Choosing proper bedding is one of the most important, and contradicting parts of owning rats. Using the right bedding is very important for your rat's health because they have very sensitive respiratory systems. Choosing the right bedding is also important for enrichment purposes.
There is an extremely high number of myths and opinions being spread around regarding the best bedding's to use for rats. This is because uneducated people spread incorrect information to new owners, even owners that have had rats for years that just don't know any better, and then those people spread it and so on. Us breeders are trying our best to stop the spread of misinformation by providing correct information with up-to-date studies!
As stated above, bedding is super important to your rat's health and well-being. It is super important to use a bedding that absorbs ammonia. Ammonia is the number one cause of respiratory infections, myco flare ups and lung irritation/scaring. It is also very important for rats to have loose bedding to dig, burrow and forage in because these are natural behaviors of fossorial animals. Digging, burrowing and foraging are important to keep your rat entertained, busy and stimulated.
So what bedding's are recommended for rats? Wood bedding's! Kiln dried pine, kiln dried aspen and hemp! NEVER use cedar bedding, it is toxic to rodents!
Kiln dried pine, kiln dried aspen and hemp bedding's all naturally absorb ammonia and odor. This makes them the best bedding choices because they lower ammonia levels 10 times the amount other bedding's do!
Paper bedding's and fleece do not absorb any odor or ammonia. Using an absorbent layer underneath the fleece will not help control ammonia or odor. It will absorb the urine, so that it's not pooling up under the fleece, but it will just hold it there, still allowing the urine to break down and create ammonia.
Because of this we do notsupport the use of paper or fleece bedding's.
Litter Box Training!
Rats can be litter trained! Its usually pretty simple! Just put in a litter box, use a pellet type litter(Different from what is being used as the main bedding) and place all poops found around the cage in it. Rats are so smart they usually get the hint and catch onto it within a week! Sometimes using a "pee rock" will help. A pee rock is just a medium sized smooth rock(that has been properly sanitized) placed in the litter box. This is more common for male rats. Good litters to use are paper pellets(make sure there is no baking soda in them) or pine pellets. Do not use anything like cat litter!