FAQ/Trick Training

FAQ

Common questions people have emailed to me. I will add more to this page as time allows.

Still have questions? Visit the Rat Chat Forum!

Q: "My rat sneezes a lot, breathes funny, and has some blood around his nose and/ or eyes. What’s wrong?"

A: This is THE MOST COMMON question I am asked. These symptoms usually indicate an Upper Respiratory Infection. This is the result of using pine or cedar bedding, allowing ammonia to build up in the rat’s cage/aquarium, or simply old age when the rat’s immune system is weakened. Symptoms include: sneezing, porphyrin staining around the nose and eyes, (often mistaken for blood) wheezing, and labored breathing. You must take the rat to a vet for proper diagnosis and treatment. An Upper Respiratory Infection can be controlled with antibiotics, but if left untreated it will develop into pneumonia, and your pet will die. Keep the rat in a proper (clean) living environment (no pine or cedar), and get veterinary treatment as soon as you notice a problem.

Q: "My rat scratches himself a lot and has scabs all over his body, but I don’t think he has any fleas."

A: These symptoms indicate an infestation of mites, which are little creatures that burrow into the rat’s skin. Consult your vet for treatment.

Q: "My rat has a lump on her tummy, what is it?"

A: Most likely it is a mammary gland tumor, they are the most common type of tumor in rats. They are usually benign. It is best to get the tumor removed as soon as possible, they can grow very, very large, and complications could make your rat ill. There is always a chance that the tumor is not benign, and it can and probably will spread to the rat’s lungs, so if you see anything that looks like a tumor, get it checked out and removed before it gets out of hand.

Q: "My rat has very long nails, can I trim them?"

A: Yes! Nail trimming is very important! When trimming nails be sure to only trim the tip, don’t cut too far back, or you will hit the "live" part of the nail and will cause it too bleed. Nail trimming goes best if one person holds the rat wrapped in a towel while a second person trims the nails. If you are afraid to cut the nails yourself your vet will be able to trim them for a small fee.

Q: "What bedding should I use? Why are pine and cedar bad? What would happen if I tried to use pine or cedar? Is there a ‘safe’ pine or cedar bedding?"

A: A really good bedding (in my opinion) is CareFresh. CareFresh is usually available at most pet stores. Pine and cedar are bad because they have dust and oils that irritate the rat’s upper respiratory tract and cause Upper Respiratory Infections and pneumonia. There is NO ‘safe’ pine or cedar bedding. I once heard of a rat who died of an allergic reaction to a ‘safe’ pine bedding so just don't use it! Better safe than sorry, right!?

Q: "Can I include dog (or cat) food in my rat's regular diet? He really loves it!"

A: I’ve never met a rat who didn’t like dog or cat food! It can be a good source of protien for a homemade diet, but I feel it's best in moderation. If you are feeding a store-bought diet your rats should be getting all the protein they need so there is no need to supplement. Too much protein isn't good for your rats.

Q: "Can I give my rat a bath? He smells."

A: Yes! Use warm water and a mild kitten shampoo. Don’t try to blow dry him, just use a towel. Don’t give your rat too many baths because it strips the coat of oils.

Q: "Would a rat be a good pet for my child?"

A: Yes, but it really depends on the child. Small children should not be left unsupervised with any pet, as they can easily hurt the pet without meaning to (and vice versa.) Because rats are fairly easy to care for they are good first pets for responsible kids. Plus kids usually haven't developed the 'ewww...a rat' reaction of most adults!

Q: "How long should I quarantine my new rat/s?"

A: Three weeks to a month. Keep the resident rats and the new rats completely separate in different rooms. Remember that most viruses can live on your hands/clothing of about three hours.

Q: "How do I breed my rats? Why is there no breeding info on this site?"

A: Some people have noticed there is no breeding section on this site, this is because I am not a breeder. I have no knowledge of genetics and do not feel qualified to put up any information relating to the breeding of rats. If you are interested in breeding I suggest you locate a responsible breeder to mentor you…with so many rats ending up in rescues, breeding is not something to be taken lightly.

Q: "Do males or females make better pets?"

A: Both males and females make great pets! All rats are individuals, but males tend to be more lazy and laid back while females tend to be more curious and active.

Litter Box Training (Potty Training) Rats

Rats can be litter box trained (potty trained) fairly easily. Litter box training my rats has made cleaning up after them so much easier I don’t think I will ever go back to the ‘old way!’ Plus non-rat people are usually impressed by it, and good PR is always needed!

To start potty training you’ll need a litter box (or two, depending on how large your cage is.) Plastic ferret litter boxes work great, they fit conveniently in a corner of the cage and clip securely onto the wire to prevent spills. To further prevent spilled litter, some come with a wire ‘lid’ which keeps the rats from pushing the bedding right out of the box.

Once you have your litter box picked out, you’re ready to start training. Rats usually will pick a ‘favorite’ (or several) potty spots. This is where you’ll want to put the litter box. Give your cage a good cleaning and put a bit of used bedding in the box to encourage the rats to use it. Instead of covering the entire floor pan of your cage with bedding again, lay down towel or fleece ‘cage liners.’ This is important because if your whole cage is covered in bedding of the same type, there will be little distinction between the litter box and the rest of the cage and also make it hard for you to clean up any mistakes.

Day to day maintenance is critical to potty training success. Several times a day check your cage for any accidents, if you find any ‘rat raisins’ move them back into the box. This goes for any bedding that has been pushed out as well. You want to make it very clear to your rats where they should ‘go.’ Some rats will start using the box right away and some will take longer, some will use the box religiously, some will be a bit more sloppy. Your rats should become fairly reliable about using the box, but expect them to continue scent marking other areas of the cage. Rats are territorial, and no amount of training can change that.

Now about cage liners- I know some of your are wondering; ‘How is this going to work? Wont they just eat them/ burrow in them?’ The key to liners is to secure them. Depending on your cage, you can either use the weight of the cage itself to hold the liner in place, and/or clip it on using ‘bulldog’ or ‘binder’ clips. Liners can be as elaborate or simple as you want. I prefer fleece, because it doesn’t shred and get stringy like towels do. You can buy fleece from places like JoAnn’s Fabrics (craft store) or even Wal-mart. It comes in various colors/patterns to suit any taste. For a simple liner, just measure the bottom pan/tray of your cage an cut the fleece slightly larger by a couple inches, lay it down and secure it, then add your litter box and toys.

I promise it sounds more complicated than it is! Even with some chewing, your cage liners will last ages longer than bedding. You should have at least two liners, so when one gets dirty you just pop it into the washing machine and it’s good as new! I have cut my bedding expenses by more that half after litter box training my rats. Before I was cleaning the whole cage twice a week, now I just dump out the box every few days and put in a couple handfuls of new bedding.

Trick Training

The two most important points in training any animal are reward and consistency.

Reward: The reward is anything the animal (in this case the rat) wants. For a dog you could use food, praise, and/ or toys. For a rat you must use food. Tiny pieces of apple work well, you can also try green peas and Cheerios. The rat has to WANT to WORK for the food so make it good. (Don’t use cat or dog food, or anything else that could make your pet sick.)

Consistency: You must practice on a regular basis for the rat to understand what you want of it and be able to perform the tricks reliably. All rats learn at a different pace, so don’t try once and then give up! Practice a few minutes everyday for the best results.

Tips: Before you start trying to teach these tricks I would recommend teaching the rat to follow your pointer finger. To teach this hold food between your thumb and pointer finger and lure the rat for about a foot at a time. Slowly increase the distance you lead the rat. When the rat will follow for at least five feet start over making it follow for a foot, but have it follow your pointer finger only. Work on adding distance. *Make sure the rat does not think your finger is food!* After it has followed the finger give the reward from your other hand. All the tricks below are easier to teach if the rat can follow your finger.

If the rat really doesn't seem to get what you are trying to teach it, break it down! If you can't get the rat to, for example, follow your finger for a foot- have him follow it for only an inch or two at a time. It may seem tedious to break things down so much but your rat will learn much faster if you do, instead of trying to get him to do something too complicated that he just can understand. Remember your rattie is not willfully trying to 'disobey' you, he just has to learn what you are asking of him first!

Rats are curious animals that can be easily distracted. If your rat is just too distracted to want the food reward practice with him up on a small table in a quiet place. Make yourself the most interesting thing around!

I have already mentioned the you will see the best results if you practice daily for a few minutes. I must stress to you NOT to over-practice! Idealy you should end your practice session before the rat loses interest. If that is in one minute or even less- then fine- leave it at that for the moment and practice again later! Almost nothing can cause an animal to lose interest in training faster than being asked to repeat behaviors over and over monotonously. Make training sessions as fun and short as possible.

Variable Reinforcement: Everytime you give your rat a piece of food for preforming a behavior you are reinforceing that behavior. When you first start out teaching a trick you want to reward for it everytime to increase the likelihood of it being repeated. After the rat fully understands what you want, it's best to start a variable reinforcement routine or your rat will not want to preform a trick unless you have food! Start only reinforceing a behavior every other time it is preformed. Maybe work up to only reinforceing every three or four times a trick is preformed. Done right variable reinforcement makes the rat more likely to keep preforming a behavior because he knows eventually he will be rewarded, but he just doesn't know when.

The best tricks to strat with are Sit Up, Come When Called, and Jump Through a Hoop.

Sit Up: Hold the food over the rat’s head. It will stand on its hind legs to get the food, when it does say "up" and give it the food. You want the rat to associate the word "up" with the action of standing on its hind legs. After the rat will reliably stand to get the food try to get it to stand when you say "up" and hold your pointer finger over it's head. DON’T show it the food until after it has stood up. As soon as the rat stands give it the reward from your other hand.

Coming when Called: When you start teaching this trick the rat should be only a few feet in front of you, as it gets better you can try it at greater distances. With the rat in front of you show it that you have food and lure it toward you. Say the command as it comes toward you. For a command you can use the rat’s name, "come," or make kissy sounds (I think rats react best to the kissy sounds.) Just make it short and distinctive. Again, you want the rat to associate the sound with the action with the food. When the rat will come reliably from a few feet, you can slowly add distance. With enough practice you rat will come running whenever it hears the command...he'll be thinking 'snack time!'

Jump Through A Hoop: This is an easy trick. Have the rat follow your finger (I am assuming that by this time the rat will follow your finger to get food) and lead it through the hoop which should be resting on the ground. As the rat gets used to going through the hoop slowly raise it until the rat is jumping 2-3 inches. You can make it higher if you want. Just raise it slowly.

Rat Agility

A fun new sport based on the ever popular Dog Agility trials!

Tips for Agility Training

Eva's Rat Agility Page

Agility Rats!

The Agile Rat