A lot of people have asked about the best rat products. I’ve set up this page with a list of what I consider to be the best stuff for you and your ratties!
The Basics
Litter: CareFRESH litter
is widely recognized as the best litter for pet rats. I also like Eco-Bedding (you can get it at Petsmart), which can be used over another litter. The rats tend to use the bedding to build nests (which is super cute to watch). Cedar and pine are toxic to pet rats and can cause respiratory infections. Other acceptable litters include Cell-Sorb Plus, Good Mews, Yesterdays News, Critter Country, Super Pet Critter Litter, Gentle Touch, and aspen shavings.Water: The best water bottles are made by Oasis. There’s minimal dripping, and they come in a lot of different sizes and colors. They also have a little floaty thing so you can easily check the water level. Never keep your rat’s water in a bowl, as it is easily contaminated with feces and other icky stuff. You might also like these cleaning brushes, which make cleaning the bottles a LOT easier. I found these especially helpful when I gave my rats tetracycline, because it causes a pretty nasty yellow build-up inside the bottle.
Food: I fee
d my rats rodent blocks, because it’s easier than creating a home-made diet. Rodent blocks are far superior than mixed foods, because rats are super picky and will only eat what tastes good for them. Thus, they pick through the mixed diets and do not get all the nutrition they need. With rodent blocks, they have no choice but to eat it all! I feed them FortiDiet, because it’s easily accessible. A tip, too: Keep the extra blocks in the freezer, as bugs can grow in them if you keep a big supply out. For treats, check out Yogies–they’re my rat’s favorite treat!
Books
The best books I know of for the care of rats are by Debbie Ducummon. One is sold directly through her site, and it’s called “the Rat Health Care Booklet.” The other is called Rats: A Complete Care Guide. For training, I’ve heard great things about “Training Your Pet Rat” by Barbara Somerville.
Toys/Accessories
A lot of people (myself included) saw those Habitrail things and nearly cried because it looked so fun but their rats couldn’t fit in it. Well, my friends,
there IS another option–it’s called Ferret Trail. There are several different products, including a flexible tunnel, which you can twist all sorts of fun ways (these come in a lot of different colors), fleece-lined tunnel, hard plastic tunnels, and a passageway connector to connect multiple tunnels together. There’s even a cage that you can connect these things to! To see some of the products they offer, click here.Rats love a cozy place to sleep. Check out these hammocks–but watch out for chewers! My rats love these, but some of them chew a hole in them! My rats also really enjoyed this igloo. I drilled holes in the side and hung it upside-down from the top of their cage. Then I filled it with bedding and put more on top of the cage, right over the igloo–the rats had a ball pulling the bedding into their igloo!
If you’re considering a wheel for your rat’s cage, make sure you get a Wodent Wheel. These are the ONLY acceptable wheels for rats. Rats can get their feet or tails caught in wire wheels, making them very dangerous. These have a genius design, too–the whole thing comes apart for cleaning!
Check out a Wooden Cube, which may help deter your rat from chewing on the cage bars (an annoying and noisy habit than can keep many a rat lover awake at night).
For Humans
A Rat’s Tale: Seriously one of my all-time favorite books!! This fiction book about a rat named Montague Mad-Rat who lives in the NYC sewers is BEAUTIFULLY illustrated by Fred Marcellino. I just ordered the Revenge of Randall Reese-Rat, which is the sequel (I didn’t even know it existed!), but it’s not illustrated by the same illustrator.2006 Rats Calendar: Who wouldn’t want to look at adorable rat pictures all year long?
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