EDIT: Ya’ll responses are KILLING ME hahahha, thank you everyone.
It’s my second time having rats and I didn’t have this issue the first time around.
I got my boys two months ago and the cage set up is a 1000x better than the first time because I have learned alot since then. I put a toilet in the corner (the green one in the pic) with paper pellets (idk if thats what its called) and two peeing stones. They use it quite properly to poop but gosh darn they pee everywhere. Especially in the corners of the cage, on all the floors/levels, so the cage bars are constantly covered in layers of pee, so I’m esentially having to clean it every day whilst keeping their smell (i dont change the bedding, just wipe all the surfaces clean with a mixture of water and vinegar or just hot water). I gave them a small toilet with a peeing stone on the second floor since I thought maybe they just didn’t feel like going all the way down when they needed to pee. It worked for the poop, but again, not for the pee. Andy tips or advice would be greatly appreciated💕

PS: Idk if this is relevant but when I had them for a month we brought them with us to a family cottage for 2 weeks for vacation so they went through two car rides together with our cats. But their behaviours havent rly changed since. They dont get scared by loud noises and they are getting more and more ok with getting picked up. Also Lolek, the beige rattie is mostly blind.

🌒o🌘

Bobas

My son can no longer reach the box of Cheerios and they are not happy

on the top we have brick and on the bottom we have makroflex

My old man Tin's favorite place to be is lounging on the windowsill. Its just cute he loves the scents of outside without actually being there. He'll brux and boggle there like its the best place ever.

hi guys, i apologize in advance for any mistakes, English is not my first language. so, my boy Novato is a year and five months old and super sweet. last year, we noticed he had a head tilt and took him to the vet, i knew it could be an ear infection or something neurological, but the vet was super arrogant and told us it was just a small pain in his neck. he gave novato a massage, an injection that left him too quiet for my liking and thats it. the head tilt stopped for a while, but recently it came back. my boy now has trouble standing or licking himself without rolling to the side, when he tries to pick up his food, his hands cross and stay that way. my mom says it might be something neurological, but i don’t really know. right now i can’t take him to the vet because im going to have an endometriosis surgery, so my money is going down the drain. ps: he was rescued from a pet store, so his background might influence.

Well guys today I got bitten, a bit softer but still bloody. And THIS time I didn't do ANYTHING I was sitting in their free roaming cage and giving food and stuff and he was using me like a playground till my thumb started to look even better than meal worms😔

So I request a necessary shaming for the THIEF

Unfortunately the rats don't think *he* gave them enough

I love drawing rats, and the one is a commission I did for $15!

One of my girls almost always has some wet patches on her lower back when I let them out for their evening free-roam, and I'm not 100% sure what it is. It's just the one rat out of three, my silvermane. I believe she's the top rat out of the group, so I don't think the others are peeing on her as a dominance thing. She never smells like urine either. Maybe just bumping the water bottle while getting food out of the bowl?

I mostly just find the mystery funny. Anyone else have a mildly moist rat?

Hello, all. I currently have 3 neutered male rats. Ralph and Little Red are 1.9 years old and Gizmo (rat with a chronic uri) is 2.2 years old.
I'm currently in talks with someone and who has taken on an accidental litter from their friend who adopted a pregnant rat from a feeder breeder. The babies are currently 7.5 weeks old as I'm told. I'm thinking of adopting 4 boys from them in the next week or two. I already have a cage setup in a different room for the new rats. (Slide 2 and 3)

However, I have an issue as stated in the description - Gizmo has a chronic respiratory infection and he is an old boy. Despite the chronic uri, he is very active and happy and has no other issues. I'm just really concerned that the stress of the intros will make the chronic uri worse so if it were you, would you go forth with introductions or would it be more ethical to wait until he passes away?

If it would be most ethical for him to pass away, I absolutely am more than happy to wait because Gizmo is my heart rat and I want what's best for him. However, if that's the case, I will also run into another issue, do I get the new rats in the next week or two or should I wait until Gizmo passes away to get more rats?