Litter Training Question...Odor comes back an hour later even =(

[CMurph3639]

I'm using Yesterday's News as their cage lining.  I need to litter train them, it's as simple as making sure whenever I see a poop in the cage, I scoop it up and put it in the litter box?  I was thinking of getting two of the corner attaching litter boxes with the closed covers and putting something like Carefree inside of the box.  Is that as simple as it is?

[holly238]

That's basically it. Put stray poop in the litter boxes, clean up pee that will never end up in the litter boxes....

But you might want to consider switching your current bedding and litter choices. Most people use the Carefresh for bedding and Yesterday's News as litter. I think the Yesterday's News works better as a litter personally, since I've use both as litter.

Good luck; my girls picked it up pretty quickly, but you do have to pick up A LOT of poop.

[CMurph3639]

The Carefresh gets all over.  They throw it in their food dish and their litter pan as well as just digging holes so there are just patches of solid bottom pan.  They also pull all the YN out of the boxes (probably mostly because they are too small).  I get the feeling these rats are meant for no training and once a week emptying of the bed pan of YN.  But I may just be pessimistic.

[CMurph3639]

I just cleaned the cage and just an hour later, I get wind of a very pungent rat poop smell.  An hour!  I don't think rats are the way to go more and more...

[firiel26]

That's really too bad.  I would be lost without my ratties.  I must be wierd because the poop smell doesn't even phase me anymore. 

[Lise]

What are you feeding your rats? 

[calicojenn]

we recently changed the litter in our litter box to swheat scoop, and it's the best thing we have used so far, our kids didn't like the corner boxes so i got them the smallest cat litter box they sell at walmart and they love it, they get in there and  dig around and do their business.

[italianqt]

I just cleaned the cage and just an hour later, I get wind of a very pungent rat poop smell.  An hour!  I don't think rats are the way to go more and more...

There are a lot of factors that can contribute to this (like the one Lise mentioned). Many of us have over 10 rats in our home without a problem with odor...

[Pink]

I have nine rats, and frankly, I've NEVER noticed a poop odor.  If I don't change the liners for awhile it will smell like urine, but never poop.  What are you feeding them?  Some HT should clear up that smell.

Pink

[Dearpie]

I wonder if it was just fresh poo that you are smelling.  The odor will go away fairly soon  ...

[CMurph3639]

A friend early on recommended Lab Lock to me?  It's Kaytee Forti-diet.  The cylindrical pellet stuff in the green bag.  http://www.amazon.com/Kaytee-Forti-Diet-Mouse-Rat-Food/dp/B0002565ZC

[CMurph3639]

I constantly notice it, my girlfriend does, friends who come in my room do.  It'll be there an hour or a week after I'm cleaning.  I try to wipe down with a baby wipe now once a day and clean out any poop not in the bedding.  Is it the food I'm giving them?  And it seems like a lot of people are expecting a subtle smell that dissipates.  This is a strong pungent smell that comes in waves.

[Dearpie]

Kaytee is not a recommended brand at all.   Contact either Kimsarkrescue.org or weecompanions.com to get some Harlan Teklad block.

[strangeduck]

If you can't order the Harlan Teklad online, Petsmart carries the Mazuri brand of lab blocks which is much better than Kaytee, though not quite as good as HT.  I would never feed my rats the Kaytee...you can also feed certain brands of senior dog food that have less than 20% protein.

[CMurph3639]

So a lot of this problem could be linked to their diets?

[Pink]

Yes, bad food can cause a lot of problems, beyond just health.  When I switched my cats from commercial to raw their waste was reduced to probably around a fifth of their previous levels, and no longer stunk at all.  When I switched the rats from Mazeri to HT their poops changed colors (and they magically started hitting the litter box more).

HT can be easily ordered from several members of this board, along with several other rescues.  I order mine from the crafty rat.  For me, even with shipping, the food is cheaper than the local crap blocks.

Pink

[italianqt]

So a lot of this problem could be linked to their diets?

Absolutely. Crappy ingredients equals...crappy poop? I can't think of a good way to phrase that. Heh.

[CMurph3639]

http://www.kimsarkrescue.org/content/view/35

What is the difference between the different block formulas?  Is it just preference between 24% and 18% or is 18% better for rats?

[italianqt]

18% is recommended for rats that are younger than 6 months or pregnant. 14% is recommended for rats over 6 months.

[KLS05]

As a new rattie owner, I wasn't too sure about litter training but my experience so far has been to be very consistent about daily cleaning.  Since I'm litter-training my girls, I bought a 99 cent box of those little sandwich baggies from the grocery and use those as "gloves" to pick up poop whenever I see it out of the litterbox.  Sometimes it's annoying but they are getting better about it and it's only been a week! 

I would also make two other suggestions from just my own experience.  I've tried a few different litter boxes (the kind you get at the petstore, the kind for ferrets, etc.) and quite simply, the one that they will use is a square Rubbermaid box that is big enough to fit them both.  My girls refused to use the corner litterpan and would poop around it, which made me realize it was too small.  Second suggestion, I would try to make your litter material very different from the bedding in their cage.  I tried to do Carefresh with YN in their litterpan and it wasn't different enough.  So, I decided to use the Carefresh (that they had been raised in as babies) as their litter bedding and fleece blankets for the cage.  Granted, this may not help so much with your odor issue but it may help speed up litter training.

[PirateCaptainLoo]

I've been trying to litter train the girls since I got them and it just hasn't worked. Poop doesn't bother me, though, so I just go through the cage everyday and pick it up. I've been changing the liners every other, though, so yeah. I already have a kitty box to clean, so it's just as well for me to clean up poo after the ratties consistantly lol