Bath time is a great opportunity for you and your rats to bond. And it’s important your rats don’t find it horribly stressful, so you don’t damage the bond that you worked so hard to build.
While there is the option of simply not washing your rats, and this can work just fine when they’re younger and able to clean themselves well, it becomes tricky when they’re older.
Old age often leaves rats without the energy to clean themselves regularly. It can also be impossible for them to wash for long periods of time. Then there’s the loss of flexibility that comes with old age – restricting how much of their body they can reach. This is when it becomes crucial for your rat’s hygiene to be maintained by you.
Elderly rats have weaker immune systems so are more susceptible to illnesses and infections – keeping them clean decreases the risks and affects of bacteria.
Bathing a fancy rat can be challenging. It may take a lot of work and patience, but we want to help your rats to become more comfortable and confident in water.
This article is designed to help your rats enjoy bath time. I’ll guide you through tips and hacks for stress-free bath times, top-rated bathing products for cleaning your rats, and what to do if your rat still dislikes water!
My goal is to reduce any guilt, sadness and stress that you, as a caring rat parent, feel when bathing their water-avoidant pet rat!
Let’s get started!
This article covers:
- Reintroducing Your Rat to Water
- What to Use When Washing Your Rat
- What to Wash and What Not to Wash
- Making Bath Time Fun
- Drying Your Rat
- What to Do if Your Rat Still Stresses During Bath time
- Extra Tips for Bathing Your Rat
You’ll have noticed that your rats groom themselves several times a day when they’re young, by licking and nibbling their fur. As they age, however, they start to groom themselves a lot less, and their flexibility decreases making them unable to reach parts of their body.
The nibbling your rats do when they are self-grooming can look like they’re giving themselves a haircut; but the nibbling is actually them combing the remaining dead skin and dirt out of their fur. Nibbling spreads their natural oils along their fur, making it smooth and shiny.
Some rats are naturally lazy when it comes to grooming, but if your rat is usually a regular groomer and is suddenly washing themselves considerably less or not at all, it is usually a sign of illness.
Look out for signs that your rat has stopped grooming themselves by observing their fur. If your rat’s fur becomes dry, fluffy or scraggily, then you need to get your rat checked at the Vets.
If your rat’s decrease in grooming has been gradual, it is likely due to ageing. Fortunately, if your older rats share a cage with younger rats, often the younger rats will keep the older ones groomed.
But, not all younger rats will groom their older pals, and what’s worse, some will scent mark the cage, the décor, and their companions more when one or more of the other rats is smellier. You’ll also need to aid your rat with cleaning if they don’t have younger cage-mates.
If your rat is young and their fur shows signs of not being groomed for a while, it’s important to take them to the Vets for a check up. It may be that they’re simply a rat that’s quite lazy when it comes to grooming, but it could mean that your pet rat is unwell, and lacking the energy to groom itself.
Although most young rats won’t need baths, it pays to start bathing them while they’re young so they get used to the water and don’t get a big shock later in life.
It can vary hugely! Younger rats are able to groom themselves better and more often, so they won’t need a bath very often. They are likely to need bathing every 6-12 months depending on the condition of your rat’s fur and if they smell.
Pet rats that aren’t able to clean themselves very well or often, or rats who choose to wash less, such as older rats and lazy rats, will need to be washed more frequently, generally every 1-3 months.
Unless advised by a Vet, your rats shouldn’t be washed with pet shampoo more than once a month, although a simple water bath would be fine, and is likely to help keep them familiar and comfortable with water.
Most rats naturally really don’t like water, so it’s very likely you’ll have to ease your rats into bath time to build their confidence.
Firstly, you’ll start by introducing your rat to water. A great way to do this is to fill a shallow tray with some water and putting some fruit and/or veg in the water. This will increase the likelihood of them enjoying exploring the water and they’ll learn that it’s safe.
You can take some of the water and sprinkle it over your rat’s coat using your fingers, then stroke the water along their fur. Take your time so your rat is slowly introduced to the concept of having wet fur and doesn’t become overwhelmed and stressed.
It’s best not to introduce rat-friendly shampoos or soaps at this stage, but rather wait until your rat seem comfortable in the water. This step can take weeks or even months so it’s important to be patient. If it’s still unsuccessful after the 10th attempt or if you’d rather stop sooner, then scroll down to What to do if Your Rat is Still Stressed for alternative water-free ways to clean your rats.
It really is okay if your rats simply don’t take to the water, but it’s important to remember that while you want to encourage them, it mustn’t be forceful at any point, or this could very easily undo all the trust you’ve built.
Re-Introducing Your Rat to Water
If it hasn’t been possible to bath your rat in a while, or you weren’t sure how but now want to try again, it’s best to simply follow the tips above, and treat the activity as if it’s their first time. The patience you bring can go a long way.
What to Use When Washing Your Rat
Once your rats are comfortable with bath time, it’s time to introduce shampoo!
There are quite a few rat safe shampoos, but here is the shampoo I use on my rats that was recommended to me by my Vet
Another option is baby soap. It’s designed to be super gentle, and to not strip the natural oils, unlike harsh soaps designed for adults. Making it a perfect soap for rats, and will have them smelling adorable, too! Both branded and supermarket-own are perfect – just make sure it says ‘suitable for newborns’, and it’ll be suitable for your pet rat.
If you’d rather not use shampoo on your rats, that’s absolutely fine! Simply carry on with water baths to try and get the dirt out of their fur, and massage their fur to evenly spread their natural oils keeping their fur shiny.
Some people choose to add a little rat-safe oil, such as 100% coconut oil to their rat’s coat after a bath, but, you really don’t need to do this. If you follow this guide, their natural oils will stay intact, and adding extra oil to their coat increases the amount of dirt and gunk their fur will pick up.
If you would like to put some coconut oil on your rats, then they definitely won’t complain! While it may mean a little more work for you, your rats will love licking it off. Just make sure to add only a tiny amount. Rubbing a little over the bristles of their brush before grooming your rat will give a nice light and even spread.
What to Wash and What Not to Wash
When it comes to washing rats, most rat owners know to wash the body, but what about the rest of the body?
It’s important to clean their feet well as this is where most of the harmful bacteria found in their poo will be; it’s also where a build up of ammonia from their urine is likely to be.
Rats use their tail to regulate their temperature so to help your rat stay in good health, it’s really important to keep the tail clean in order to stop any build up of dirt, poo, and gunk. Ideally, the tail should be cleaned around once a week, so much more frequently than their baths. A quick wipe should be sufficient to keep the tail adequately clean.
The best thing to use to clean their tail is a warm wet wash cloth. The warm water will help loosen any hardened sticky gunk, making it much more comfortable for your rats. And be sure to rub the wash cloth or wipe gently along their tail so irritation doesn’t build up. For stubborn dirt, it’s best to soak their tail a couple of times first to avoid the possibility of hurting them.
Baby shampoo and soap ingredients are kind and gentle so perfect for cleaning their tails. Although, if you’d rather just use water, that will work great too!
A lot of rats like to help their humans clean their tails, which, frankly, is too cute!
Next is the matter of your washing your rat’s head. Cleaning a rat’s head can make even the most experienced rat parents feel anxious, but it doesn’t need to be difficult!
While it is of the utmost importance that you don’t submerge your rats heads in water to avoid getting any water in their ears or having your rats inhale the water. This is because of their sensitive immune system. Having water in their ear can lead to infections, and inhalation of water can cause respiratory infections.
If you believe that water may have gotten into their ears or respiratory system, and they’re now showing signs of infection, it’s important to get them to a Vet ASAP, as antibiotics are more effective the earlier they’re taken.
But, it really can be simple and worry-free. You simply need to take a damp washcloth and wipe the fur on their face avoiding their ears and nose.
Making Bath Time Fun
The best way to make anything less stressful is to make it fun!
We all know rats love to explore, so encouraging them to explore and swim in water will allow them to become more comfortable at their own pace.
If your rat is nervous during exploration, then distracting them with toys, and playing calming music in the background to create a peaceful atmosphere, can help hugely.
Toys are also just great for all bath times! Here are a few cute ones if you need some ideas, but anything that’s a safe material for rats will work fine! Loofahs are ideal bath toys for rats.
Drying Your Rat
Once bath time is complete, it’s important for them to be dried properly so they don’t become unwell. Rats should be towel dried, and never blow dried with a hairdryer.
I’ve found the easiest way to do this, (and most enjoyable for my rats), is to pop the towel in the dryer first so it’s extra fluffy and warm, then placing my recently-washed rat on the towel. I’ll then give them a treat, and, literally every time, they’ve proceeded to hide in the towel and munch on their treat, allowing me to gently dry them while they eat.
Make sure your rat is completely dry before placing them back into their cage.
Towels that are designed for newborn babies are super soft and fluffy so your rats will love them!
What to Do if Your Rat Still Stresses During Bath time
If, after trying all of this, your rat still gets very stressed by water, then please don’t fret – there are other options.
One of these is Waterless Shampoo aka Dry Shampoo. It’s a foam spray that’s perfectly safe for rats, and you can either apply it directly onto your rat and use your hands or a cloth to rub it over their fur, or you can spray it onto a damp cloth and stroke it through their fur. Then use a dry towel to get rid of any excess foam and to make sure your rat is dry.
Another option are grooming wipes. These are great for minimising stress but can be a little drying for their skin (basically you don’t want to use them every day, but once a month would be absolutely fine). Sometimes it can be hard to get stubborn dirt off their fur with wipes, but this is where a brush is really useful.
Extra Tips for Bathing Your Rat
Here are some tips to help make the bathing experience better and less stressful for both you and your rats:
- Don’t be hard on yourself. You’re reading this article because you’re a great rat parent, some rats just really hate water, and this can make the experience really hard.
- Clipping your rat’s nails a day or two before bath time can help minimise injuries caused to you. The soreness of scratches won’t help to make bath times an enjoyable experience. We have a great guide on How and When to Cut Your Rat’s Nails (including what to do if it goes wrong), but if you’re not feeling confident doing them, then you can always take them to a Vets and have their nails trimmed there.
- Wearing a long-sleeved shirt to bathe your rat helps to avoid scratches.
- If possible, make the room you’re bathing your rats in warm and cosy. Rats can easily develop respiratory issues from being cold, plus it’ll be so much nicer to bath in a warm room than a cold one.
- Keep the room they’re going into after their bath warm too, even if you’ve fully dried them.
- After bath time, give your rat plenty of time to relax and calm down. You don’t want to move into playtime straight away.
- Brushing your rat’s fur helps to keep their fur soft and shiny, will mean less baths are required, and is a nice bonding experience. It’s important to wipe a damp cloth over stubborn bits of dirt before brushing to prevent causing your rat pain.
- Take the whole process of bathing your rat slow, be gentle, and stay patient; It’ll help you and your rats to stay calm and at ease, and make it all more enjoyable.
- Take extra care to make sure your rat is dry. This will help to prevent your rat developing respiratory infections.
- Starting with bath time early on in your rat’s life will help to make them more comfortable with it in the long run.
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