# OMG! I need potty training Advice!



## Matt (Jun 14, 2007)

They Poop SO Much! 

They NEED to be Potty Trained!

How have all you done it?

Right now I have a tupperware bin in there and whenever I see a ~Rasin~,
I toss it in there. I have picked them up and put them in it a few times but they jump out and poop somewhere else!

Please Help Me!


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

They won't be potty trained in one day! Do they have an easy way into the container?

Putting them in it all the time might make them afraid of it!

Just be persistent.


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## Mana (Apr 22, 2007)

I have no success with this yet, but I've only been at it less than 2 weeks.. Although I'm positive yesterday there was more poop in the litter box than what I put in there! So hopefully we're making progress 

What type of bedding do you use? What do you have in the litter box? I heard it helps a lot if the litter is distinctly different from the bedding. I use towels in the cage, and Carefresh in the litter box (since that's what they lived on and pooped on before I switched to towels).

Do they seem to be pooping in a particular spot? It might help to move the litter box to wherever they poop most (although my girls change poop spots as soon as a litter box is put down).

I think the key is mainly to just be very consistent and patient. Like I said, I've been at it about 2 weeks and it was only yesterday that one of them may have used the litter box, but I'm not even sure. So it might take a while ^_^


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## Matt (Jun 14, 2007)

Right now I have aspen on the ground and also aspen in the litter box.
(i know bad idea needs to be changed.) Eventually i will get towels in there.
They poop everywhere and anywhere they can. 
and it is a short container that they can EASILY get into.


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## cjshrader (Feb 15, 2007)

I do believe changing to a different litter or bedding will help.

All I did is what you're doing. Every morning and every night, and usually when I come home from work too, I'll drop any poop into the litter dish. Not all of them are pooping in there, but I can definitely tell that some are. I just started, so I'm hoping with time it'll improve.

I do believe that not all rats can be litter trained, though. Sometimes you'll get some that will just poop anywhere they want.


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

Matt said:


> Right now I have aspen on the ground and also aspen in the litter box.
> (i know bad idea needs to be changed.) Eventually i will get towels in there.
> They poop everywhere and anywhere they can.
> and it is a short container that they can EASILY get into.


Yeah, having aspen in both places is likely a bit confusing. Not to mention your boys are very young and so can be expected to make some mistakes.


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## Matt (Jun 14, 2007)

Forensic said:


> Not to mention your boys are very young and so can be expected to make some mistakes.


Yeah they are kinda young.(Few Days Past Weened Stage)


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## bubsybob (Apr 1, 2007)

i got my girls trained in one day.so it CAN be done lol

biggest thing is keeping what they are used to pooping in, in the litterbox. change the other bedding to towels, and they will go to the shredded bedding as it is more familiar.


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## Kimmiekins (Apr 14, 2007)

Some rats seem to pick it up quickly, some don't. It's the luck of the draw. Patience and time are the best keys. Anytime you're near the cage, pick up the poops and drop them in the litter box. If you notice they're going in another place, then move the litter box there if possible. 

But if you use the same thing in and out of the box, they may not pick it up.


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## 2manyrats (Apr 10, 2007)

Kimmiekins said:


> Some rats seem to pick it up quickly, some don't. It's the luck of the draw. Patience and time are the best keys. Anytime you're near the cage, pick up the poops and drop them in the litter box. If you notice they're going in another place, then move the litter box there if possible.
> 
> But if you use the same thing in and out of the box, they may not pick it up.


Yep, after 2 weeks only about 2/3s of mine have gotten it. And it appears to be the young ones who haven't, judging from the poop sizes.


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## toolie (Jun 20, 2007)

I started right away by putting there little poops in the litter box everytime I saw one. Its been 4 days now and they are using the litter box now. YAY!!


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## 2manyrats (Apr 10, 2007)

I've been using the type of litter-box with wire bars over the pan, and it's great for keeping them from marinating in their crap. Some of them sleep in the litter boxes, but thanks to the bars they don't reek as badly as they would.

My girls keep all of their food & toys in the litter box. Every time they get food or a new toy, it immediately gets deposited there! If someone has a cure for this, please let me know. lol.

Oh, and they only poop in one place in the litter box. It's the very back corner, and it gets such a huge mass of poop in that one spot that it all gets stuck together... ewwww....


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## d00mg1rl (Jun 27, 2007)

I have straw down i nthe bottom of the cage for bedding and playing with a container in the corner filled with cat litter.

Everytime they poop'd out of the tray I picked it up and put it in the tray so it was all in one place.

Then I would put my rats in the tray and they eventually got the idea


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## neonerd336 (Jul 17, 2007)

what can I use as a litter container? Is plastic ok like a tupperware dish? I'm just worried that my boys will chew on it


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## WDshorty (Jul 16, 2007)

Hehe I started trying to potty train my rats today as well, I put some soil and stones in the litter box (I'm just using a plastic tub) as a temporary thing until I can get some cat litter but so far they have just been digging around in the litter box and trying to eat everything in it....Hopefully they aren't too old now to learn as they are a year old. Oh well time will tell.


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

neonerd336 said:


> what can I use as a litter container? Is plastic ok like a tupperware dish? I'm just worried that my boys will chew on it


I use plastic... like shoebox size. My boys haven't touched it. But they aren't really... chewy.


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## kkdepp (May 22, 2007)

My boys picked up the concept in a day or two. They have fabric on their shelves and I am using this white pebbly litter that came with the potty training kit but I'm going to switch to Yesterday's news. At first I made a litter box with easy access but it was completely avoided. I bought a high backed one that was much larger and I think they like having the room to completely sit in it and do their business. 

It's so cute....before they come out to play they'll use it so they don't go on me or where they are playing


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

WDshorty said:


> Hopefully they aren't too old now to learn as they are a year old. Oh well time will tell.


i don't think age has much do with it. Spider was just over 2 when i started training everyone to use the potty and she caught on really fast. at the time i had ages ranging from about 6/7 weeks to just over 2 years and they've all gotten the hang of it quickly. in fact i now have to buy a larger tray as they seem to like the small corner one so much they don't even use the big floor tray on the bottom... *sighs* rats... gotta love em right... at least they go the potty though..


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## Matt (Jun 14, 2007)

My boys are now potty trained. They know NOT to go on the fleece and TOO go on the aspen bedding.(bottom floor)


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## Lesath (Jul 14, 2007)

After reading everyones suggestions and methods I decided to make a little box for my ratties and they took to it very fast! I was shocked, potty trained instantly it seems.


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## WDshorty (Jul 16, 2007)

I woke up this morning to find that my rats had completely trashed their litter box....tipped it over and spread everything in it all over the cage.... *sighs*


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## Lesath (Jul 14, 2007)

Oh no! lol I used some zipties and poked a few holes in the side of my litter box and attached it to the side of the cage because I know my rats would have done the same. Sometimes they are worse than children with destroying their 'rooms'.


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## cjshrader (Feb 15, 2007)

The first time I tried to litter train my rats, they ate the entire dish. Literally, I looked for it and only found a small scrap under some aspen.

The second time they started doing pretty much the same thing.

The third time I used a much larger dish, just a tupperware container, and it has worked wonders. The first two were those corner pans you buy at pet stores. I think using a larger one is much better because they can't knock it over.

However, my rats still like to stash some of the litter away, which I don't really understand but whatever they want to do.


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## Sparker (Jun 17, 2007)

Melon - my oldest female - uses the litter box flawlessly, but insists on basically emptying it and stashing the bedding. It drives me nuts.


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## ghost (Jul 14, 2007)

I was reading this thread for tips and trips, etc, being frustrated that my boys seem to be pooping absolutely everywhere, even as I move the raisins!!

But just now I went to the cage to give Squirt some head scritches, and started looking around for Teddy.... found him sitting in the litter box... he moved and I saw he'd used it to go potty! YAY!!!! Hopefully we're making some progress!!   

Don't get discouraged people... it can almost always be done!! :3 Just takes a lot of patience.... ^^


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