Bathing Rats
by Robyn Arthur, The Dapper Rat

Do rats need to be bathed regularly?

Rats don't actually need baths... they groom pretty much all day to keep themselves clean.  But there are times you might need to bathe them, like:
1. If they get something yucky on their fur you'd rather they didn't groom off and ingest
2. If they like to marinate in pee soaked bedding and end up stinky
3. If it's for medical treatment, like a bath for a skin condition or to treat for parasites
4. In preparation for a rat show
5. If they are overcome by that orangey-oily male hormonal skin discharge stuff
6. If they are old or incapacitated and aren't grooming themselves sufficiently
7. If it's really hot and you need to cool them down
8. If they actually enjoy it... believe me, there are actually some rats who do love baths

How to bathe a rat

There's lots of different methods for bathing rats, and you need to work with your rat's personality to find out which works best for them.  Here's what I do:
1. Prepare the area... fill the sink with warm water (a little hotter than you think... rats have higher body temperatures that us), clear the bench of any clutter and place down a towel for the rat to stand on, have shampoo ready (a mild small animal shampoo), and a dry towel or two handy, etc.
2. Don protective clothing.  I actually prefer to bathe my rats without wearing long sleeves as this makes it a little less easy for them to climb your arms and cling wetly to your neck.
3. Grab unsuspecting rat and quickly dunk him in the water, holding him there until he is wet through.  Ensure you keep his head and ears above water.  Note:  Rats can walk on water.
4. Let him leap out onto the towel on the bench and hiss at you.  Placate him with soothing words of love... he won't believe a word of it, but it makes you feel not quite so mean.
5. Shampoo him, using your nails to get down through to the base of the fur.  Your rat will either scream bloody murder at the indignity of this or squeak plaintively and shiver miserably while giving you the "Don't you love me anymore?" mope.
6. Dunk rat back under water to remove all trace of shampoo.
7. Let rat leap out onto the towel on the bench and hiss at you.
8. Bundle him up in the dry towel and rub rub rub... he'll like this part.  Ensure you dry him completely so he doesn't get chilled afterwards.  Try a hairdryer on low heat setting if it's a cold day.
9. A groom with a bristled brush helps to smooth and separate the wet fur and thus dry your rat's coat faster.
10. Offer copious treats, which he'll take willingly and eat while glaring at you.  Forgiveness will come with time.

Contrary to this, some rats do enjoy a bath.  In fact, it gets easier each time as your rat learns it's not actually going to kill him after all.

Some more bathing tips:

* Work fast - the quicker the less stress involved for you and your rat.

* It's important not to bathe your rat with shampoo too often as it can remove the natural skin oils, resulting in dry itchy skin.  Bathe as often as necessary with water only, and use a mild, natural shampoo only sparingly.

* Speak calmly, soothingly and encouragingly to your rat during the whole process.

* Consider clipping your rats claws a day before the bath... it may save your arms from serious injury: Clipping Nails

* Expect some madness in the cage post bath, especially from your alpha rat. When the shampoo/clean smell takes over from rat smell, your alpha may feel the need to reassert himself by rubbing against and peeing on everything, puffing menacingly, hopping about madly and grooming everyone.

To link to this page:
http://www.raisinrats.com/medical/bathing.html


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