How to Bathe to a Pet Rat

For the most part, rats tend to keep themselves pretty clean. Despite their reputation for being dirty, rats are very careful to bathe themselves several times a day (using their tongue like cats do). However, there may come a time when your rat may need a real bath. If your rat begins to look or smell like it needs a bath, or if your vet has recommended a medical shampoo, here is one way you can give your rat its bath.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Bathtub
• Warm water
• Two shallow pans (cake pans work nicely)
• Baby shampoo or kitten shampoo (or medical shampoo if your vet has prescribed one)
• Cup
• Towel
• Hair dryer

1. Use your bathtub instead of a sink. A sink is high up off the floor and your rat is likely to become scared at some point and try to get away from the bath. The rat will be in danger of scampering up the side of the sink and plummeting off the edge onto the floor. Wet rats are very hard to hold on to!
2. Put the two shallow pans into the bathtub and fill both of them with no more than two inches of warm water. Make sure the water is not too hot! Test the water by sprinkling it on your wrists. It should feel pleasantly warm, not hot. You will use one of these pans for washing and one for rinsing.
3. Put the rat into one of the pans very slowly, allowing it to get used to the temperature of the water. Wet the rat all over, but do not immerse it or put its head under. Don't worry too much about cleaning the head or face. Concentrate on the body, legs, and tail. (Don't be surprised if the rat poops in the water. This is a natural stress response. Just lift the pellets out of the water and proceed with the bath.)
4. Use a dab of baby shampoo or kitten shampoo (or medical shampoo if it has been prescribed by a vet). Massage the shampoo into the fur, making gentle scrubbing motions with your fingers. The rat may be squirming quite a bit--just be patient and try your best to get the shampoo into the fur and scrubbed around.
5. Transfer the rat to the other pan of water. Rinse the shampoo out of the fur. You may find it helpful to fill a cup with water and pour it over the rat's back.
6. Lift the rat out of the water and onto a towel. (The rat will probably like this step, as it can hide and burrow in the towel!) Massage the rat with the towel very gently, rubbing off extra water.
7. Use a hair dryer to finish the drying procedure. Keep the hair dryer at least a foot away from the rat and be careful not to blow directly at the eyes. Ruffle the hair while the dryer is blowing, to get the air down to the bottom layers of fur.
8. Hold your rat for a few minutes and give it a small treat before you put it back into its cage. This will reassure your rat that bath time isn't totally about rat torture!

Tips & Warnings

• If your rat's tail is excessively dirty, you can use a very soft toothbrush to gently clean it. Stroke the tail in one direction, starting at the rump and going back to the tip. The tail has little "one way" hairs going this direction.
• Be careful not to use water that is too hot! Always check the temperature of the water before putting it on your rat.