Bedding - What do you prefer?

I prefer to use paper towels (Viva is best) to line the cages. Use enough towels so there is at least a double layer of towels. I find Viva to be the softest and strongest towel, so I use Viva. Brawny works fine though. In the past I have used pine and wood shavings and the rats have developed upper respiratory infections due to the dust from the shavings. In addition, the oils found in pine and cedar shavings are not good for the rats health. There is a bedding called CAREFRESH which is a nontoxic, dust-free and absorbent paperlike product that I have used and it works fine if you do not choose to use paper towels. If I am too busy or ill, I will use CAREFRESH. Choose the regular CAREFRESH as scented CAREFRESH contains oils not good for the rats health. Rats like the CAREFRESH as they like to pile it up in a corner of their cage and nest in it. CAREFREE provides a lot of warmth for your rat.

With paper towels, rats will shred the towels and crawl underneath them to sleep. Keep in mind, if using paper towels you will need to change the paper towels every day as the ammonia smell from urine that the paper towels absorb can make your rat sick with an upper respiratory infection. CAREFRESH absorbs urine well and needs only to be changed twice a week, three times if needed. Also keep in mind that if you are housing 2 or more rats per cage, you will need to change the bedding more often as needed.

One bedding I definitely would not use is processed corncob. Not only does it look uncomfortable to lay on but if used in the habitats of nursing mothers and weanlings during dry winter months, it can cause a condition called "ring-tail" where rats develop ringlike sores around the tail. In severe cases, the tail can fall off leaving a stump. In some cases, the sores will heal leaving a constriction at the site.