👍🏼 I gave up on fleece because my current girls are chewers. Also, I have a couple with respiratory sensitivity and fleece isn't great at wicking pee. What I've started doing that works really well is sewing together two layers of UHaul padding and then quilting. I zigzag the outer edges and straight-stitch the quilting in a grid pattern. This stops my girls from burrowing between the two layers. They can chew a hole, of course, but they don't chew as vigorously since they can't create comfy hiding spots. I've patched small holes, but these pads actually last quite a while even with my naughty chewers. The quilting seems to add weight and the pads stay in place better. Lastly, wash the UHaul blankets before making pads. They shrink a LOT.
You can sew a small piece of elastic across each corner so they will go underneath the corners of the pan to hold it in place (instead of binder clips). I havent tried it yet but I saw this idea somewhere online and thought it would work.
I sew mine all the way as long as they can flip it up they don’t chew it at all I might get a stray Poo in a corner , I can deal with that but I hate when they chew up the fleece lol mayb it’s just me. Very nice though especially with those kinda of trays , you genius you good on girl
Thank you! Yeah they like to chew fleece but I find if I do spot checks every other day or so and just kind of re order things they aren't as destructive
I want rats soon (or as soon as I can get them) and the main thing that I am struggling with figuring out is Bedding. I want fleece, but I know you need an absorbent layer and I have been asking on rat forums what moving blankets are safe and I have not gotten a clear answer. I have not watched the whole vid yet, but it looked like you already answered one of my questions which is can you cut the blanket? My next question is what ones are safe? The ones that I hear about and see people using are the safe one from the video the “ furniture pads” which are those safe? Can rats chew them? Also I was looking at amazon reviews of the same uhaul brand and one said they literally fell apart in their washer and dryer.... this sounds horrible to me since you obviously have to clean your liners a lot. If anyone has experience with these please share as I would love to hear it. And your experience with washing them and what are the best ones.
Good to know! Yeah it's interesting I've found that they tend to pee a lot/ they are stinky when they're younger for some reason, but get better as they get older
instead of leaving it open, could you just sew it closed and then throw them in the washer? Also, can you take the time to watch my rat videos? Thank you!
Yeah, I actually just washed them today! I guess I was thinking that leaving them unsewn would make it easier to wash because I could pull it out from the fleece like a pillowcase, but I have a feeling it could work either way just as well if it was sewn shut. Also sure, I’ll check out your vids ;)
I have no sewing experience so hopefully I can manage. Also, are they heavy? i have 1 layer of fleece cut to fit the inside of my pans and my girls always have them bunched up in the middle of their cage. I also don't really want to deal with the binder clips every week. So they should be heavy enough that they cant bunch them all up right?
They aren’t too heavy, no. I’ve always used binder clips but now I’m kind of getting tired of them as well (that is what i used to hold them down). Im currently looking for new ways to hold down my fleece. Also the fleece should be big enough to be able to go under the pans so that the weight of the pans will help hold it down (sorry I kind of forgot to mention that in the video, hope it isn’t too late). You could also put heavy things in the corners of the cage like a rock, litter box, etc. to help hold it down. After 14 rats in my lifetime I’m still on the quest to see what works best 😂 rats just have a knack for doing exactly what you don’t want them to do lol! Edit: also the u haul pads are definitely really absorbent, I’m impressed. I had the liners in for about a month, no smell. I’m thinking I will try to improve on what I’ve learned and someday make an update video as well. This has been somewhat of an experiment.
👍🏼 I gave up on fleece because my current girls are chewers. Also, I have a couple with respiratory sensitivity and fleece isn't great at wicking pee. What I've started doing that works really well is sewing together two layers of UHaul padding and then quilting. I zigzag the outer edges and straight-stitch the quilting in a grid pattern. This stops my girls from burrowing between the two layers. They can chew a hole, of course, but they don't chew as vigorously since they can't create comfy hiding spots. I've patched small holes, but these pads actually last quite a while even with my naughty chewers. The quilting seems to add weight and the pads stay in place better. Lastly, wash the UHaul blankets before making pads. They shrink a LOT.
Liked the video, watched it and then made one myself. Thanks for the tutorial!
You can sew a small piece of elastic across each corner so they will go underneath the corners of the pan to hold it in place (instead of binder clips). I havent tried it yet but I saw this idea somewhere online and thought it would work.
Would you wash the U-Haul first and also wick the fleece before making it?
What’s wicking fleece?
I sew mine all the way as long as they can flip it up they don’t chew it at all I might get a stray Poo in a corner , I can deal with that but I hate when they chew up the fleece lol mayb it’s just me. Very nice though especially with those kinda of trays , you genius you good on girl
Thank you! Yeah they like to chew fleece but I find if I do spot checks every other day or so and just kind of re order things they aren't as destructive
What sewing machine do you use that will sew through 3 layers ?
i see the cool bunk bed in the cage there!
Thanks! Yeah they are a little spoiled, it's okay :D
How many times can you reuse the uhaul pads?
Until it falls apart or rips.
I want rats soon (or as soon as I can get them) and the main thing that I am struggling with figuring out is Bedding. I want fleece, but I know you need an absorbent layer and I have been asking on rat forums what moving blankets are safe and I have not gotten a clear answer. I have not watched the whole vid yet, but it looked like you already answered one of my questions which is can you cut the blanket? My next question is what ones are safe? The ones that I hear about and see people using are the safe one from the video the “ furniture pads” which are those safe? Can rats chew them? Also I was looking at amazon reviews of the same uhaul brand and one said they literally fell apart in their washer and dryer.... this sounds horrible to me since you obviously have to clean your liners a lot. If anyone has experience with these please share as I would love to hear it. And your experience with washing them and what are the best ones.
The liner looks so good! How long did it take to make? I really want one for my bunnies!
I don’t know if rats pee a lot, but I use double UHaul for my guinea pigs. 😁
Good to know! Yeah it's interesting I've found that they tend to pee a lot/ they are stinky when they're younger for some reason, but get better as they get older
you have to use 2 for piggies in my opinion. They leak right through 1 in less than a day!
instead of leaving it open, could you just sew it closed and then throw them in the washer? Also, can you take the time to watch my rat videos? Thank you!
Yeah, I actually just washed them today! I guess I was thinking that leaving them unsewn would make it easier to wash because I could pull it out from the fleece like a pillowcase, but I have a feeling it could work either way just as well if it was sewn shut. Also sure, I’ll check out your vids ;)
I have no sewing experience so hopefully I can manage. Also, are they heavy? i have 1 layer of fleece cut to fit the inside of my pans and my girls always have them bunched up in the middle of their cage. I also don't really want to deal with the binder clips every week. So they should be heavy enough that they cant bunch them all up right?
They aren’t too heavy, no. I’ve always used binder clips but now I’m kind of getting tired of them as well (that is what i used to hold them down). Im currently looking for new ways to hold down my fleece. Also the fleece should be big enough to be able to go under the pans so that the weight of the pans will help hold it down (sorry I kind of forgot to mention that in the video, hope it isn’t too late). You could also put heavy things in the corners of the cage like a rock, litter box, etc. to help hold it down. After 14 rats in my lifetime I’m still on the quest to see what works best 😂 rats just have a knack for doing exactly what you don’t want them to do lol!
Edit: also the u haul pads are definitely really absorbent, I’m impressed. I had the liners in for about a month, no smell. I’m thinking I will try to improve on what I’ve learned and someday make an update video as well. This has been somewhat of an experiment.
That’s good that they’re heavy. Hopefully I can have someone sew some for me😂. They seem like they’re really helpful than just one layer like I have 😂
I’m using cat litter is that ok, it’s unscented yesterdays news paper litter
For the whole cage? Just make sure they don't eat it.
She said ham-mock 😂😂😭