5 Things That Rats Absolutely Hate (That You Might Do!)

Rats are lovers. There are not many things that they do not like. However, there are a few things to take note of that rats hate. Some of the things that rats hate are quite common scents, smells, and behaviors. Rat owners are often unaware of the fact that their rats are annoyed by these scents, smells and behaviors. In this video, we're taking a closer look at 5 things that rats can't stand so that you can avoid making these mistakes!

[greylizard]

It's their pee that builds up and creates ammonia. The ammonia from their pee actually eats away at their respiratory system as they breathe it in, as well as dust from poorly chosen bedding. If a rat sneezes a lot and has a ton of red dried mucus around their nose and eyes, that's a bad sign that their respiratory systems are in poor condition. It's very important to keep their bedding and cage clean and washed, I would use a mild dish soap in warm water for my rats cages, something gentle with as little fragrance as possible.

One of my pet peeves is when people let their rats get overweight. I knew someone who let theirs get morbidly obese by feeding them stuff like ice cream and potato chips on a regular basis, the rats couldn't even clean themselves or get around their cage and had to be very gently bathed in a tub every couple of days and the poor things had sores on their bellies. The person they belonged to had cancer and wanted to spoil their rats and make their rats as happy as possible before they died, but at that point of animal obesity, it should be considered abuse. I was a kid seeing that and it made me realize how important it is for all animals to have a healthy diet and the ability to exercise regularly. It's never cute or funny to me to see a fat animal.

[Lulu-xlcm]

Forcing a rat to cuddle with you. Rats all are unique, they have their own personality, just like we do. Some rats love to cuddle and spend time with their human, but some hate it. In which case, don't force your affection on the rat, let them come to you when they feel ok with a few pets and touches.

[zoiker]

So, to get rid of rats I just gotta blast some tunes and make my house smell like vinegar, got it ty

[marmar]

As most of my rats were in the '80s and '90s, I sure wish they'd known about the dangers of cedar and pine bedding at that time. Sadly, even a pet rat care book that we bought when I got my first rat recommended fragrant cedar "shavings" for bedding, so that was what my mother always got for our ratties. Many of them eventually developed respiratory illness that was fatal, and I'm sure that cedar bedding played a major role. It makes me so sad now to think that our sweet boys were harmed because of our ignorance! (But to be fair, nobody really knew the danger back then.)

[kelseymathias]

Thank you for this information. My 2 rats back i the 60s had pine shavings in their cage. Had no idea then that was not a good choice. They lived just over 2 years. I'm glad there is so much knowledge today about how to have happy, healthy rats.

[Dovietail]

The most important thing to put in your rat's cage is ANOTHER RAT. 🙂🙂🙂

[kelseymathias]

My rats could smell dinner cooking 2 weeks into the future.

[krystof.novotny]

My rats absolutely hate smell of cat. Even though they've never met one in their life, smell of a cat on my clothes scares them so much that they hide and are nervous for 2 days straight

[JujuManson]

My rats love Heavy Metal music, beleive it or not. I don't play it loud tho, but seriously they love it !
Also, a rat of mine died of pneumonia so yes it is super important to keep them away from strong smells, especially cigarette smoke and cleaning products, at least thats what I do. But at home we have a huge humidity issue, which is super bad for them, we can't let them out in the corridor as we used to, so they are bored more than usual. I think my poor baby could't heal because of the humid environment, unfortunately we couldn't move homes until now. Avoid humidity and mold at all costs, I know way too much where that leads...

[petikwastaken]

Anyone else watching to get rid of a mouse in their home?

[fox-fluffl]

So, what you're saying... is that I might be a rat because a lot of this applies to me as well XD

[Derrad]

Fun fact, my family and I had some rats raiding and building a huge nest under our chicken coop, and after months of traps and failing to get it under control we managed to drive them off my pissing into their borrow for a weeks time.

[Nick-higx]

I have one rat that seems to always be bored, no matter what I put in her cage, how much I let her out. She is too smart for her own good. She and her sister get to free roam most of my house, hour+ a day, they have a whole section of a room dedicated to tubes and pipes and a diggy box and stuff to chew and stash. I make them forage for their food in cage, work out a little forage toy and have to chew up toilet paper tubes to get at the yummies inside, they have one of those little kabobs that dangles, nets and shelves and baskets and hammocks. Little ingrate isn't satisfied, desperately tries to get down to the basement, up onto the shelves that are blocked off, out onto the patio, over the boxes onto my desk, into my dresser drawers, over into my entertainment center. She's figured her way up on the table numerous times, up on top shelves, around the barricades I've put up again and again.

[trinket_rats]

pine is ok when kiln dried, which for pet bedding it has to be in US / UK.

[IdiotWrangler]

The biggest tip of all is that there is little research on what you should and shouldn't give rats other than the general knowledge of caretaking. Rats are not really studied for their pet behavior let alone what is and isn't good for them. Some studies are done like the one shown in the video, however these are still few and far between and usually don't provide WHY things happen and rather the result. It's called a black box experiment.

The main issue is that the ratting community often spreads false information and berates anyone who doesn't follow popular standards like using some niché echo organic blend of bedding or some hyper special food.

Tl;Dr -- use common sense, but understand that not everything you see on the internet is true or even factually relevant.

[MonteHenderson]

Definitely going to put peppermint oil all over my house now

[HabrenOdinsdottir]

I don't use any bedding so to speak.
I cut up old clothes and use old blankets and stuff. That way they can nest and whatnot and then I take it, shake it, wash it. It's a good system.
And oddly enough. My rats have eaten quite a few different foods that have garlic in them. They've never had straight garlic but, they do enjoy seasoned foods. They'll even eat cat food too actually.
I don't give them processed or pellet food though. Every day my boys get baby cereal oat/barley/rice one or 2 mixed and made with milk, peas, corn, Noosa yogurt, chicken meat baby food, and some fruit.
Then nearly every day they get a treat like leafy greens, grapes, berries, apple slices, dry cereal like Cheerios, beans, cookies whipped cream, pumpkin seeds, nuts, and they get a little off whatever I munch on during the day.
One of my boys devoured a salt & vinegar tater Chip! Which surprised me because I have never had a rat that likes potatoes. Sweet potatoes yes, regular taters nope.

[James_the_mpa]

Bro these rats are literally me
I hate peppermint smell
Hate loud noises
Hate strobe/really bright lights
Hate unfamiliar noises out of nowhere
Hate being cooped up and getting bored
For context I am autistic and have sensory issues

[thomasgarman]

I have 5 rats and I have come to learn, just because they look like a pile of sock puppies. They prefer not be be bothered during cuddle time.

[nitemare_breezy]

Looooveee that eco bedding!! It’s so hard to find though so they do have a few good alternatives