# Keeping Rats in your Room



## Cinn (Mar 4, 2015)

Hi again! I want to keep Cinnamon in my room from now on instead of in the family room due to other people in my family complaining about the smell, not wanting to get a bigger cage, calling him gross, etc. So, I was wondering if the fumes are dangerous in any way if I kept him in my room. Just wondering, thanks!


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## theRatGirl (Feb 25, 2015)

I wouldn't say the fumes were dangerous. Unless you never clean your cage, the ammonia shouldn't build up. I used to keep Algernon in my room before I got a cat, who could only sleep in my room. The only downside to keeping him in your room is that Cinn will probably be up at night.


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## Mrs.Brisby (Jan 4, 2014)

What fumes? Urine fumes? Unless little cinnamon has some how contracted a zoonotic disease of some sort, you should be perfectly fine. Maybe just a little grossed out lol, does he really stink that bad?


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## VeeVeeLa (Dec 24, 2014)

Well, their urine does have ammonia in it, and if you're sensitive to that kind of thing, then I would imagine it can have some effect on you. I keep my rats in my room and I haven't had any problems yet. What I would suggest is that you open the window to aerate the room and keep fresh air in it. Of course, your room is going to smell. It probably won't matter if you keep your window open, the smell will stick ;w; You could try some Odor sprays and see if that works though. If you have asthma or some other breathing problem, then you probably shouldn't keep them in your room.


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## Cinn (Mar 4, 2015)

Thanks guys! I'll move him in now!


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## raindear (Mar 3, 2015)

I'm not sure what fumes you think are dangerous, or who they would be dangerous for. If you are asking if Cinnamon's odors are dangerous to you - no, but if you are aware of the cage smelling, it is probably time to clean. How is Cinnamon caged? If he is in a cage of adequate size weekly cleaning should take care of most odor. If he's in a tank, you might want to clean more often, just because tanks retain odor more. I have found with some people the idea is "rat = odor" and even if the rat is not in the cage and the cage was just cleaned - they smell it.


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## DustyRat (Jul 9, 2012)

Don't let ammonia smell build up. It Is a leading cause of respiratory disease In rats.


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## Medilia (Mar 18, 2015)

My girls live in my room because I have no where else to keep them. I clean the cage every 4-5 days. I can smell the cage on the 4th day but my room itself does not smell. I keep it aerated. I change the rats toilet litter every 2 days (Every day if they are using it a lot). And I remove all food scraps from the floor of the cage. 

You will hear them at night. I sleep through it peacefully now. Although Nim did invade last night's dreams with her squeaking.


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## Millie & Daisy (Mar 7, 2015)

My girls live in my room as well. At home, they are close to my bed. At school they are on the other side of the room (my dorm is very compartmentalized, with one living space for each person. I live alone, so it works out well to have one side for the rats and one side for me). I noticed that since I set up a bigger cage as their "home cage" the smell is a lot less "farmy" as my Dad puts it. However, yesterday afternoon I noticed that they've started to smell a little bit fart-ish. We did just move, so I'd like to blame it on some obscure thing about the room itself - but let's face it, it's them. I think it has to do with the fact that they hoard food underneath the fleece blanket at the bottom of the cage. I'm wondering if there's any old fruit or veggies down there...? Time to do the dirty work, I guess...

I think your room should be a great place to keep your baby. I clean my cage every 2-3 days - used to be even more often because I had a tank and the smell got pretty intense. But, they're not very smelly animals if you have them in a big enough cage that's easily cleaned. To make the smell less noticeable, I would recommend using fleece blankets as bedding rather than wood or the paper stuff. I used to cut mine into little scraps, but even that seemed unnecessarily difficult to maintain. My vet told me that one of the best things you can do is just use fleece blankets as bedding and wash them every couple of days. It's not as hard as it seems at all! It's actually easier than replacing litter all of the time. Also make sure you use dye-free scent-free detergent. I use the free and clear tide pods. For the pet bed (because of the material) and tougher messes sometimes I throw in a little woolite, but sparingly of course. Dreft detergent is also awesome for this.

All that aside, your rattie/ratties could really benefit from being close to you. Mine are now much happier and will become very excited when they see me. Everyone in my family seemed to notice that my presence is a comfort to them now, which was less true beforehand when they were stressed in a tank (never ever do tanks)! They are close to me so I can monitor them better as well! Beforehand, my Millie was skittish and now she's a total shoulder rat.


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## ilovescience (May 14, 2014)

I keep my babies in my room. The smell isn't a problem unless they let one rip while you're right next to the cage (XD) or if you get lazy with cleaning. The biggest problem for me with keeping my babies in my room is free-range time. You have to put EVERYTHING away.


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## Cinn (Mar 4, 2015)

Thanks for all the good advise everyone! I've had Cinnamon in my room for 3 days now, and he seems to like it a lot better. Although he is quite loud at night, it doesn't really bother me because I'm a pretty hard sleeper. The smell really hasn't bothered me, but I'm having guests over Saturday, so I'm going to clean his cage either tomorrow or Saturday morning.


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## Shine (Feb 20, 2015)

Link and Amadeus both live in my room because I can't trust my siblings not to mess with them. Their cage doesn't smell that bad.


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## erinsweeney (Nov 13, 2014)

Just thought I'd mention, persons with breathing issues like asthma or copd etc are extra sensitive to ammonia, but if you're not one of us you should be fine


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## Vegn (Jan 2, 2014)

I keep 5 girls in my room. 3 of them are very active. Fortunately I can sleep through it, but I'm a very heavy sleeper (seriously like a bear) they don't smell too bad if you keep it clean. Also, I've found that hay, like timothy or orchard grass, works really well to mask the scent if you don't mind it and my rats like it. They prefer timothy and crunchier hays though orchard grass smells sweeter. I've read they can't digest it much but I don't think it's harmful as long as they don't have allergies and it does have a lot of fiber with fairly low protein and it's rich in vitamins and minerals although it varies a ton. They sell a thing called "Goodbye Odor" that you add to the water. The version for small animals and ferrets is the same but I see the one for ferrets in store. I'm trying it but t's supposed to really work. You do only have 1 rat so shouldn't have much of a problem, especially if you have a larger or average sized room, in a little room you might need to clean his cage more often. 

I am SO happy wit my babies in my room but it keeps me up later cause I really like watching them XD


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## Cinn (Mar 4, 2015)

erinsweeney said:


> Just thought I'd mention, persons with breathing issues like asthma or copd etc are extra sensitive to ammonia, but if you're not one of us you should be fine


It should be fine, as I clean his cage frequently, although I have very mild asthma



Vegn said:


> I keep 5 girls in my room. 3 of them are very active. Fortunately I can sleep through it, but I'm a very heavy sleeper (seriously like a bear) they don't smell too bad if you keep it clean. Also, I've found that hay, like timothy or orchard grass, works really well to mask the scent if you don't mind it and my rats like it. They prefer timothy and crunchier hays though orchard grass smells sweeter. I've read they can't digest it much but I don't think it's harmful as long as they don't have allergies and it does have a lot of fiber with fairly low protein and it's rich in vitamins and minerals although it varies a ton. They sell a thing called "Goodbye Odor" that you add to the water. The version for small animals and ferrets is the same but I see the one for ferrets in store. I'm trying it but t's supposed to really work. You do only have 1 rat so shouldn't have much of a problem, especially if you have a larger or average sized room, in a little room you might need to clean his cage more often.
> 
> I am SO happy wit my babies in my room but it keeps me up later cause I really like watching them XD


Har har I'm a heavy sleeper too, and so far I've slept really well since he has been in my room. Will an air freshener work or will it irritate his respiratory system? My room is one of the bigger rooms in my house so I'll probably just have to clean it every 5-6 days. Yeah, watching him is really fun.


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