Is there a way to train fancy rats?

Question

I got mine at Petsmart on Saturday, a male rat. When I bring him out he crawls all over me, but he poops and pees on me! Is there way I can "potty train" him or something? Any info would be great. Thanks so much!

Answer 1

Please get your little boy a same s*x friend. Rats are highly social animals that live in big family groups in the wild, so it's really not fair to keep them alone.

Is he young? A lot of times young rats will go potty wherever, but as they get older they learn not to go outside of their cage. Just like puppies or human babies they aren't as good at controlling their potty habits.

Rats can be litter trained in the cage, yes, though it only really works for p**p.

Here's some information on litter training:

http://www.dapper.com.au/articles.htm#li...

http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/information/...

Edit: Forgot to answer the wheel question! A lot of rats won't run on wheels if they weren't introduced to them at a young age. There isn't much you can do to get him to use it really. If you get him a cagemate who is used to wheels he might catch on when seeing the other play in it, but that still isn't a guarantee.

Make sure any wheel you get is solid (Silent Spinners are great), since the wire ones can be very dangerous. If he won't run in a wheel, it's alright, he can get plenty of exercise running around during outside of cage time.