# pooping and peeing on platforms?



## spikeithard (Aug 18, 2015)

They both just started doing this a few weeks ago. Never did it the first month and a half or so.

I go in periodically and I see a couple trails of urine and 4-5 poop balls on their all living things multi level cage platforms. 

I try to keep their bedding in good condition and use care fresh stuff. I spot clean daily. 

I just last week am trying a new litter box in the corner with little success it seems so far. Putting all the poop into that to show them thats where it goes

any ideas about why the plastic shelves to go on now? (not exclusively, just here and there).


----------



## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I put paper towels on the shelf the rats sleep on, because one of them pees there.... I think while sleeping. The other day I spotted cloud carrying her own fresh paper towel up to the shelf to take a nap on... So I may not be able to stop Misty from peeing on the shelf, but I might be able to train Cloud to change the paper at least... With rats you take wins when you get them.


----------



## Mojojuju (Nov 15, 2014)

Hahaha! That's amazing, Rat Daddy!

As for the peeing, I always just put the litter box where they wanted to go. Seems to work.


----------



## KaylaMarie (Aug 13, 2015)

Try putting fleece down on the platforms to soak anything up, or like Rat Daddy says, paper towels. I clip fleece to my shelves (the cage looks like this one https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/...7wRisb49xJZyOM25cOnQ07PP2uL08IRSHjoWqfJG4e1CW) with large clips and sometimes they pull them up which you have to watch just to make sure it's not so tight they get stuck but is otherwise fine. The fleece soaks any small pees up so they're not sleeping in puddles before it dries. As for poops, make sure you put them all in the litter box so they know. My rats learned in a matter of days, but sometimes didn't make it to the box. Good luck with litter training. I'm still not really clear on how to pee litter train rats...my girls do a lot of marking, but their cage remains pretty clean so they must use the litter a bit.
Also, I was wondering how you spot clean? People always talk about spot cleaning, but I'm never sure what they really mean? 


Good Luck!


----------



## Verucasdad (Aug 31, 2015)

I just tried the "pee rock" method. I found a good sized rock and cleaned it. I then put it in a shallow plastic container and added a couple of droppings in it. They are now MOSTLY using the pee rock. I am only finding droppings in other places every once in awhile. I do poop patrol twice a day, anyway.


----------



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

I'm with Verucasdad. I put a flat rock in the litter pan and when I clean the boxes about 3x per week (I have 7 rats), there is usually wet litter and a wet rock. The vast majority of the poop ends up in the litter box. The first week I had them, I did not put the litter boxes in, because I wanted to see where they wanted to go. The second week through the first month I keep the two litter boxes in the same place. Now, I can move them around and they still use them regularly. Mine do pee on the shelves sometimes. For me, spot cleaning means taking a small brush/broom and cleaning up loose 'stuff' they leave around. You know, food pieces, torn paper, litter, some poop, etc. Then I take a baby wipe, lift up the fleece (I don't unclip it) and wipe up pee as needed. The weird thing is, they don't ever pee in the bottom section where I have aspen litter in a tub for the whole bottom floor. Maybe because I scatter food down there for foraging. I heard they don't like to eat where they pee and vice versa, but if that's the case, why do they take food to the litter box and sit and eat it amongst the poop?? LOL


----------

