# May be rehoming my rats- Knoxville, TN



## JBird (May 23, 2013)

I've been struggling lately, and so have my babies. I'd really rather not, but I think it may be in their best interest if I rehome my boys (and girl). Ideally, I'd just like to "downsize", but that's very difficult to do with an older lone female and a trio of boys who've been together for a long time. If I could have it my way, Dexter and Siloh would stay with me, because they are the most attached to me, but I simply can't ship Marcel away for no "good" reason, other than he's messy and not very interested in me. Though maybe Marcel would be happier in a different pack... him and Siloh don't get along amazingly. 

So, if anyone in the Tennessee area is looking to adopt one or a few rats, contact me. I may be able to work something out with you. I hate feeling like a failure, but the cleaning regimen has started triggering anxiety for me, which is obviously only making everything much harder. I'm about to have much more free time, in which I may try to modify the cage to accommodate a better cleaning situation (If I could get them all OFF fleece and onto paper pellet litter, my life would be 100x easier... the fleece is disgusting, but their cage isn't suited for litter) and try to devote a bit more effort to maintaining a decent setup. Right now, it's just difficult and is becoming more and more tiresome for me. 

If there is anyone in the area who can take good care of one or all of them, please let me know. I'm just not handling this well and do not want to have to give away all of my babies, but I'd rather them go to a good, rat loving home. I trust the people on this forum more than Craigslist, but I have posted an ad there as well.


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## NikiLee (Apr 2, 2014)

Hi, JBird. I just wanted to check in and see how you're doing. I know the cage-cleaning routine has been stressing you out and causing you some anxiety. Has it been going any better? Have you had a chance to re-do your cage and make it easier to clean?

I live in Florida. I'm a new rat owner. I've got 2 girls in a cage that according to the cage calculator is sufficient for holding 6 rats. The cage goes more vertical (tall) than horizontal. It's 4 feet high and 2 feet wide by 2 feet deep. I only have one surface that I really have to clean. The bottom level has a couple of litter boxes. The shelves in the cage are made of plastic (not wire), so I don't have them covered with anything like fleece. If I see a puddle, I clean it up with some paper towels.

I think the thing that makes cleaning the easier is their diet. I actually just realized today that protein in their diet makes their BMs pretty darn stinky. I feed scrambled eggs, oysters (for the copper content) and sardines (for the essential fatty acids) a few days a week. I'm going to try for better portion control ... meaning not quite so much!

I don't feed rat blocks. Or actually, they're in the cage, but the girls don't eat them very often. I make Debbie Ducommun's Rat diet, and they seem to like that better. Honestly, since I've changed their diet, their urine and feces don't seem to smell as much. I don't know if that's my imagination or not, but I read something to that effect on the board, that when you don't feed your rats processed food (i.e., rat blocks) with fillers, there's less of a problem with odor.

I don't do fleece in my cage. I use one orange shammy towel at the bottom ...

http://www.goodmans.net/i/5834/bene-casa-st-98417-shammy.htm

I use a piece of plexiglass on the bottom of the cage that I got from Home Depot. I had them cut it to be slightly smaller than the dimensions of the cage so that it was easier to get in and out. I clip the shammy onto the plexiglass with clip that look like this ...

http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/p.../7403010-isolated-clips-with-report-paper.jpg

My two girls like to CHEW the edges of the shammy. They can't help themselves ... it's a ratty thing. (grin) So again, I got one of the guys in Home Depot to cut some 6" x 6" tiles in half, and I line the edges of the cage so they can't chew the edges. It's starting to work ... no more holes in the shammy!

The reason I like the plexiglass bottom is that I can bend it a little when putting it into the cage. I've got shelves and all sorts of hanging objects that get in the way of easy-in, easy-out.

Another thing you can do for smell is try some Nature's Miracle. It's an enzymatic solution that breaks down body waste. People use it for their pets' accidents. Cats and dogs will "return to the scene of the crime" and repeat their "crime" because the smell is still there. Nature's Miracle breaks down the body waste and smell. There are times where I've sprayed it on the BOTTOM SIDE of the shammy so that I don't smell the urine. The idea there is the smell isn't as strong, but that the Nature's Miracle DOES react with whatever leaks through to the under side of the shammy.

I have two litter boxes on the bottom of the cage. I'm thinking of adding more. One of my rats is pretty well litter trained. The other has decided that the litter box is NOT where you want to go to the bathroom. So she tends to go in whatever corner DOESN'T have a litter box. (grin)

I use ExquistCat Naturals, a paper litter from PetSmart, that's unscented and supposedly cheaper than some of the other recycled paper pelleted litter box material. But I also read that I can go buy a 50lb bag of alfalfa pellets (rabbit food) for an even LESS money than the paper pellets. I'm going to try it out. I've been pretty happy with the ExquisiCat, but if the alfalfa pellets do the job, every little bit helps $$$-wise.

Honestly, between you and me, I think the biggest contributing factor to the lack of smell is the change I made to their diet. I still have to clean once a week (change the shammy), and I usually spot clean with a fragrance-free disinfecting spray maybe once a day (or whenever I see a puddle). My two girls sleep in what I call the space pod ...

http://www.amazon.com/Lixit-Critter...=UTF8&qid=1398195676&sr=1-1&keywords=rat+toys

So there's not much fleece that needs to be washed in their cage. The girls have a few lava ledges to perch on and chew on. They have a rope that runs from the top of the cage to the bottom. They have a running wheel. Lots of places to run, hide, wrestle and play, and they have a few hours out of the cage every day also.

One of the things you could do is put HALF of the hanging fleece in your cage, washing one half every week. Their cage will be slightly different every week, but truth be told, I actually TRY to change their cage around a little bit every week.

I hope some of what I'm doing gives you some ideas and is helpful. And I sure hope you're able to at least keep the rats you're most attached to and find good homes for the others. More than anything I pray that your WHOLE LIFE in general gets better.


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## Olivia19 (May 28, 2014)

If you are still looking for someone i may be able to help you.


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