How to Keep a Pet Rat Clean

Rats try to keep themselves clean by bathing every day with their tongue, the way cats do and by allocating one area of the cage as the toilet area. Humans need to supplement their efforts by changing the cage bedding regularly and giving a soap-and-water bath when necessary.

Things You'll Need

• Fresh bedding for the rat's cage
• Household cleaning solution that contains bleach
• Scrub brush or sponge
• Paper towels
• Bathtub
• Warm water
• Shallow pans (cake pans work well)
• Baby shampoo
• Towel
• Hairdryer

Instructions

Cleaning a Cage

1. Remove the rat from the cage and put it somewhere safe where it will not escape while you are cleaning its cage. Also remove all objects from the cage, such as toys.

2. Dump out old bedding. You can either dump it into your household trash or you can put it into the compost if you do composting.

3. Clean the cage before adding new bedding. If you are using a glass aquarium, rinse and scrub with a household cleaner that contains bleach. Be sure to rinse thoroughly after scrubbing and dry the cage with paper towels. If your cage has a metal floor, you can still rinse and scrub it with cleaning solution, just be extra careful to dry it thoroughly so that it will not begin to rust.

4. Add fresh bedding material and put the house and toys back into the cage. If the house or any of the toys are dirty, replace them with fresh ones.

5. Put the rat back into the cage.

Bathing a Rat

1. Put two shallow pans into the bathtub. Use the tub instead of a sink because a frightened rat could slip out of your grip and plummet off the edge of the sink onto the floor. Put about two inches of warm water into these pans. The water should be warm, not hot. You can check the temperature of the water by sprinkling it on your wrist.

2. Place the rat in one of the pans. Get it wet all over, but do not immerse it and don't put water on its face.

3. Put a small dab of baby shampoo on the rat and massage it into the fur. Use your fingers to gently scrub the fur, working the shampoo down the the bottom layers of the fur. Don't shampoo the rat's face or ears. If a place on the rat's face really needs a bit of cleaning, take a cotton swab dipped in warm water very gently wipe the affected area while holding the rat's head still.

4. Transfer the rat to the other pan and rinse off the shampoo. Use a cup to pour water over the rat's back.

5. Lift the rat out of the water and put it on a towel. Massage the rat with the towel, dabbing off the extra water.

6. Use a hair dryer to complete the drying process. Keep the hairdryer at least a foot away from the rat. Do not point the hairdryer at its face. Use your fingers to ruffle the fur so that the bottom layers of fur get dry.

7. Give your rat a treat before putting it back in the cage. This will reassure your rat that bath time isn't all bad.

Tips & Warnings

• If, for some reason, you cannot give your rat a bath, your pet shop may sell something called "dry bath," which is a odor-absorbing powder you can put on the rat.

• Keep the hair dryer at least a foot away from your rat. Don't burn the poor little thing.