anxiety abt clean cage

Mon Jan 09, 2006 6:21 pm

It seems like my rats get upset whenever I clean their cage! Ive never had rats that really *minded* the cage cleaning ordeal until recently. When I move their cage into the kitchen to dump the bedding and what not, they follow it in there and jump inside (as if to prevent me from dumping the bedding into the garbage because they're in there). Then after I actually get it dumped, they get in the cage and run around it, looking very anxious. The last time I cleaned their cage, they refused to take treats from me afterwards ... now it might have been because of something else, but I dunno .. it was awfully coincidental!

I read somewhere that when you clean your rats cage, you should take a small amount of their old bedding and mix it up with their new stuff, just so they dont get upset abt their scent not being in their cage anymore. Well, not only do I do this ... but they have a "roll-a-nest" (natural fiber material nest woven together into a ball with a few holes, looks like a birds nest) and I *never* touch that nest, they've personalized it and made it their own ... and Id feel like I am seriously violating them if I touch it. It still smells like them, but it doesnt smell bad enough for me to replace yet.

Any ideas? I also try to give them a very special treat every time I put them into a fresh clean cage.

Mon Jan 09, 2006 10:40 pm

Hey there, Don't mean to be a stick in the mud, or a pain in the butt... but i find your advar really upsetting and offensive. Is there anyway you could change it to something a little more sutable to a rat forum?

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Loving Mum to my rattie boys, Zipper and Ty
Bestest Bud to Milly, the greatest horse ever

Mon Jan 09, 2006 10:58 pm

Hehe yeah eep, Im no prude, but at work I have to be careful opening this topic to make sure no one thinks Im looking at porn or something, lol

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Mon Jan 09, 2006 11:39 pm

uhm ... is this a JOKE? Because I dont think a picture of a pearl rat would be offesnive in a RAT forum. I dont understand what you mean, perhaps you're looking at it wrong? Ive asked my friend to also take a look on her computer and she sees the rat also. Dont know what to tell ya!

Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:04 am

In case you're serious, and really can't see it, this is what your avatar says:

Members are seeing something interesting. You're seeing an Ad. Join Now. Suicidegirls.com. All this is included with a picture of a girl that looks like she's fourteen with her breasts wrapped in electrical tape.

As you can see, it would be less than charming.

If you really can't see it, I'd run a few spyware/adware searches and destroy whatever is invading your computer.

As for your question, my girls LOVE cage cleaning time. At least, they get very excited about it. They run around, check out the trash can, get in my way while I try to replace hammies, etc. I generally toss them onto the bed when they get too troublesome

.

While it may upset them a bit to have their nice, dirty cage cleaned, it's a case of "mom knows best."

Thinking about it more, I actually do always give them a bowl of rice cereal and soy milk after cage cleaning. They get that other times, though, but with yours you could make it an only-after-cleaning treat.

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Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:06 am

Not all of us are seeing a pearl rat, rather a young lady in bondage!!!

Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:10 am

I see a pearl rat...?

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~Mikaela and the RitterRatten~

Blaze~Shadow~Luna~Chinchilla~Malt~Merry~Pippin~Nim~Tiri~Cinder

Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:10 am

OMG ... I am so sorry to anyone who was offended. I have no idea why that was coming up because no one I asked to check this for me could see it.
I have changed it to be linked from photo bucket, I hope this helps the situation!

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Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:36 am

Yeah, its a nice pearl rat now! lol Much better! I dont know, something weird was happening, but all better now! Mr. Green

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Tue Jan 10, 2006 1:01 am

Cute ratty in the avatar! ^_^ Hehe. silly bondage type spyware.

My boys like cage cleaning time. Bandit used to get anxious when I changed the cage, to the point he'd start biting and whatnot. But everyone else likes it ^_^

Tue Jan 10, 2006 1:11 am

Glad the whole suicidegirls.com was an accident (bondage is for the bedroom not the rat room

)...
Cute rat is much better.
P.S. My boys love having their cage cleaned. They love to explore because I move things arond when I clean it.

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Loving Mum to my rattie boys, Zipper and Ty
Bestest Bud to Milly, the greatest horse ever

Tue Jan 10, 2006 2:23 am

	nikkiburr wrote:
	I see a pearl rat...?

omg!! *your* rat Blaze looks just like *my* rat Blaze!! (that is, if your little rat icons match their names in order)

Everyone here has such cute signatures with little icons of their rats! If I were computer smart, pehaps Id have something clever like this.

Tue Jan 10, 2006 2:27 am

	Celynny wrote:
	Cute ratty in the avatar! ^_^ Hehe. silly bondage type spyware. My boys like cage cleaning time. Bandit used to get anxious when I changed the cage, to the point he'd start biting and whatnot. But everyone else likes it ^_^

Geez, did you ever figure out any way to relieve some of his anxieties?

btw- the picture is of a beautiful rat named Janis Joplin, owned by a rattery in Kansas city called "Spoiled Rotten Rattery", they have some of the most gorgeous rats Ive ever seen!

Tue Jan 10, 2006 5:58 am

Aye - Spoiled Ratten and Elisabeth have some awesome rats.

Mine always want to "help out" when I'm cage cleaning. They always come back into the cage and get into the hammocks I'm taking down and into the igloos I'm taking out.... I never took it to be an anxiety thing with mine though, rather as a "Hey mom watcha doing huh? huh? huh? Lemme help I wanna help I wanna seeeeeeeeee!" kind of thing. Then again, they've never refused to take treats from me afterwards.

How often do you clean them out?

Welcome to RP, and glad you got your avatar sorted out. wink

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Tue Jan 10, 2006 7:03 am

	Quote:
	omg!! your rat Blaze looks just like my rat Blaze!! (that is, if your little rat icons match their names in order)

My Blaze was the black capped with the stripe down her forehead...she was a real sweetheart - the first rat I got extremely attached to. Aw, that's so cool that you have a Blaze too! Does she have a little black spot on her bum? Cause then they'd be like...identical wink

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~Mikaela and the RitterRatten~

Blaze~Shadow~Luna~Chinchilla~Malt~Merry~Pippin~Nim~Tiri~Cinder

Wed Jan 11, 2006 5:32 pm

LittleWillow wrote:

Aye - Spoiled Ratten and Elisabeth have some awesome rats.

Mine always want to "help out" when I'm cage cleaning. They always come back into the cage and get into the hammocks I'm taking down and into the igloos I'm taking out.... I never took it to be an anxiety thing with mine though, rather as a "Hey mom watcha doing huh? huh? huh? Lemme help I wanna help I wanna seeeeeeeeee!" kind of thing. Then again, they've never refused to take treats from me afterwards.

How often do you clean them out?

Welcome to RP, and glad you got your avatar sorted out. wink

Oops! Haha, I always thought the "Ratten" in the name was a typo! Now I know it's just a really cute name wink

Ya know ... Im wondering now if they aren't angry with me when I clean the cage, but just overly excited? I wish they could speak human! I do admit that I might just be reading them wrong. I was linking the fact that they wouldn't take the treats from me to their cage cleaning, when in reality it might have been just because they were angry abt going back into their cage. They *reaaally* hate being in there, so much that sometimes when I give them treats .. they either wont take them at all, or they take them and throw them down!

I'll have to pay more attention to their little faces. It's funny because .. I could *swear* that they have "mad" expressions on their faces when they get upset, or "happy" faces when they're pleased, and all kinds of other expressions Yogie Dance

Wed Jan 11, 2006 5:39 pm

nikkiburr wrote:

	Quote:
	omg!! your rat Blaze looks just like my rat Blaze!! (that is, if your little rat icons match their names in order)

My Blaze was the black capped with the stripe down her forehead...she was a real sweetheart - the first rat I got extremely attached to. Aw, that's so cool that you have a Blaze too! Does she have a little black spot on her bum? Cause then they'd be like...identical wink

That's so awesome! Actually, my Blaze doesnt have the little black spot on her bum, but it's so funny how close they come to being identical! It's also funny that they are both named Blaze, even though neither of them have a "true" blaze marking on their nose LOL

I wish I could say *my* Blaze was a real sweetheart, too ... hahah! She came from a petstore and is having a VERY difficult time coming around. I think she might have had some very bad experiences there or something cuz Ive never had a rat so scared before. Sad

But Im working very hard at getting her comfortable and Im *not* giving up!

Wed Jan 11, 2006 5:43 pm

Ooops, sorry little willow, I forgot to answer your question ... I thoroughly clean their cage once every 7-10 days, but I take a bit of soiled bedding out once a day and replace it with a patch of fresh, as they seem to have an easier time accepting this. I use carefresh, and a LOT of it. They've also got some chewed up blanket in their nest and some paper towels.

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Wed Jan 11, 2006 6:48 pm

Ah ok - that was the main thing, making sure that you weren't cleaning them out too frequently (which, in turn, can make them feel a bit anxious and also increase their peeing in the cage as they try to make it smell like them again!

So they refuse to take treats from you when you put them back at other times, not just after cleaning? If so, then it sounds like they're just rats that love to be out - as long as they're getting their hour a day (or more!) then they'll be ok.

Rats - they've perfected the art of guilt tripping!

Could you (possibly) put them into a temporary cage to keep them out of the room while you clean it out, then only let them out when the cage is done and back in it's normal place? Perhaps that might ease things a little too. Also, you don't say what you clean it with, but make sure it's something rat friendly and doesn't leave a lingering smell - even if it's mild to us, it can be unbearably strong to them.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sun Jan 15, 2006 12:18 am

They dont *normally* refuse treats when I put them back in their cages (they have on occaision). They have learned that when they go home they can expect treats, and they usually stand up and wait for me to give them, its so cute!

I clean their cages with warm water and a watered down vinegar solution now, it's possible I didnt rinse it out enough when I used the 409 the one time, but I really rinsed the heck out of it.

I could put them in another room while I clean the cage, then let them out when I put the cage back in it's origional location. You think they get upset abt the cage MOVING and not the cleaning? Its a possibility! I'll try that!

And Im not sure if this matters .. but they are only teenagers, so they havent really gotten used to the cage cleaning yet, so maybe as time goes on .. they'll learn that its nothing to get upset abt. I really appreciate everyones help, you guys rock Mr. Green

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