Veg Tanned

My 2 Female Rats Stink,?

Hi i have had my 2 girls now for about 6 months, I have noticed that there is a really bad smell coming from them and its really strong, I clean there cages out once a week,More depending on smell. they get pet store brought foods is well as fruits and veg’s,
Also they get bathed weekly, i have noticed that 1 of my girls who is black and white gets orange colour stains on her mostly on her lower back end,
Also the older one of the 2 who was completely white when i brought her but has now got a tan colour is sneezing and sounds snuffed up is this ok ?
Thank you for taking the time to read and help…

I clean my rat cages daily…I have litter trained mine so it is just a matter of emptying the litter box and putting fresh litter in…I ONLY use hammocks made from eg, old cotton Tshirts or handtowels for bedding and I use old coathanger wire to bend into hooks…I replace hammocks (2 to a cage) with fresh ones daily and put soiled ones in a bucket with lid and wash all in the machine once per week. I have a large terracotta tiled floor in the cage to help grind down their needle sharp claw points and I sweep and mop it over over daily. It takes about 10-15minutes daily to do everything including change water/food.

I give my cage a REALLY BIG CLEAN UP once a week…take everything out and completely wash everything.

I used to wash my rats weekly but found that one was getting that orange coloured stains. I thought it might have to do with upsetting the oil balance in their skin so I stopped bathing them so much and the fur has gone all nice and soft again. They dont smell more now either.

rats are fastidious groomers…more so that cats…and they have each other to help groom and keep themselves very clean.

toilet training is easy…old plastic lunch box without the lid and some natural litter…pick up every accident and put into litter box…dont clean for the first week then clean only half out twice a week (keeps the smell there)…rats are naturally clean animals and if taught to use a litter box they will choose to use it. Once they go in the litter box every time then clean it out every couple of days.

pee is a bit more difficult to train…I soak up pee with a little bit of tissue and drop it into the litter box…I do it EVERY TIME i see a pee (and pick up every poop into litter box)…rats are very intelligent and they will soon learn

mine used to be messier with their food until I got a plastic covered wired tray with edges and wired it into their cage to use as a feeding platform…the bowls cant fall off because of the edges and for some reason they dont spread their food everywhere like they used to…they platform is the HIGHEST level in their cage

my rats only smell if I’ve been lazy and not cleaned their habitat

good luck with it :>

PS: re respiratory infection…all rats are susceptible. DO NOT use any kind of wood shavings or paper items for bedding etc….it is very aggravating to rats lungs and can cause serious health problems…Urine makes any respiratory condition so much worse…hence you need to keep the habitat clean of urine…weekly cleaning is NOT enough. A vet is needed as your rat will probably require antibiotics as she sounds like she has an infection :>

Dansko Marah Honey Burnished Veg Tan