Litter Box Training

There are as many different ways to litter box train a rat as there are varieties of rats. The way we have litter box trained our rats has worked for us for several years. Now that we have an established mischief, the older rats tend to help in the training process with all of our new additions.

What to Get?

• To begin with, you'll need litter boxes appropriate for the size of cage you have.
  • We have used anything from the gladware soup containers, plastic shoe boxes, litter boxes made for rodents, to even a milk jug cut open. All of these containers are clipped to the side of the cage with binder clips.

How Many?

• The more rats you have the more litter boxes you will need because inevitably someone will pick a different corner than everyone else.
  • We have Critter Nations with plastic shoe boxes in the back corners on every shelf. So that basically means each level has three litter boxes. Now you may think well this takes up all the room. It doesn't have to, they don't have to be large. Remember the small gladware containers mentioned above? They only need to be big enough for the rat to basically sit in. If you have big boys like we do, the plastic shoe boxes are perfect! (Just counted - in our TCN with 1 level removed, we have 7 litter boxes in each. That is 14 litter boxes we empty a week.) I have completely removed a couple off and on that were not getting used but overall with the numbers of rats we have, 20+ babies, it is easier to keep one in each corner.

Litter?

• Now that you have your litter boxes, you need have to have a different material in the litter box versus the rest of the cage.
  • Personally, we used fleece throughout our cages and a wood pellet in the litter boxes. Also it is very important to avoid Pine and Cedar.

How Much?

• You will need about 1” of the the litter if it is a wood pellet (it is compressed it will ‘fluff out’ when wet.) If using something like Carefresh paper bedding, you will need about 2x more than the compressed wood pellets.
  • We end up using about 20 pounds of litter a month in our 14 litter boxes.

What’s a Pee Rock?

• When we started this process we were told to use smooth rock for them to pee on. Having a hard time finding rocks for this purpose, we ended up using the tops of our large glass candles which worked out really well. They are about the right size and could be easily cleaned each week.
  • We no longer use the candle lids since they are pretty much trained now. They sure came in handy when we were first starting. Occasionally, we will find some of our marble tiles, that we use in the cage during the summer to keep them cool, will be peed on more than other places. Do not forget, it is their natural desire to mark things.

Scoop the Poop

• Now that you have your cage all set up you will have to be diligent. This means daily picking up stray poop and putting it into their litter boxes. It is hassle but it does work!
  • Just yesterday, we were watching one of our 6 month old rats closely after he woke up. He climbed onto the litter box balancing on the edge, then pooped. We were so proud of him even though he pooped on the outside of the litter box he knew that was where it needed to go. After he walked away, we simply scooped it up with a little spoon and put it into the litter box.

How Often to Clean?

• Now this really depends on how bad it is. What have they put into their litter box? Extra papers? Food? Toys? Fleece? (Using the litter pans we only clean once a week verses every 3-4 days due to odors and mess)
  • Extra paper tends to absorb the urine smell. We will pick this out to throw away as we notice it. We we do our cage cleaning once a week, we throw away almost everything out of the litter box. As they are learning, we always leave just a little bit in there. When it is time to do a deep clean everything gets wiped down and washed really well - including the litter boxes. Our boys are the only ones that tend to have a hard time getting back into the groove of where to go after deep cleans. The girls are spot-on going to their favorite box/ corner.

One Final Helpful Hint

• Personally we believe this is the secret to our success - Encouraging the rats to go potty in the litter box before taking them out of the cage.
  • Simply put them in the little box and tell them go potty. You're thinking, ‘Okay I'm talking to my rat telling him to go potty” This works especially well if you are waking them up and then putting them in the litter box before you take them out of the cage. Just like what you would do to potty train a puppy. Perhaps this is why we have been so successful in potty training? Taking this extra step of waking them up, then putting them in the litter box.

Good luck!