# Do you use shampoo when washing you rat?



## Rattii

I know quite a lot of people bathe their rats and use shampoo as well. In my opinion I find that there is no need to wash them with shampoo, and anyway, it may cause irritation for their delicate skin. I just wash my rats every 2-3 months with water and I don't think they need anything else.

So who uses shampoo, who doesn't and who doesn't bother washing their rats at all? I don't think you need to wash them, especially when you have rats which cleans a lot (like my two.) I only clean them because they enjoy it.


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## Charliesmom

*I have two unclipped male rats so the urine is strong, my boys get a once monthly bath, I use my wen conditioning cleanser. my rats love water, so I just put about two inches of water in the tub, let them swim and play, then while they are damp, I put a pea size drop of wen on my finger tips and distribute over their bodies, gets rid of boy rat smell, doesn't strip their oils, and the bare trace of menthol helps breathing *when they were sick a warm bath with the wen helped open up their lungs, they got better much faster than even the vet expected* I never put anything near their faces, they do a great job cleaning that by themselves, and I am a religious cage scrubber. I see alot of rats with yellow stains on their tails, charlie gets it a little bit, but the wen makes that tail stain go away.....he loves his baths. I have never had any skin reactions, in my rats, myself, or my kids with the wen so it seems super safe. *


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## Eden10

Would baby shampoo be safe to use? I also have an all natural blue berry shampoo...its called 'Yes to Blueberries'...I haven't tried bathing my boys yet...but my 2 nakie ratties skin is starting to look yellowish so I'm wanting to bathe them soon.


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## Jenzie

Occasionally I use dry pet shampoo on my boys when they've clearly rolled around in something stinky - my boys do not enjoy water. They clean themselves very well but they can't do much to get rid of odors that cling to their fur. I don't bathe them on any regular basis though, just whenever I notice they've gotten stinky. Baby shampoo is supposed to be really safe to use on them though, and I doubt it would do much to irritate their skin or damage their fur. I'd probably use that if my ratties didn't dislike water so much.


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## cagedbirdsinging

As mentioned, bathing isn't usually necessary. For messy rats, a little wipe-down with a baby wipe daily is fine.

For big messes, a quick bath with baby shampoo is alright.

For even BIGGER messes (Like the time a forum member had a rat get in her lip gloss!), a drop of Dawn works.


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## pipsqueak

Baby shampoo is fine to use, i have a tiny bottle of the johnson & johnson that i use sometimes.
But I also have a bottle of "Super Pet Squeaky Clean Critter Shampoo" that I've used once on my rat
I mostly use it on my guinea pig. 
i love how they smell after they get all nice and clean.


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## rattie_lover

Eden10 said:


> Would baby shampoo be safe to use? I also have an all natural blue berry shampoo...its called 'Yes to Blueberries'...I haven't tried bathing my boys yet...but my 2 nakie ratties skin is starting to look yellowish so I'm wanting to bathe them soon.


i use baby shampoo. it makes them smell good and feel soft lol;D


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## lilspaz68

I have used puppy shampoo in the past and no tears baby shampoo for super dirty rats (rescues coming from disgusting conditions), but if you have buck grease on a male, dawn dish soap works the best and just spot clean their back.


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## trematode

I use baby shampoo when I have to. My girls don't like being washed. Because they are white, they get pink heads from polyphrin. They are due for a quick scrub!


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## Isamurat

I wouldn't wash a rat unless it had a major accident, it doesn't do them any good, strips the fur of natural oils and often really scares them. I like my rats smelling natural too, and as there fairly well litter trained and live in a clean cage they smell of rat not urine. I also don't have an issue with a normal amounts of buckgrease and find that diet controls that better than washing.

If I needed to, like when one girl covered herself in the contents of a plant pot, then groomed it in, I would use baby shampoo, and minimise the time into the water, literally use it to wet them and rinse, the rest of the time they are on my knee on a towel.


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## RocketJr2008

i wash my ratties they dont like it but it makes them smell nice
i use shampoo


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## HelloClarice

the only time I 'washed' the girls is when they were being introduced [mutual problem to fix, get out of the water] I washed the boys because they were STINKY when I got them, I used a drop of dawn. I will be bathing them again soon as Bif, the double rex has lost a lot of fur and has yellow smudges all over him (buck grease) so I'll bath them but the first bath they actually seemed to like.


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## Muttlycrew

I washed Jabba when I got him. He is so fat that he can't groom himself, and his previous owner had never bathed him, so he had a whole year of 0 grooming. He was nasty. I used puppy shampoo. 
I also bathed my females once, one female was so so about it. Complained a bit but didn't make a fuss trying to get out. The other female wanted nothing to do with it. My newest male loves baths though. He went to the deep end of the tub and would dip his paws in the water and then groom his face with it. He then started falling asleep when I was rubbing the shampoo off of him in the water and just loved it. It was too cute. 


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