know how it works. Supposedly, you just spray the bars and then dry it with a towel, which sounds great for me. I can't hose my cage down, so I have no other option but wiping each bar with baby wipes... No thank you!! lol


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## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

I also have a rat manor. I started with lining the bottom (fleece), went to litter, and then switched back to lining recently because I want to litter train the girls. 
I don't care what anyone says I will always line the shelves (I don't line the ramps) because I want them to be nice and comfy.


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## watts300 (Aug 3, 2013)

Using a puppy pad is a very good idea. 

I finished super gluing the snaps into place on the middle platform. Observe:









The pocket knife is pointing at it. Instead of pulling on the fabric to unfasten them, I just pop them apart with a turn of the knife. It should be much easier to take off than wrestling the cage to detach binder clips. 









The fabric is flannel. I had some extra that I'll use before buying terry cloth. .... unless I try out puppy pads and they work well. 


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## JBird (May 23, 2013)

Oh my gosh Watts.... that's GENIUS. How had I never thought to superglue snaps?!?!? Ahhhh so many opportunities lost. I may have to steal that idea and see if I can't fashion something for my cage.


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## watts300 (Aug 3, 2013)

Steal away. The worst part was because the superglue I bought took more than a couple seconds to dry. It would be difficult to explain why that was particularly a problem, but needless to say it was because my reach wasn't long enough to make it easy. 

So get some fast-setting super glue. 


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## Hitmanthe3rd (Jul 16, 2013)

Hemp bedding! You can order it on Amazon, it's great!


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## NatnRoo (Jun 9, 2012)

I had the same problem and was told diet ... So I'm in the process of changing that... but I got an air purifier and that has done wonders ! No smell! Also I was told to use reptile carpet under the fleece because that helps with odors and pulls moisture from the fleece.. You can get it from petsmart  hope that helps


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