Can you potty train a rat

Step 5: Rinse and Repeat Be sure to let us know! Copyright - RatCentral. Of course once your rats start using their litter tray this should be rewarded right?

Share 0. Rats are so dang smart. You can literally teach them basically anything you can teach a dog. Roll over, walk on their hind legs, shake hands, retrieve an object. But perhaps the most incredible trick of all is that rats can be potty trained.

How awesome is this? Yep, every corner. Your rats will naturally go potty in a corner. Skip to content Skip to footer. This scenario is more effective than allowing them to roam in a huge room with just a couple of litter boxes. Later, you can take away some of the boxes. In the beginning, place litter boxes on all floor surfaces upon which they may choose to urinate both inside and outside their cage. Compliment your rats every time you observe them using one of their litter boxes.

Rats often need to urinate right away as soon as you take them outside of their cage. This is especially true if you awaken them from a nap. In fact, most take to it instinctively. I have a new 4-month-old boy here who does all his toileting in the litter tray with no training at all.

Nonetheless, its worth a try. The first thing you need is one or more litter trays. How many depends on how big your cage is, and where your rats like to toilet.

Personally, I use a combination of small animal litter trays designed for cage corners and cheap plastic rectangular cat litter trays which cost a few dollars at the local supermarket. These are really useful in big cages, as by drilling holes in a few corners, they can be wired onto the cage and double as shelves.

The other thing needed is a suitable litter. This should be different from the substrate used on the cage floor and in digging boxes, as the rats need to associate it only with their toilet areas. It also needs to be:. If you already have rats, work out where they are toileting in their cage, and put the litter tray s there. If you are designing a set-up for future animals, then I find the best places to start are the back corners of the cage. Many rats will instinctively use a well-placed litter tray.

This helps the rats associate the litter tray with the smell of feces. Rats are usually quite clean animals and they have toilet areas in the wild, so they want to put all their poo in one place.