# my dad might kill my rats



## Ajene (Mar 5, 2009)

OK well i got recycled paper as my pets bedding, my dad for some odd reason insists on pine, even though i've told him Numerous times of the dangers, even told him the information i got from vet sites. but he says "i had my rats on pine growing up" he had 2 rats, one died really young, and the other lived 3 years. he even said "pine doesnt cause respiratory infections, the urine does, the pine will soak it up and its good for them" hes thinking of making me buy their bedding from now on since i wont do it his way, but the problem is i have only $40 money, no jobs are hiring (**** recession) and the money i have i wanna use for art supplies (which was the whole reason i was saving it) aswell as put some in a bank account for later.
Anyway he continues to say_ *I*_ am gonna kill my rats. (he says this because i had 2 birds as a kid, one was killed by my sister cause she threw a book at its cage and it had a heart attack, and somehow they blame me, and the other i had let roam around my room while it was dirty and it died)

I'm just at a lost atm and dont know what to do.


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## Lakea (Feb 12, 2009)

You don't _have_ to buy bedding. You can make your own. Shredded paper, old towels or shirts or you could line your cage with fleece like many do, and you can rewash it. You can usually find fleece pretty cheap.


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## Ajene (Mar 5, 2009)

i might try that, and make a little box so i can litter train them in . But i just dont wanna hear my dads mouth about "pine is good for them" i just wanna prove to him that i know what i am doing, and saying. Cause unlike my birds i actually look at where they are going when they are out, and i looked up tons of articles on how to take care of them.

I'm hoping we have a vet around here that has knowledge of small rodents so he can talk some since into him.

BTW he thinks the pine is good because a pet store owner has her rats, mice, and hamsters on it and she says its good because "it soaks up the urine" she also doesnt sell rats or mice as pets, she sold them for food to snakes, and when i asked for them as pet she apparently never had a customer ask her for rats or mice as pets.


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## Lakea (Feb 12, 2009)

Yeah we should all take advice from pet store owners : just teasing

My dad has the same attitude as yours. He is very big on "I raised animals this way and they turned out just fine" Then you actually look back on it and are horrified at how poorly the animals were raised... But I am actually more specifically refering to fish so never mind that...

Anyways, yeah litter boxes are a great idea. My girls don't use 'em, but we're working on that. Right now I have their cage bare-bottomed with a litter pan. The downfall is I am constantly cleaning up their pee and poop from the cage shelfs and floor.


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

Ajene said:


> I'm hoping we have a vet around here that has knowledge of small rodents so he can talk some since into him.


Where are you situated? Someone may know of a good vets near you. You could start a new thread saying "Vets in [enter area]?".


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## Ajene (Mar 5, 2009)

I'm in Titusville, Florida (not many people know where that is, but its really close to NASA, about a 10-20min drive, the shuttle launch can be seen from my back yard)
We have a vet near by, by the middle school, but i dont know if they know anything about rodents. I'm gonna call em tomorrow if i can find their number.


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## Leala (May 31, 2007)

You could try and convince him to let you use carefresh instead. Tell him it absorbs 3 times it's weight in liquids and reduces smells making it MUCH better than wood bedding. And it's environmentally friendly =)


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## Lakea (Feb 12, 2009)

Leala said:


> And it's environmentally friendly =)


lol, he doesn't seem like the person to care much about that sort of thing  j/k


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## Ajene (Mar 5, 2009)

well my dad does care alot about the environment, he wanted to be a vetenarian, he also worked in a wild life thing (cant remember the name) but he had to collect data about the environment, map out endangered animal nests and etc

He just thinks that since pine is absorbent it must be good for them.


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## CalicoJenn (Aug 29, 2008)

if you want to go on the smells absorbs pee thing i recommend sunseed freshworld bedding. back when i used bedding i used it. it has baking soda formulated into the recycled magazine and news paper pellets, is much softer than yesterdays news, and absorbs and fights smell way better than care fresh.


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## begoodtoanimals (Dec 6, 2007)

Show your dad this forum so he can get educated. Tell him that he is still young enough to learn. 
Come on Ajene's dad, she is right this time . I am from your generation so I know that our kids are right.....sometimes


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## Ajene (Mar 5, 2009)

mmhmm, btw i'm a dude 
I copying links to websites, and printing out things for him aswell. I will also find a vet that knows about this stuff too.


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## begoodtoanimals (Dec 6, 2007)

Oops, sorry about calling you a "she". 
I guess the rats are off the pine, so that's good. That's what forums are for.


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## TedBundy (Feb 28, 2009)

Don't buy bedding make your own... and tell him he is a nut and smack him in the face


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Tell him that aspen shavings is much better for them then pine. Pine causes damage you cannot see...to their internal organs especially liver which has to filter out the toxins from the phenols in the pine.

Here is an article for him

http://www.afrma.org/rminfo2a.htm


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## Leala (May 31, 2007)

Ajene said:


> mmhmm, btw i'm a dude
> I copying links to websites, and printing out things for him aswell. I will also find a vet that knows about this stuff too.


You're really going about this in a good way. I'm sure your dad will appreciate you being mature about it =).

Good luck!!


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## me_rat_lover (Feb 26, 2009)

ahhhhhhhhhhhh i am useing pine shavings wat do i use cloth


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## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

me_rat_lover said:


> ahhhhhhhhhhhh i am useing pine shavings wat do i use cloth


You can use a multitude of things. It's all outlined here

http://www.ratforum.com/index.php/topic,8289.0.html


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## me_rat_lover (Feb 26, 2009)

ahh i am useing pine shaving


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## me_rat_lover (Feb 26, 2009)

oops!! i post that 2 times sorry


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

me_rat_lover said:


> ahh i am useing pine shaving


Change to a safe bedding for rats ASAP  For now you could always use kitchen roll or newspaper until you get something suitable.


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## me_rat_lover (Feb 26, 2009)

ok ill do that prob............if my mom lets me


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

me_rat_lover said:


> ok ill do that prob............if my mom lets me


You *need* to do that. They can't be kept on pine shavings - it can be very detrimental to their health. 

This is an article explaining: http://www.ratfanclub.org/litters.html

Do you know what is suitable to use?


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## me_rat_lover (Feb 26, 2009)

yea


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## Ajene (Mar 5, 2009)

I moved my rats on aspen and Paper bedding now.


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## bethany (Mar 24, 2009)

Ajene said:


> I'm in Titusville, Florida (not many people know where that is, but its really close to NASA, about a 10-20min drive, the shuttle launch can be seen from my back yard)
> We have a vet near by, by the middle school, but i dont know if they know anything about rodents. I'm gonna call em tomorrow if i can find their number.


I used to live near there and go to that big covered flea market! The shuttle launches were AMAZING!!



Good luck on the bedding, kiddo!


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