# Potty Training Baby Rats?



## rlstine (Mar 2, 2016)

Hi everyone, I have 2 6-week old boys I brought home yesterday. I have a large All Living Things corner litter pan. I've read that if you place their droppings into the litter pan they'll eventually associate the pan with the smell and do their business there. But these guys are pretty young. What's a good age to start the potty training process and do you have any tips?


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## dontmindme (Sep 3, 2016)

I don't have any tips, per say, but I too have 6 week old babies, though mine are girls and were five weeks when I brought them home. I've taken to scooping their poops into the litter box and already they're showing signs of understanding what it's for. Their poops are slowly getting closer and closer more often to the litter box, ie when I got them, they would poop wherever but now the poop locations are a few inch radii from the box, if not in the box.


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## rlstine (Mar 2, 2016)

So you've been working with them about a week and they're already showing signs of progress? Very cool. I had no idea rats so young could be trained this way. I'll start doing the same with my boys and hope they're as smart and perceptive as your girls are!


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## Lucozade126 (Jul 31, 2016)

Our girls were older when we got them, 3 months, and I started litter training straight away. We've had a few regressions and refusals here and there but I think they have finally got it now (fingers crossed). I suppose they do it at their own speed. My advice which probably doesn't mean much as I'm a new rat parent, but after you clean out the tray keep a scoop of the old mess and put a little bit in all three corners. It has worked really well with our girls  also, find yourself a good pee rock.


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## rlstine (Mar 2, 2016)

Lucozade126 said:


> Our girls were older when we got them, 3 months, and I started litter training straight away. We've had a few regressions and refusals here and there but I think they have finally got it now (fingers crossed). I suppose they do it at their own speed. My advice which probably doesn't mean much as I'm a new rat parent, but after you clean out the tray keep a scoop of the old mess and put a little bit in all three corners. It has worked really well with our girls  also, find yourself a good pee rock.


Thanks for the advice! Do you keep a litter box in several corners of the cage? How does a pee rock work and when is a good age to begin training with one of those.


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## raindear (Mar 3, 2015)

I'm not sure anyone knows exactly how a pee rock works, but rats seem to be drawn to pee on a flat, smooth fist sized river rock placed in their litter pan. Putting a pee rock in can be done at any time.


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## TheRatAttack (Mar 29, 2016)

The reason that pee rocks work is because in the wild, rats would mark their territory on smooth rocks. So rats have a natural desire to pee on these smooth rocks.


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## Lucozade126 (Jul 31, 2016)

rlstine said:


> Thanks for the advice! Do you keep a litter box in several corners of the cage? How does a pee rock work and when is a good age to begin training with one of those.


I just have one litter tray, I did think about getting another but one seems to be ok. The pee rock works as others have said because they like to scent mark it. I wasn't convinced at first but I've actually seen them doing it. I just picked a large flat rock about the size of the palm of my hand and boiled it and then froze it straight away to kill any bugs and into the cage it went once it had come back to room temp.


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## rlstine (Mar 2, 2016)

Lucozade126 said:


> I just have one litter tray, I did think about getting another but one seems to be ok. The pee rock works as others have said because they like to scent mark it. I wasn't convinced at first but I've actually seen them doing it. I just picked a large flat rock about the size of the palm of my hand and boiled it and then froze it straight away to kill any bugs and into the cage it went once it had come back to room temp.


Awesome! This is what I'll do. Thanks for the info. Also, I've noticed one of my boys several times doing his business in the litter box! Progress!!


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## Lucozade126 (Jul 31, 2016)

That's great news 😊


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## rck93 (Jul 11, 2016)

I put a large litter pan at the bottom corner of the cage, and then I bought 2 cheap shallow Tupperware containers from dollar store and put 1 on each shelf(each having a pee rock). They were mainly only using the two cheap ones. Then after a week I took the 1 away, so then they started using the bigger one a bit more, then another week later took away the other. Now they only go in the big litter pan. They are now fully litter trained after 3 weeks of having my 2 girls

I would check on their cage several times a day and would clean up any stray poops and put them in the litter boxes. And everytime I cleaned the litter boxes I would put in a few old poops so they were familiar with smell.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

I have started the pee rocks very recently. I got white pebbles and I can see that it is working.


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## rlstine (Mar 2, 2016)

I notice the boys will use the litter box about 30-50% of the time, and other times they are lazy (or can't help it) and poop where they are. I've been moving their poops to the box so they get the idea, though. A second box might be a good idea, just so one is always in range of them. 

Gribouilli, how big are your white pebbles?


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## Lucozade126 (Jul 31, 2016)

I have litter trained our girls, but it seems they are still peeing in their nest box again where they sleep etc, does anyone know how I can get them to stop and use the litter tray? I'm worried that if I move the wet bedding they will start sleeping in the litter tray.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

What bedding do they have in their nest box? If it is the same than in their litter tray, you could start by making them different and see if that helps.


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## Lucozade126 (Jul 31, 2016)

Gribouilli said:


> What bedding do they have in their nest box? If it is the same than in their litter tray, you could start by making them different and see if that helps.


The bedding is completely different to the litter tray :/


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## rlstine (Mar 2, 2016)

I read that rats generally don't urinate in the litter trays, but that including a "pee rock" somewhere in the cage can keep them from urinating in their bed litter.


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

Lucozade126 said:


> I have litter trained our girls, but it seems they are still peeing in their nest box again where they sleep etc, does anyone know how I can get them to stop and use the litter tray? I'm worried that if I move the wet bedding they will start sleeping in the litter tray.


Sadly some rats just won't ever be fully litter trained. IMO actually most never will be. It just depends on the rats themselves. Some are amazing, some could care less. And it is all about managing it.

You could try moving their nest box to another location and placing a litterbox there as well. Multiple litter boxes and pee rocks do help. 

if they insist on peeing where they sleep, just make sure to use a very good bedding that will help keep them dry and and change it often.


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## Lucozade126 (Jul 31, 2016)

rlstine said:


> I read that rats generally don't urinate in the litter trays, but that including a "pee rock" somewhere in the cage can keep them from urinating in their bed litter.


They definitely pee in there, I've see the wet patches, that was before we got a "pee rock", now they do it even more and I can see the pee actually on the rock.



moonkissed said:


> Sadly some rats just won't ever be fully litter trained. IMO actually most never will be. It just depends on the rats themselves. Some are amazing, some could care less. And it is all about managing it.
> 
> You could try moving their nest box to another location and placing a litterbox there as well. Multiple litter boxes and pee rocks do help.
> 
> if they insist on peeing where they sleep, just make sure to use a very good bedding that will help keep them dry and and change it often.


They seem to pee only in 3 places (although I know they scent mark because I've seen the evidence on my jeans!), the litter tray, the nest box/bed and the wheel. If I could get them to stop peeing in just one place it would be the wheel, it really stinks after a few days and I have to take it out and clean it. I use absorbent bedding in the nest box and I change it approx every 3 days so they don't over-scent (do you think this is enough?). It really would be great if they would pee only in the litter tray though, and it would make my life a lot easier!


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## Fanciful_Foxling (Sep 17, 2016)

Lucozade126 said:


> I just have one litter tray, I did think about getting another but one seems to be ok. The pee rock works as others have said because they like to scent mark it. I wasn't convinced at first but I've actually seen them doing it. I just picked a large flat rock about the size of the palm of my hand and boiled it and then froze it straight away to kill any bugs and into the cage it went once it had come back to room temp.


Just a side note, I wouldn't EVER boil rocks. Some have small pockets of air inside and can actually explode during the boiling process. Very dangerous. You can disinfect them other ways, like scrubbing them with dish soap and such.


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## Creepy McSteezerson (Dec 30, 2020)

Yeah you can start this process immediately. Think of a 6 week old rat as an 8 week old puppy - you start training them immediately too. Technically if you had the litter with mom you can train even earlier! The sooner the better - they're very intelligent and learn fast.


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