I would just like to say something about the fleece, if anyone has fleece you should consider adding a dig box in their cage! It is a great way for your rat to still dig, without an entire floor of bedding :)
do not let comments get to you ever. no one has that kind of power over you except mum. thank you for this information, I am 52 and took to one of my daughters rats that had to be separated from the females after an accidental litter. he is a smart, yet somewhat shy and skittish little fella. I want him to be safe and happy. this video helps me out.
I seriously can’t put into words how grateful I am rn, you’ve been so so helpful when information is hard to find or verify online im really happy you didn’t let idiot’s rude comments keep you from posting this
i’m about to get a few female mice, your videos have helped me make sure that they will have an amazing life. thank you so much for everything you do!!
This came at a perfect time, I am currently trying to find the best option of bedding for me and my rats due to their allergies and my allergies and this is very helpful
Bedding has always been the thoughest thing to figure out with my rats. I am in North America so fleece is the norm. Lots of people also use corn cob (it's absorbant and dust free, so I would say fine for the litter boxes, but not something rats can dig through). I have used paper-based (expensive, and I got some really bad batches). Now I have bioactive at the bottom of the cage and I am loving it. In other parts of the cage I use hemp but my rats are a bit more sneezy on that so I will have to look for some dust free aspen.
I got a bad batch of hemp a month ago, I thought it was ok….. it wasn’t my poor baby rat got a respiratory infection after only having him for 2 weeks at one point I didn’t think he would make it he stopped eating and drinking but luckily he came around and has now made a full recovery after 3 vet trips :)
@@Emiology yeah, that was the exact make, I have now switched to hugro hemp as I don’t want to risk aubiose again and so far I’m very impressed it has basically no dust which is good x
I’ve been considering getting rats so I’ve been educating myself and I have to say, thank you so much for these videos! I was a bit scared of rats before but I’ve realized that they seem to be quite friendly and social
I've been using back 2 nature for the whole cage and wondering why they were still popping a little outised the tray, this was so helpful! I'll be changing their bedding! Thank you ❤️💙
My rats love having a large box filled with crinkle paper, they dig through that and make little nests in the bottom. I leave the top open in a spot and allow them to make their own exit holes, then replace the cardboard box after one or two cleans depending on how filthy it is. I switched from fleece bedding to woodchips recently and immediately there was both a respiratory and odor improvement. It's difficult to find without too much dust and in the amounts I need for my quadruple CN in the US though, I have to store it in plastic drawers so that I can shake the dust to the bottom before adding it in. Soon I'll be switching from larger aspen chips to less chunky kiln dried pine shred, it's much cheaper since I can get large bales from farming shops. Cheap hemp is impossible to find in the US, or I'd use that!
Thank you for this video, today my rats said bye to fleece, and hello to coco fiber as main bedding, and natural paper litter! Such a great video. I won’t be making it a bioactive, but I’ll be changing and cleaning the cocofiber often.
i got two rats today and i’ve been binging your videos for a couple months and they’ve helped so much :) i love my boys so much already and im so happy to have them !! thank you
you are literally the best. if I ever have a little question in the back of my mind I always come to your channel and find the answer🥰 thank you for saving so many rat / mice owners!!
I use bedmax, and back 2 nature in the litter tray! My rats are all from a good breeder and had bedmax in their old home so they’ve never had issues with it :)
All my boys from breeders came from breeders who use bed max! If I didn’t have rescues I’d be tempted to maybe try it again but they’re sneezy boys already 😬
I used both carefresh and plain organic soil for my mice. The soil was amazing as a main bedding! They loved how it held tunnels, it was not dusty and it had no smell.
Highly considering getting two male rats I’ve been doing research for a few months now this has been the most helpful channel. I am building a list to see the cost and I will be adopting a pair when the time comes so excited for the day!
@Pete Berbee I’ll do some further research but so far I’ve seen many with male rats. Seems they’re less active than females and are more “cuddly” which was one of the things I preferred. I’ll look into it further though
I just adopted two new babies and need to revamp and upgrade my rats cage by a lot. I'm using your videos as a starting point, and hopefully slowly but surely I'll make an amazing and enriching home for my boys.
I've been doing research pretty heavily for the last 6 to 8 months on caring for pet rats. I'm really starting to lean towards a bioactive cage setup. I know that it's one of the more complex cage setups out there, but I think that would be best for both my lifestyle and my future rat babies. Now to find the best pet safe soil/coco fibre and plants!
Just as a nesting material I LOVE using tissue paper, they can shred it super easy and its really cheap too. One of my girls actually discovered a sheet of tissue paper while our free roaming and I’ve been using it ever since.
I use kaytee clean and cozy and so far I’ve had no issues with dust or respiratory infections from my boys 😊 I use the back 2 nature stuff for their litter tray as well
Thank you for this! I have rats and mice, they both get a mix of aspen, hay, and paper bedding as their main bedding (my rats get 10 inches and my mice get about 6). This is my first group of rats ever and from my research most people recommended fleece in the US but I decided to make a deep base anyway. Turns out that my rats dig more than my mice! My mice all sleep on the surface and my rats almost always sleep in their burrows. I think deep bedding should be a necessity for rats like it is for mice personally, it’s just best to give them that option.
I've been thinking about going semi bioactive. My ratties currently have fleece with a decent size dig box made with untreated top soil and they adore it!🥰
I've tried quite a few different beddings. Never used carefresh since I've got a bad batch which was very very dusty. So I ended up using back 2 nature as litter in the litter tray and Aspen bedding as their main bedding it's very soft and absorbent.
When i got my first rats i used fleece for a bit but it was so much work i had to change it about every 4 days. They would just rip up the fleece and hide under it and i had a dig box in there but they just kept using it as a litter box so i took it out. Then i switched to paper bedding and is is SO much easier to clean. :)
I'd recommend at least trying to put a dig box in their cage as well for them so they can exhibit natural behaviours while you might not be there / while they're most awake :)
i started to use a chopped straw betting. its so soft and has no dust at all. i love it so much better than pink and so on. its also less messy!! and last a long time!
I got more for paper bass bedding but I also make sure that is not scented and I like paper-based bedding I never had a bad experience with them so that is a bedding I would go more for
thank you for your videos. i find it very helpful as i have trouble finding anything, i can understand , on the internet. i've never cared for any small animals but i've recently saved 3 mice and had no clue where to start.
When we were thinking about getting rats all of your videos were so helpful for us to have enrichment and modern ideas for rat keeping! We currently out the pressed wood pellets in litter boxes and as a layer in the bin at the bottom with Carefresh on top for them to dig and forage in. We get the pellets at the local feed store and it's very affordable. We have 6 girls from a reputable breeder. They're all super sweet. First three just turned one, second three are about 6 months old now. They're so fun! Thank you for all your videos!
I use a few different types of bedding/ materials in my rats cage, and enclosure. For the flat levels in the cage I use fleece, the very bottom gets carefresh, their liter boxes get yesterday’s news cat litter, they have a dig box filled with coco soil, a foraging box filled with meadow hay, and oat sprays, and a roll of toilet paper for them to play with. I love to spoil my baby bois ❤️✨🐀✨❤️
You use exactly everything I do I just finally ran out of my yesterdays new they discontinued it. I'm looking for something comparable in quality and the price. I loved it cause I could get huge bag that lasted forever. What are using in there litter now?
I personally swear by sophresh Aspen bedding, hemp is very expensive where I live but sophresh holds burrows very well and have low dust for being a wood bedding.
I'm assuming your in the US as I think sophresh is a us brand? Here in the UK aspen is extremely expensive for large amounts but hemp can be super cheap as it's a popular horse bedding.
@@C.Woodford sophresh I'm pretty certain is a US brand, it's like a knockoff carefresh with worse paper bedding (can't hold burrows to save it's life, I use it as a texture thing) but they have an amazing Aspen bedding, I can get a 140 liter bag for $10US which gives lots of bedding across all my 100gal(378 liter) tank
@@evie402 wow yeah that would cost like £30+ here... your so lucky you have access to good aspen. I use a mixture of aubiose hemp horse bedding, megazorb wood pulp horse bedding, kiln dried double dust extracted softwood shavings, meadow hay and if I can afford it that month either carefresh or kaytee but it gets expensive. I mix it all together and my hamster and gerbils love it it holds burrows so well when you compact it down. They also have different areas for digging in, my hamster currently has coco fibre, sand, carefresh and paper crinkles as well as the thin ashen shavings and my gerbils have sand, cardboard, carefresh and aspen shreds (the thin ones for reptiles)
great video as always! for my mice i use megazorb which i’ve heard mixed things on but for me it holds borrows and is quite absorbent so it’s works well for us, the only con is that when you first get it it has a certain smell but it fades after a while !
This was a really helpful video! I think I’m going to make a switch to paper based bedding now instead of fleece like I’ve been sticking to. One of my girls (mouse) eyes are starting to look irritated and wet I think this’ll benefit her lots.
Right now I have a male and a female rat two rats I want to get three because I have a big cage now I had one for not too long at the time because my kids with them big enough but it was pretty big but not for too so I decide to get two rats like you said I want to get three just in case one pass away because you never know what’s gonna happen I’m so excited and happy
Thank you for making this video! Apparently in my state there is an aspen shortage so I’m trying to find different safe beddings because I know pine not kiln dried and cedar are not safe 😩
I would like to say I am a huge advocate of this channel and solely only use emi's info and the information of reputable vets and vet techs for the care of my 5 mice; a vet tech of 16 years told me new scientific studies have shown that paper bedding does not absorb enough ammonia and was found to contain 44 parts per million of ammonia, the study was done with carefresh paper bedding and had to be canceled after two weeks due to the sheer volume of the ammonia content, a small amount is fine but it's highly recommended to mix it with kiln dried aspen or pine, aubiose hemp bedding or the horse bedding she recommended would be perfect! Hemp does not hold burrows so a mix of 60% hemp and 40% paper would be good for your critters, just make sure if you use paper you clean regularly!
I recently became the owner of a baby mouse and not knowing anything about mice, I started watching your channel. Despite feeding him since he was only a few days old, he's still very timid. I no longer feed him with milk and just leave some ground up muesli for him and water but I never see him eating.
I have a suggestion for room spray you can use in the room your rats and mice are in. I like to get a spray bottle and fill it up with water and add a few drops of almond extract. my mice love fleece but they really like paper based bedding its just the warmth or the fleece so i cut the fleece up into tiny pieces and mix it in with the paper based bedding and dollar store pompoms and paper shreds usually and they seem to really like it.
Hi love, I know this comment is old but pom poms should not be left in the cage unattended. You can however cut up strips of fleece and tie them together to make cage safe pom poms!
You've posted this at the perfect time! I'm hand rearing a wild mouse and need all the advice I can get on what's suitable for him! If you have a video on a good mix to feed mice that'd be great!
For someone that has had rats for 6 years and has watched all your vids plus some other rat creators, glass cages can cause issues with breathing for your rats and bad temperature control u shouldnt be useing glass / plastic cages, please let me know if im wrong, ik this is one of your old vids but i decided to rewatch the for my new rats. sorry if this sounds like a hate comment, it really isnt one but i love your channel but thats the one thing i have concerns with, lots of love xx
i've always used carefresh, but it is getting out of hand, 10eur for 10l and i need atleast 4 to fill up my cage so my babies can make burrows. i went online and for the first time ever, ordered 2 big bags: hay and hemp, hopefully i wasn't scammed because hemp bedding was 13eur for 60 LITRES. 60 LITRES FOR 13 EUROS. sorry got a lil excited, my mind is kind of blown away that it's that cheap, so, anyways, hopefully it's not gonna be dusty or anything, and thank you so much, Emi, i'm also planning on upgrading my 620sq inch terrarium to an IKEA Detolf! ^ ^
I have a cage is any better because it has bars and then it has a tray under our use some clause to put under the bar so their feet don’t hurt also it’s a true story and it’s pretty big bigger than I thought I’m working on getting more stuff for two
I also use fleece, but I put a washable puppy pad underneath it to help with the absorption of pee. If you have a critter nation cage (I have a double) then you can find ones on Amazon that are much cheaper than custom liners!
I was using tissue paper bedding all over the cage for my four little guys (they love making nest forts out of it.) but after watching this I’m going to switch to hemp and use paper as purely nesting instead.
im alergic to the hemp bedding too! makes my eyes swell up and go very dry and itchy. ive bought some aspen shavings, hope the rats like it just as much as they loved digging in the hemp! update! i got the aspen, though not very good. my boys started sneezing as soon as I put them in the cage :(
I've used littlemax with mine the whole time I have had them, using it in 3 rat cages (and also with my gerbils) and never had any issues with it. I did use hemp with the gerbils but found that was really dusty so never used it with the rats.
Naturally fresh cat litter is actually amazing for controlling odor, lower dust than wood shavings, 100% walnut shells, easy to dig and forage through... My rats, nice, and asf do great with it for over a year. My 2 hairless are sensitive to wood shavings..
ive been using an "eco bedding" thats basically like shredded cardboard for a while, i really like the sound of the hardwood shavings though (seems more economical as well). i might switch to that and just use the paper stuff for nesting/enrichment :)
Kiln dried pine is safe, but sometimes the kiln drying process fails. You can easily spot it due the smell, as it will smell extra fresh. The dustiness can be combatted at home. You can go outside and give it a few tosses in bigger bags. You can also leave the bedding out on the open to let it air out, it will help reduce any possible issues related to it.
I’m currently looking into switch my rats from fleece to loose substrate I would like to go either the hemp or aspen route, but I’m open to any suggestions, my problem is finding a good brand that is affordable and safe to use, as in not dusty absorbent and you know not going to cause any problems for my girls. Does anyone have any suggestions on good brands available in the U.S.?
I prefer aspen,I have never seen hemp or flax bedding but would love to try it. Lately I have had to use care fresh (or a similar bedding) and I don't prefer it because it doesn't keep the odor under control and gets dirty much faster. Most pet stores or grocery stores have cedar ☠ pine and paper, and sometimes aspen but it's been sold out lately.
I've been wanting a rat along with my twin we planned on getting them but then we started to moving houses and so its not the best choice to get them just yet so we are just waiting till we get a new house and move in but these videos help so I can make a note on what would be best for the rats
@@kooby122 Yes of course my twin was also gonna get a one not just me and I taking plenty of notes on rats just to be ready for when we can get them. :D
I use Carefresh, it's okay for my guys... and their shelter gets ripped up kitchen paper... I also throw in a lot of Belvita biscuit boxes, which they love... they'll sleep in the boxes, and when they are done, they'll tear the boxes up themselves and move them into the shelter.
I pretty much save you from the start since I typed in what to do and want to know before having a rat and that’s how I came across you I’ve been watching you ever since I typed in that ever since the newest video you made and the newest video before this one before this one and every new video and subscribe to you and I love
I’m thinking of getting rats someday (not now, i have enough pets) But I’ve been researching a ton before i get rats. i think that paper is the best bedding for rats and i don’t like wood chips because most of the wood chips are dangerous and unsafe for rats.
I used some old hoodies to make hammocks and wall pockets for my rats. They don't really chew on them and I switch them every week for clean ones. Is it okay to do that?
I’m jumping into research on rats and I know you mentioned a dig box, but for fabric bedding I heard that old sheets/tshirts work well and are absorbent. How about a set up with multiple floors and the upper floors having a more absorbent fabric and deep bedding on the bottom? I want to keep them happy but would also love to keep waste and cost down!
Coconut fibre mats also work pretty well for shelves and such. They are decently absorbent and don't smell too bad, can be washed and dried multiple times and the rats love shredding it up to make nests. The fibre planters also can be used as nests, hammocks, etc. Just make sure they are not chemically treated in any way. I would not recommend them as the main bedding though.
ik this video is old but any rat experts who see this my dad got me katey unscented paper bedding (like the bag shown in the video) is it fine if i use it just for a bit until it runs out then immediately switch
Hey, a possible, I haven't checked it out with rats before, cheaper alternative for paper based bedding for litter boxes maybe use this pellet bedding that is used for horse stalls. You're supposed to wet them inside the stall a little to fluff it up for their comfort but instead you could leave them as pellet form. The work basically the same and clumps up urine well. I can honestly say if it can handle a mares wee during her cycle I think it could handle the rats wee. I would say to not add directly from the bag as the bag itself can be dusty but the pellets themself don't seem to be.
i have mice and i have some pets at home bedding that my sister used for her hamster although it says pet sage and there’s no dust as a put it in but when i clean it it’s built up in the bottom yet i need to find an affordable bedding
Omg I'm going to cry! I wish I would have found your channel 3 months ago! Oh my God so I saved the mouse from being pet food and I have tried so many different cages and spent so much money, and then he got an eye infection and so then I kept trying different beddings, and I ended up having to take him to the vet to get eye drops and antibiotics for him and he's still sick, and he seems miserable. It's been a struggle to give him his medication so he's stressed out. We live in a ground floor condo so he's in my bedroom on a shelf. It's so hot all the time and dry, because I live in Canada. So now I think he also has ringtail syndrome. The vet told me to get a humidifier. Where do I put it? Anyways, I was told that the habitrail ovos would be the best types of cages to get for him so I have the loft and two of the other bubbles plus a crap load of tunnels and all the extra crap. I'm using this bedding called Uber which is similar to the care but not quite. The girl at the pet store told me that that paper would be the best for him. And now I'm looking at all these wood playgrounds to get him and they are sooooo expensive. Honestly for the amount of money that I have spent on the habitrail ovos I could have spent on a cage like yours! Now he's sick, scared, can't open one eye, and his life isn't enriching. Am I making him suffer with what I have? Great now I'm crying. My husband will freak out if i replace the entire thing, which btw this is all his fault. He has a pet snake and my mouse was subpost to snake food. The snake only ate one, and then he left out of town for work for a week and I had a mouse in my bathtub. Naturally I couldn't leave him there and then I feel in love with his cuteness and now he's my little buddy. I spend so much time cleaning his cage, making sure he has everything and for the last 3 weeks tryibg to figure out what's making him sick. He's been to the vets twice now. I don't know what to do. I don't want him to suffer. The internet is useless, and I keep getting conflicting answers on all my questions from pet store people and even the vet.
Many people say that Yesterday's News is a good bedding for the litter tray. It's a 100% recycled paper based cat litter that's basically the same as back2nature except cheaper because it's for cats. I've heard that it's great for odor control and you can get big bags really cheaply. Of course the normal cat litters aren't okay though :)
hey since ur in the uk u need to to pets at home they finally have a big enough wheel for rats and when i say its big enough its definitely big enough u really need to go check it out!
It’s disgusting how unsafe beddings are still allowed to be sold
Manufacturers just don’t care and want money which makes it more disgusting
It is but clean when its dirty
@@Karla-rb5jg same thing with reptile products.
Right? Manufacturers just don't seem to care at all. :(
Yah
I would just like to say something about the fleece, if anyone has fleece you should consider adding a dig box in their cage! It is a great way for your rat to still dig, without an entire floor of bedding :)
I mention that in the video! ☺️
@@Emiology oh sorry! I guess I missed it while I was typing 😅
I have a dig box for my girls and they love it😅
3:32
agreed!!! even if you have a deep pan for bedding, adding a nice deep bin they can dig in is *chefs kiss*
do not let comments get to you ever. no one has that kind of power over you except mum. thank you for this information, I am 52 and took to one of my daughters rats that had to be separated from the females after an accidental litter. he is a smart, yet somewhat shy and skittish little fella. I want him to be safe and happy. this video helps me out.
I love coconut fibre. It’s easy to store a few packs, and can go in the garden when used 🙂
Do you use coco fiber in your whole enclosure or just dig box?
Do you wash it / rinse it before putting it in the cage?
@@goblinleaf I use coco in the dig box. The first time you need to add water, so I guess it gets a wash!
I know I'm late but where do you buy it? I see some from petco/petsmart but I don't know if its the right one.
@@goblinleaf when i used coco fiber for my other pets i used boiling water to sorta sterilize it :)
I seriously can’t put into words how grateful I am rn, you’ve been so so helpful when information is hard to find or verify online im really happy you didn’t let idiot’s rude comments keep you from posting this
i’m about to get a few female mice, your videos have helped me make sure that they will have an amazing life. thank you so much for everything you do!!
i got 4 female mice yesterday from the blue cross! her videos have definitely helped me prepare.
This came at a perfect time, I am currently trying to find the best option of bedding for me and my rats due to their allergies and my allergies and this is very helpful
The brown (natural) Kaytee clean and cozy isn't very dusty in my experience! Neither is the Niteangel Aspen shavings.
My rat saddle pass away last night I thank u for all of the advice that has helped me
I’m sorry. My rat honey passed the other day
@@madi12902 thanks
@@madi12902 aww sorry about ur rat
Bedding has always been the thoughest thing to figure out with my rats. I am in North America so fleece is the norm. Lots of people also use corn cob (it's absorbant and dust free, so I would say fine for the litter boxes, but not something rats can dig through). I have used paper-based (expensive, and I got some really bad batches). Now I have bioactive at the bottom of the cage and I am loving it. In other parts of the cage I use hemp but my rats are a bit more sneezy on that so I will have to look for some dust free aspen.
i want rats since 2018 but my living situation doesn't allow me to so i am really living that dream through you and your cute boys
I got a bad batch of hemp a month ago, I thought it was ok….. it wasn’t my poor baby rat got a respiratory infection after only having him for 2 weeks at one point I didn’t think he would make it he stopped eating and drinking but luckily he came around and has now made a full recovery after 3 vet trips :)
That's so frustrating! I don't know what's happened with the aubiose this past year but it's had some really bad quality control
@@Emiology yeah, that was the exact make, I have now switched to hugro hemp as I don’t want to risk aubiose again and so far I’m very impressed it has basically no dust which is good x
Why are all of Emi's videos so relaxing?? 💕
I agree❤
I’ve been considering getting rats so I’ve been educating myself and I have to say, thank you so much for these videos! I was a bit scared of rats before but I’ve realized that they seem to be quite friendly and social
Yess! Kaytee Clean and Cozy EXTREME odour control (grey and white paper mix) is amazing!! 🤩
It's very relaxing sitting at my desk, watching Emi's videos with some iced coffee and pocky. (while doing online school)
I've been using back 2 nature for the whole cage and wondering why they were still popping a little outised the tray, this was so helpful! I'll be changing their bedding! Thank you ❤️💙
My rats love having a large box filled with crinkle paper, they dig through that and make little nests in the bottom. I leave the top open in a spot and allow them to make their own exit holes, then replace the cardboard box after one or two cleans depending on how filthy it is.
I switched from fleece bedding to woodchips recently and immediately there was both a respiratory and odor improvement. It's difficult to find without too much dust and in the amounts I need for my quadruple CN in the US though, I have to store it in plastic drawers so that I can shake the dust to the bottom before adding it in. Soon I'll be switching from larger aspen chips to less chunky kiln dried pine shred, it's much cheaper since I can get large bales from farming shops. Cheap hemp is impossible to find in the US, or I'd use that!
A mix of bedmax and cute n cozy have been fine. And 2 of my rescue girls make massive tunnels.
Thank you for this video, today my rats said bye to fleece, and hello to coco fiber as main bedding, and natural paper litter! Such a great video. I won’t be making it a bioactive, but I’ll be changing and cleaning the cocofiber often.
I’m getting a two rats in 12 days! I’ve been watching your channel for 4 days now trying to learn stuff thank you
i got two rats today and i’ve been binging your videos for a couple months and they’ve helped so much :) i love my boys so much already and im so happy to have them !! thank you
you are literally the best. if I ever have a little question in the back of my mind I always come to your channel and find the answer🥰 thank you for saving so many rat / mice owners!!
I use bedmax, and back 2 nature in the litter tray! My rats are all from a good breeder and had bedmax in their old home so they’ve never had issues with it :)
All my boys from breeders came from breeders who use bed max! If I didn’t have rescues I’d be tempted to maybe try it again but they’re sneezy boys already 😬
I used both carefresh and plain organic soil for my mice.
The soil was amazing as a main bedding! They loved how it held tunnels, it was not dusty and it had no smell.
Highly considering getting two male rats I’ve been doing research for a few months now this has been the most helpful channel. I am building a list to see the cost and I will be adopting a pair when the time comes so excited for the day!
@Pete Berbee I’ll do some further research but so far I’ve seen many with male rats. Seems they’re less active than females and are more “cuddly” which was one of the things I preferred. I’ll look into it further though
I just adopted two new babies and need to revamp and upgrade my rats cage by a lot. I'm using your videos as a starting point, and hopefully slowly but surely I'll make an amazing and enriching home for my boys.
I have unfortunately discovered that hemp bedding is damn near impossible to find locally or on Amazon Canada. I guess Aspen will have to do.
I've been doing research pretty heavily for the last 6 to 8 months on caring for pet rats. I'm really starting to lean towards a bioactive cage setup. I know that it's one of the more complex cage setups out there, but I think that would be best for both my lifestyle and my future rat babies. Now to find the best pet safe soil/coco fibre and plants!
Just as a nesting material I LOVE using tissue paper, they can shred it super easy and its really cheap too. One of my girls actually discovered a sheet of tissue paper while our free roaming and I’ve been using it ever since.
Ive used shredded paper for my mice and they were happy and healthy, lived 2.3 years and my other is 2.5 years old! They love it
We used fleece in the beginning as the car had wired floors and wanted to cover it but it was so smellyyyy, so glad we moved to paper then to hemp :)
So would you say hemp is equivalent to 'aspen' in terms of odour neutralising? I'm scared now that most aspen can be dust 😑😫
I use kaytee clean and cozy and so far I’ve had no issues with dust or respiratory infections from my boys 😊 I use the back 2 nature stuff for their litter tray as well
STOP
@@rosestopanimaltesting why?
I like using shredded hemp or linen. Its very absorbing. Outside the cage they have a crdboard and a cocosubstrate dig box
Thank you for this! I have rats and mice, they both get a mix of aspen, hay, and paper bedding as their main bedding (my rats get 10 inches and my mice get about 6). This is my first group of rats ever and from my research most people recommended fleece in the US but I decided to make a deep base anyway. Turns out that my rats dig more than my mice! My mice all sleep on the surface and my rats almost always sleep in their burrows. I think deep bedding should be a necessity for rats like it is for mice personally, it’s just best to give them that option.
i switched from fleece to yesterdays news cat litter, so much better 💕
Thanks
Thank you! 😊
Emiology your rats & mice are so cute and very smart!! I love to see them use their little hands!!
Your videos are so helpful. Thankyou so much for making them!
I've been thinking about going semi bioactive. My ratties currently have fleece with a decent size dig box made with untreated top soil and they adore it!🥰
I've tried quite a few different beddings. Never used carefresh since I've got a bad batch which was very very dusty. So I ended up using back 2 nature as litter in the litter tray and Aspen bedding as their main bedding it's very soft and absorbent.
When i got my first rats i used fleece for a bit but it was so much work i had to change it about every 4 days. They would just rip up the fleece and hide under it and i had a dig box in there but they just kept using it as a litter box so i took it out. Then i switched to paper bedding and is is SO much easier to clean. :)
I personally use fleece bc it’s a cheaper alternative but they have a dig box they can use during their playtime.
Same!
I'd recommend at least trying to put a dig box in their cage as well for them so they can exhibit natural behaviours while you might not be there / while they're most awake :)
@@Emiology working on that!
i started to use a chopped straw betting. its so soft and has no dust at all. i love it so much better than pink and so on. its also less messy!! and last a long time!
I got more for paper bass bedding but I also make sure that is not scented and I like paper-based bedding I never had a bad experience with them so that is a bedding I would go more for
thank you for your videos. i find it very helpful as i have trouble finding anything, i can understand , on the internet. i've never cared for any small animals but i've recently saved 3 mice and had no clue where to start.
Thanks for the advices ! I used corn bedding and linen litter (no dust) and my little ones were very happy.
When we were thinking about getting rats all of your videos were so helpful for us to have enrichment and modern ideas for rat keeping! We currently out the pressed wood pellets in litter boxes and as a layer in the bin at the bottom with Carefresh on top for them to dig and forage in. We get the pellets at the local feed store and it's very affordable.
We have 6 girls from a reputable breeder. They're all super sweet. First three just turned one, second three are about 6 months old now. They're so fun! Thank you for all your videos!
I use a few different types of bedding/ materials in my rats cage, and enclosure. For the flat levels in the cage I use fleece, the very bottom gets carefresh, their liter boxes get yesterday’s news cat litter, they have a dig box filled with coco soil, a foraging box filled with meadow hay, and oat sprays, and a roll of toilet paper for them to play with. I love to spoil my baby bois ❤️✨🐀✨❤️
You use exactly everything I do I just finally ran out of my yesterdays new they discontinued it. I'm looking for something comparable in quality and the price. I loved it cause I could get huge bag that lasted forever. What are using in there litter now?
I personally swear by sophresh Aspen bedding, hemp is very expensive where I live but sophresh holds burrows very well and have low dust for being a wood bedding.
That’s interesting aspen seems to be expensive and hard to get unless it’s in small bags for reptiles here 😣
I'm assuming your in the US as I think sophresh is a us brand? Here in the UK aspen is extremely expensive for large amounts but hemp can be super cheap as it's a popular horse bedding.
I can't find a decent sized bag of hemp at all here much less a decently priced one 😭
@@C.Woodford sophresh I'm pretty certain is a US brand, it's like a knockoff carefresh with worse paper bedding (can't hold burrows to save it's life, I use it as a texture thing) but they have an amazing Aspen bedding, I can get a 140 liter bag for $10US which gives lots of bedding across all my 100gal(378 liter) tank
@@evie402 wow yeah that would cost like £30+ here... your so lucky you have access to good aspen. I use a mixture of aubiose hemp horse bedding, megazorb wood pulp horse bedding, kiln dried double dust extracted softwood shavings, meadow hay and if I can afford it that month either carefresh or kaytee but it gets expensive. I mix it all together and my hamster and gerbils love it it holds burrows so well when you compact it down. They also have different areas for digging in, my hamster currently has coco fibre, sand, carefresh and paper crinkles as well as the thin ashen shavings and my gerbils have sand, cardboard, carefresh and aspen shreds (the thin ones for reptiles)
great video as always! for my mice i use megazorb which i’ve heard mixed things on but for me it holds borrows and is quite absorbent so it’s works well for us, the only con is that when you first get it it has a certain smell but it fades after a while !
I've always wanted to try it but I've heard a lot about the smell which has put me off trying it!
This was a really helpful video! I think I’m going to make a switch to paper based bedding now instead of fleece like I’ve been sticking to. One of my girls (mouse) eyes are starting to look irritated and wet I think this’ll benefit her lots.
Thank you for this! Choosing rat bedding that my rats and I both like has been the biggest struggle
My ginger kitty loves watching you 🤗
Right now I have a male and a female rat two rats I want to get three because I have a big cage now I had one for not too long at the time because my kids with them big enough but it was pretty big but not for too so I decide to get two rats like you said I want to get three just in case one pass away because you never know what’s gonna happen I’m so excited and happy
Thank you for making this video! Apparently in my state there is an aspen shortage so I’m trying to find different safe beddings because I know pine not kiln dried and cedar are not safe 😩
Your videos are amazing and I always learn so much
I would like to say I am a huge advocate of this channel and solely only use emi's info and the information of reputable vets and vet techs for the care of my 5 mice; a vet tech of 16 years told me new scientific studies have shown that paper bedding does not absorb enough ammonia and was found to contain 44 parts per million of ammonia, the study was done with carefresh paper bedding and had to be canceled after two weeks due to the sheer volume of the ammonia content, a small amount is fine but it's highly recommended to mix it with kiln dried aspen or pine, aubiose hemp bedding or the horse bedding she recommended would be perfect! Hemp does not hold burrows so a mix of 60% hemp and 40% paper would be good for your critters, just make sure if you use paper you clean regularly!
I recently became the owner of a baby mouse and not knowing anything about mice, I started watching your channel.
Despite feeding him since he was only a few days old, he's still very timid. I no longer feed him with milk and just leave some ground up muesli for him and water but I never see him eating.
I have a suggestion for room spray you can use in the room your rats and mice are in. I like to get a spray bottle and fill it up with water and add a few drops of almond extract. my mice love fleece but they really like paper based bedding its just the warmth or the fleece so i cut the fleece up into tiny pieces and mix it in with the paper based bedding and dollar store pompoms and paper shreds usually and they seem to really like it.
Hi love, I know this comment is old but pom poms should not be left in the cage unattended. You can however cut up strips of fleece and tie them together to make cage safe pom poms!
You've posted this at the perfect time! I'm hand rearing a wild mouse and need all the advice I can get on what's suitable for him! If you have a video on a good mix to feed mice that'd be great!
For someone that has had rats for 6 years and has watched all your vids plus some other rat creators, glass cages can cause issues with breathing for your rats and bad temperature control u shouldnt be useing glass / plastic cages, please let me know if im wrong, ik this is one of your old vids but i decided to rewatch the for my new rats. sorry if this sounds like a hate comment, it really isnt one but i love your channel but thats the one thing i have concerns with, lots of love xx
I’ve never used a glass cage with my rats 😊 you could point me to which part of the video you’re concerned about?
I’m just getting mice and the main bedding isn’t enriching on it’s own but I plan to mix it with a different one and also include a dig box
i've always used carefresh, but it is getting out of hand, 10eur for 10l and i need atleast 4 to fill up my cage so my babies can make burrows. i went online and for the first time ever, ordered 2 big bags: hay and hemp, hopefully i wasn't scammed because hemp bedding was 13eur for 60 LITRES. 60 LITRES FOR 13 EUROS. sorry got a lil excited, my mind is kind of blown away that it's that cheap, so, anyways, hopefully it's not gonna be dusty or anything, and thank you so much, Emi, i'm also planning on upgrading my 620sq inch terrarium to an IKEA Detolf! ^ ^
Can you do a mice diet vid
what about fleece cut up into strips? I planned on using that as re-usable bedding to save money.
after watching this video I'm relieved that the bedding I'm using is safe ngl as I was very paranoid. Thank you. 👍
i agree…i always used fleece before and it stunk so bad + they completely ripped it up so i would have to change it every few days. not worth it
Very informative 👍🏼 helpful for choosing hamster bedding to 🐹
I have a cage is any better because it has bars and then it has a tray under our use some clause to put under the bar so their feet don’t hurt also it’s a true story and it’s pretty big bigger than I thought I’m working on getting more stuff for two
I have care fresh for my mouse and a few soil dig boxes around with soil in :)
I use fleece in my rats cage (Winnie, Cypress, & Dumbo) I just find it easier. They do get a dig box though
A lot of people do find it easier, and I can definitely see why
I also use fleece, but I put a washable puppy pad underneath it to help with the absorption of pee. If you have a critter nation cage (I have a double) then you can find ones on Amazon that are much cheaper than custom liners!
@@cherryc6777 I use puppy pads as well
@velialvia yeah
Unrelated but my hamster is called winnie 😂
My mice personally do not burrow. But they do love their dig box. I use purely paper bedding. But I do plan to add Aspen bedding as well
I was using tissue paper bedding all over the cage for my four little guys (they love making nest forts out of it.) but after watching this I’m going to switch to hemp and use paper as purely nesting instead.
im alergic to the hemp bedding too! makes my eyes swell up and go very dry and itchy. ive bought some aspen shavings, hope the rats like it just as much as they loved digging in the hemp!
update! i got the aspen, though not very good. my boys started sneezing as soon as I put them in the cage :(
I have to mask up every time I clean them out to stop myself from dying lol
Lol weed bedding
I've used littlemax with mine the whole time I have had them, using it in 3 rat cages (and also with my gerbils) and never had any issues with it. I did use hemp with the gerbils but found that was really dusty so never used it with the rats.
F the haters!!!! Thank you for your knowledge!!!!!
Naturally fresh cat litter is actually amazing for controlling odor, lower dust than wood shavings, 100% walnut shells, easy to dig and forage through... My rats, nice, and asf do great with it for over a year. My 2 hairless are sensitive to wood shavings..
ive been using an "eco bedding" thats basically like shredded cardboard for a while, i really like the sound of the hardwood shavings though (seems more economical as well). i might switch to that and just use the paper stuff for nesting/enrichment :)
I like my eco bedding, I mix it in with shavings and it works well like that to hold the structure better
Kiln dried pine is safe, but sometimes the kiln drying process fails. You can easily spot it due the smell, as it will smell extra fresh. The dustiness can be combatted at home. You can go outside and give it a few tosses in bigger bags. You can also leave the bedding out on the open to let it air out, it will help reduce any possible issues related to it.
I wish I could use hemp with my boys, they loved it! Sadly I found out I’m allergic so I can’t anymore.
It seems to be quite a common allergy!
@@Emiology really? I’ve never actually heard of anyone else having it! I give them safe and suitable bedding still it’s just way more expensive.
Also note that UK newspapers use plant based ink so are safe to use for nest bedding!
I’m currently looking into switch my rats from fleece to loose substrate I would like to go either the hemp or aspen route, but I’m open to any suggestions, my problem is finding a good brand that is affordable and safe to use, as in not dusty absorbent and you know not going to cause any problems for my girls. Does anyone have any suggestions on good brands available in the U.S.?
I prefer aspen,I have never seen hemp or flax bedding but would love to try it. Lately I have had to use care fresh (or a similar bedding) and I don't prefer it because it doesn't keep the odor under control and gets dirty much faster. Most pet stores or grocery stores have cedar ☠ pine and paper, and sometimes aspen but it's been sold out lately.
I've been wanting a rat along with my twin we planned on getting them but then we started to moving houses and so its not the best choice to get them just yet so we are just waiting till we get a new house and move in but these videos help so I can make a note on what would be best for the rats
Make sure to get more than one and do your research :)
@@kooby122 Yes of course my twin was also gonna get a one not just me and I taking plenty of notes on rats just to be ready for when we can get them. :D
I use Carefresh, it's okay for my guys... and their shelter gets ripped up kitchen paper... I also throw in a lot of Belvita biscuit boxes, which they love... they'll sleep in the boxes, and when they are done, they'll tear the boxes up themselves and move them into the shelter.
I pretty much save you from the start since I typed in what to do and want to know before having a rat and that’s how I came across you I’ve been watching you ever since I typed in that ever since the newest video you made and the newest video before this one before this one and every new video and subscribe to you and I love
Can you just use the soft tissue paper bedding for the entire base for mice with hay added or do I need to fill out the base with hemp? Thank you ☺️
I’m thinking of getting rats someday (not now, i have enough pets)
But I’ve been researching a ton before i get rats.
i think that paper is the best bedding for rats and i don’t like wood chips because most of the wood chips are dangerous and unsafe for rats.
I use fleece but I have the whole bottom floor as a dig box which substrate changes regularly (still looking for the best for them)
I used some old hoodies to make hammocks and wall pockets for my rats. They don't really chew on them and I switch them every week for clean ones. Is it okay to do that?
I’m jumping into research on rats and I know you mentioned a dig box, but for fabric bedding I heard that old sheets/tshirts work well and are absorbent. How about a set up with multiple floors and the upper floors having a more absorbent fabric and deep bedding on the bottom? I want to keep them happy but would also love to keep waste and cost down!
Coconut fibre mats also work pretty well for shelves and such. They are decently absorbent and don't smell too bad, can be washed and dried multiple times and the rats love shredding it up to make nests. The fibre planters also can be used as nests, hammocks, etc. Just make sure they are not chemically treated in any way. I would not recommend them as the main bedding though.
ik this video is old but any rat experts who see this my dad got me katey unscented paper bedding (like the bag shown in the video) is it fine if i use it just for a bit until it runs out then immediately switch
Idk if it’s true if carefresh is dustier that other country’s bc I don’t find any dust in mine :)
Hey, a possible, I haven't checked it out with rats before, cheaper alternative for paper based bedding for litter boxes maybe use this pellet bedding that is used for horse stalls. You're supposed to wet them inside the stall a little to fluff it up for their comfort but instead you could leave them as pellet form. The work basically the same and clumps up urine well. I can honestly say if it can handle a mares wee during her cycle I think it could handle the rats wee. I would say to not add directly from the bag as the bag itself can be dusty but the pellets themself don't seem to be.
i have mice and i have some pets at home bedding that my sister used for her hamster although it says pet sage and there’s no dust as a put it in but when i clean it it’s built up in the bottom yet i need to find an affordable bedding
although they seem very happy to dig in this and make little burrows under there toys and stuff
Omg I'm going to cry! I wish I would have found your channel 3 months ago!
Oh my God so I saved the mouse from being pet food and I have tried so many different cages and spent so much money, and then he got an eye infection and so then I kept trying different beddings, and I ended up having to take him to the vet to get eye drops and antibiotics for him and he's still sick, and he seems miserable. It's been a struggle to give him his medication so he's stressed out. We live in a ground floor condo so he's in my bedroom on a shelf. It's so hot all the time and dry, because I live in Canada. So now I think he also has ringtail syndrome. The vet told me to get a humidifier. Where do I put it? Anyways, I was told that the habitrail ovos would be the best types of cages to get for him so I have the loft and two of the other bubbles plus a crap load of tunnels and all the extra crap. I'm using this bedding called Uber which is similar to the care but not quite. The girl at the pet store told me that that paper would be the best for him. And now I'm looking at all these wood playgrounds to get him and they are sooooo expensive. Honestly for the amount of money that I have spent on the habitrail ovos I could have spent on a cage like yours!
Now he's sick, scared, can't open one eye, and his life isn't enriching. Am I making him suffer with what I have?
Great now I'm crying.
My husband will freak out if i replace the entire thing, which btw this is all his fault. He has a pet snake and my mouse was subpost to snake food. The snake only ate one, and then he left out of town for work for a week and I had a mouse in my bathtub. Naturally I couldn't leave him there and then I feel in love with his cuteness and now he's my little buddy. I spend so much time cleaning his cage, making sure he has everything and for the last 3 weeks tryibg to figure out what's making him sick. He's been to the vets twice now. I don't know what to do. I don't want him to suffer. The internet is useless, and I keep getting conflicting answers on all my questions from pet store people and even the vet.
Many people say that Yesterday's News is a good bedding for the litter tray. It's a 100% recycled paper based cat litter that's basically the same as back2nature except cheaper because it's for cats. I've heard that it's great for odor control and you can get big bags really cheaply. Of course the normal cat litters aren't okay though :)
Im doing an assessment on an animal of choice i chose fancy rats and im using ur videos and shadow the rats videos for research:)
hey since ur in the uk u need to to pets at home they finally have a big enough wheel for rats and when i say its big enough its definitely big enough u really need to go check it out!
my mice have pine shavings and are having repertory issues so i'm trying to find alternatives