# Fleece tips?



## raiden

Hi! I'm currently looking to change my rats bedding, as I currently have them on kiln dried aspen and have honestly grown uncomfortable with it for several reasons. Mostly, I'm just tired of it getting stuck everywhere! I was planning on moving my boys back on fleece, but the first time i tried it it was a disaster! I think my first mistake was not using actual liners and just clipping fleece onto the pan, so I know that much! Mostly my questions have to do with absorbency layers, but I'm welcome to any tips anyone has to offer! I don't quite know what an absorbency layer is, how to change one, IF you have to change one, etc. Any help is super appreciated! Thanks!


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## shibezone

I feel you, I used to keep my boys on litter bedding and it was just a nightmare because it got EVERYWHERE.

An absorbency layer is something to essentially absorb the pee the fleece wicks away. What I use are hospital incontinence pads, but you can also use UHaul furniture liners or even puppy pads. You have a couple options, either you can just place the absorbent layer below the fleece or you can sew it into your liner (don't do this with puppy pads, they're not meant to be reused).
I personally prefer the former. I have a boy who occasionally decides to destroy my fleece liners because he wants to sleep under them, which means I don't need to replace everything if he destroys it, but do whatever works best for you and your rats!

You do need to change them, just wash them with the rest of the rats fleece, weekly at least or more if you have a lot of rats. Because they're catching the urine there can be ammonia build up, just like any other bedding.

If this helps what I do with the fleece liners, personally, is I sew them to be shaped like a pillowcase! Slip it on over the plastic shelf, then the side that's against the back cage wall is folded under so it holds itself in place. If you also have a Critter Nation I do the same with the bottom pan, but I do clip that one because there's no wire rack to hold the fabric in place.
Since they're double sided if a hole gets chewed in one side I can just flip it over to extend the life of it. Once there's holes in both sides I just retire them to be digging scraps or make hammocks!


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