 |
| Photo from Rattit |
I know, I know, what
a long-winded title. But it’s so true. Ask any rat-owner who has attempted the
supposedly simple task of litter training and they will tell you that rats love
their litter pans to death. Just not for their intended purpose.
I’ve looked at a lot
of tutorials and how-tos for litter training rats. One of my favourites, of
course, is the one from the Dapper Rat. I find it to be very straight-forward
and thorough. It gives you a good idea of what you’re in for and some excellent
techniques to try in order to teach your rats that litter trays are the place
to go when it comes to pooping.
However, no one told
my rats that they’re supposed to follow along with the plan. It is a
long-standing fact that male rats are more difficult to train than females. I
suspect my boys take this to a whole new level. After a couple weeks of
regularly transferring any stray poop into the litter tray and praising any
attention they gave it, Potato and Goma did, indeed, learn that it marked the
pooping location. Unfortunately, in their minds, this meant that they should
poop on the platform beside the tray and then sleep in the litter instead.
Strike one.
My next attempt
involved using two completely different materials and lowering the tray to the
bottom level of their cage. I honestly (and naively) believed the location was
the main problem since their old cage didn’t have much floor space and so
couldn’t fit a litter pan on the bottom level. The process continued much the
same as above and resulted in basically the same thing. Well, except for the
fact that they decided to mix the bedding and litter together, along with
anything they’d shredded, and turned the litter tray into a luxurious rat bed
far surpassing the first. Strike two.
So, here I sit. My
rats are not litter trained and seem hell-bent against it. Frankly, they tend
to be hell-bent against any training. They’re not big on being actively, unless
they’re actively trying to get back to their cage because someone had the gall
to try to remove them. In any case, I’m currently preparing for attempt number
three. I’ll share the link once I find it, but there was an interesting post on
Rattit that was a bit more extreme than my past approaches, so I’m thinking it
might be just what I need. Essentially, I have to clear out all of the bedding
from their cage and only put it in their litter pan. The bottom needs to be
left bare for easy cleaning and maintenance while training them, which I’m a
bit unsure of, but I’m willing to take the risk and it might help reduce
Potato’s sneezing anyway. After that, it’s just a matter of diligently moving
any and all poops into the bedding area. They also suggest using a tissue to
wipe up any urine and leave it in the tray so the scent stays in that area.
I have high hopes for
this one. Internet research, don’t let me down.
No comments:
Post a Comment