# Fleece bedding



## amandanicollee (Aug 31, 2015)

Hey all, I've been wanting to go to fleece bedding instead of loose bedding big I have fleece in their cage now covering their ladder and they tear that up. My fear is they'll tear all the fleece up. Any suggestions or tips? Thanks!!


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## mis.kay (May 29, 2015)

My boys are big chewers and they usually will tear up the corners of their fleece bedding if there is any fold or easy access spot. Usually I'll just put as many binder clips as I can in there and make the fleece as tight and natural to the floor as possible. They tend to ignore it then. Also, offer them a ton of other objects to chew on. Maybe throw some loose fleece in there to see if they like tearing that up instead! Go for cheap fleece too, cause no matter what they are gonna get to it over time. I made the mistake of buying the fitted DCN covers. Those are mangled to the point where I can't tell the shelf covers apart anymore lol.


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## rats-alive-at-55 (Jul 16, 2015)

I make my own fleece bedding. I started all creative and matchy matchy, even adding a layer of U-haul pad underneath for absorption. Ha! I have 7 rats, and after just 1 week, they had chewed holes in every piece of fleece. I tried to use many clips to keep them down and the rats just chewed a hole in the middle so they could get under the fleece. So now, I don't sew their bedding at all. However, I have so much fleece, all bought on sale, that I still use fleece but here is what I do. I lay the shelf on the fleece and cut around it with about 2-3 inches of clearance. I use four to six binder clips, depending on whether it is a 1/2 shelf or a full shelf BUT I don't put the clips near the corners. That way, the rats just lift up a corner to go under when they want to. In fact, the only chewing going on now is right at a clip, as if in protest. This is easiest, involves no sewing, and I just throw the fleece away when it gets too chewed up.


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## lornetka (Oct 23, 2015)

My guys chew the ladder fleece coverings but not the floor coverings. You can easily make your own to try it out. Take 3 yards of fleece and then basically make a pillowcase for the shelves!


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

All my rats barely touch it. There might be a few nibbles but it lasts a long time.

My trick is layers. I use dish drying mats under the fleece, you need something under the fleece anyways for absorbtion. The mats are a bit more firm and rigid so they stay their shape and flat. On top of that I have fleece or two. Then I use smaller squares of fleece and strips that they can snuggle under and use for begging.

I think it also helps if you have really good dark bed/hide spots in the cage. Hammocks are awesome, I have a ton but sometimes a rat just wants a dark place to snuggle and sleep. I like boxes and also baskets filled with fleece.

It is important to note that rats are nesters. They enjoy burrowing into and under bedding. Using fleece normally robs them of this and then it is a battle between what we want (a nice clean cage) and what they want. So my advice is to not take that away from them. Give them fleece strips to burrow in and play in. Give them stuff to hide under and inside. It helps alot.


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## JAnimal (Jul 23, 2014)

I just let them go under the fleece and have a good time. That way they don't chew it. The cage just looks messier but they have a fun time so i don't care.


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## Chaolithe (Jul 13, 2015)

I agree with JAnimal. I use fleece for 2 of my cages and they all go under the fleece and I don't mind it too much. They enjoy it, so why not?  I'd say let em chew but then again not everyone works at a fabric store and gets discounts like me. Lol I understand it can get real expensive to keep having to exchange fleece because it's getting chewed.


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## Wtpooh (Aug 23, 2015)

I've bought several fleece blankets/throws at thrift stores. I got one for $0.75. It wasnt very pretty but me and the girls don't really care since they are going to chew it anyway. I started off buying matchy match pretty fleece from the fabric store. I was going to have themes each month in the cage. I gave up after two months and just started using whatever. I have four sets of fleece that I got in early August. I use Uhaul pads under the fleece. The girls do chew the fleece but I am still using those same four sets. I use a combination of tiles, binder clips, wooden corner shelves and the long chew sticks that bolt to the cage bars to try and prevent fleece chewing. Yet they still chew. I just gave up and decided to let them chew and buy the thrift store fleece. I do make lots of hammocks and have baskets stuffed with extra fleece. I also take fleece scraps and barely put them in the cage bars and then let the ratties pull them the rest of the way in. They think it is a prize and quickly take it to the nest. Fleece is fun!


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## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

Rats will chew fleece... The question is, how much will they chew? My best results were when I used fleece on my half shelves.. I used a layer of Uhaul pad, then a layer of fleece over it... This was attached with binder clips. Then I clipped a second piece of fleece over the first, leaving 2-3 ends open... Basically so they could crawl under it but it was still attached to the shelf. 

This worked OK.. Still some chewing, but not as bad as before. That said, I've never successfully used fleece for my bottom tray without major chewing and I switched primarilly due to odor issues... Even with changing fleece every 3 days and using a layer of uhaul pad underneath, it still got very smelly very fast. 

I use aspen bedding now... But am trying out Borris mats on my half shelves... So far it's been 2 weeks and they've managed to literally eat chunks out the Borris mats, so I will probably end up going back to loose bedding on the shelves as well (pine horse stall pellets). Or I may try a loose piece of fleece over the Borris mats and see if that works. 

In the end, it's all about experimentation. If I were in your place, I'd try to find some cheap fleece... Enough for at least 2 sets (so you can take out and wash while still having a set in the cage). Pick something absorbent to go underneath... Uhaul pads are good because they are cheap (Uhaul moving blankets). And see how it goes. Once you've used it for about 1 month you should be able to tell if they are going to chew it too badly or not and how you feel about washing it, etc.


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## amandanicollee (Aug 31, 2015)

Thank you all for your responses! I'll try to use some of the advice and figure out what works best for my girls. The only fleece I have is covering the latter and they tear that up. So I put a new cover on it with binder clips (too lazy to hand sew that) and I put an extra square in their cage on their rope to see if they'll eat the spare rather than the latter. 

If the fleece doesn't work, what are good loose bedding? I currently use Kaytee Clean and Cozy. I heard that is not a good bedding? What are the best? I know we are not suppose to use wood chips/clay which I don't. 

Thank you guys !! I really appreciate the help.


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## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

I use "native earth" shredded aspen that I buy from pet360 or petfooddirect (when they have a free shipping sale). It is the cheapest shredded aspen per cubic foot that I've found. I also use a thin layer of pine horse stall pellets under the aspen to absorb urine.. I have used paper pelleted cat litter before I found the horse stall pellets. This system works well for me and I can go 1 week or a little longer before the bedding is soiled / smelly. I use litter trays as well with the pine pellets in them, so that helps as they poo in those a lot and I can change them out more often.


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## Akkia (Oct 26, 2015)

When I first got my DCN I had already done some reading and found that fleece was the best option for them, so I went to the thrift store and Walmart to buy those little cheap fleece blankets with cute patterns, sat at my sewing machine for hours and made such nice cute sets! They were immediately destroyed. So now I just use the no-sew method where I just safety pin it underneath at the corners and leave it at that and they don't touch it. Oh the irony.


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