What Is A Pee Rock And Do Rats Like To Pee On Pee Rocks?

Pet rat training is always a seemingly difficult task for most rat owners. Developing moral habits through rat training to live indoors becomes crucial to avoid unnecessary mess. Most important above all is the litter training for rats.

This is exactly where a pee rock comes to its service!

In this article, we will get a detailed look into all the facts about pee rock and find out if a rat indeed likes to pee on rocks! If yes, how can you use it to your advantage?

What Is A Pee Rock?

A pee Rock is a mystical rock used as an artificial territorial marking object to encourage rats to pee and further mark within a dedicated area. Pet owners, rat trainers, breeders, and vets swear by the pee rock globally. The name of this rat training tool descends from the useful purpose these rocks serve. 

Rat owners, breeders, or trainers know that these rodent pets use pee marks and feces to mark their territory and to communicate with cage mates. Nevertheless, to limit the habit of marking all over the cage, a pee rock is used.

Placing these small pee rocks inside a litter box encourages your small pet friends to excrete and urinate within the pre-marked limited area only. Rat trainers usually swear by these rock tools while training the little mischiefs.

If you are wondering about the exact look, shape, size, and availability of pee rocks, here is a little pointwise guide to help you with a better understanding.

• Pee rocks come in different shapes and sizes, with smooth and porous surfaces. Even with varying shapes, pee rocks are rounded and do not have any sharp edge or cut that may hurt your pets.
• Pee rocks are moderately porous and thus absorbs the overpowering smell of rat pee or feces. 
• Pee rocks are also known as river rocks or rat pebbles and are available easily online.
• These stones act as urine stimulators for most rats. It is thus crucial to select small pebbles which are at least one-third the size of your pets. 
• Multiple stones placed on all corners of the litter box encourage rats to mark frequently. This habit will keep their bladder empty and will stop them from creating puddles outside the litterbox.

These are the few basics about pee rocks that will help you understand the concept of why rats love peeing on rocks.

If you have not yet tried these pee rocks to litter train your fancy pet rats, I suggest you try them today! After all, it is always fun to try new things for our pet babies and ensure they develop better habits over time.

Do Rats Like To Pee On Rocks?

So now, if you ask if pet rats really like to pee on rocks, then I would like to clarify that: Yes, rats like to pee on rocks because it helps them to mark their territory and rub their back on the pebbles after peeing. By rubbing the back on the rocks they tend to coat themselves with a new scent and disguise their own. This is nothing but a general survival instinct that the rat practices. Sometimes, they might like any specific scent from rocks and try to keep that scent with them by rubbing their back on it. 

We have also asked a question to a group of pet rat owners in a Facebook community (here’s the post link) to share their experience with pee rocks, here is a summarized chart of what they said:

Why Do Rats Love To Pee On Rocks?

To understand why fancy pet rats love to pee on rocks, you must understand the concept of their biological evolution. Rats are wild animals and have evolved similarly to cope with wildlife.

Their habits, survival instincts are not all within the boundaries of our understanding. Territorial marking is a part of their natural behavior. Rats urinate and excrete almost anywhere and anywhere to mark it as their territory. [Source: Systems Biology Archive]

Breeders and rat trainers will often mention the smooth and hard surface of the pee rocks. Rats love to rub their back and urinate on the pebbles also because the stones appear different from the surrounding.

If you have more than one rat in the rat cage, you will love the idea of pee rocks more than anyone. Put some of these small pebbles in a fashion of fencing the litter box. You may find your furry friends emptying their bladder more than often.

Rats will also start to compete with each other for marking the stones before their other cage mates.

As peeing is also a means of communication among rats, the pee rocks become the flag bearer of their age, gender, and sexual availability. Other rats will find it easy to know more about his/her cage mates now.

All in all, it is hard to tell why exactly rats like to pee on the rocks. However, if it helps in litter training your pet rat, it is better to accept the fact that pee pebbles are of great use.

How To Introduce Pee Rocks In Litter Training?

Pee rocks are termed as a rat training miracle by many rat owners globally. The reason behind this is simple. Pee Rocks litter trains your rats and Rats love to pee on pee rocks!

There is no rocket science in using a pee rock, even if you are using it for the first time. Your pet furry friends are going to love these small stones to pee on. 

Pee rocks are easily available in online stores. Please be careful about the size of the stones you are buying, before placing the order. Make sure to get the stones that are one-third of your rats. 

Before you start with the litter training your pet rats using the pee rocks, arrange a separate box assigned to litter. Once arranged, follow the below-mentioned steps to start the process.

• Start collecting the solid ratty wastes from all over the cage, bedding, toys, and other places where rats usually mark. 

Please be careful to not deep clean their space and remove the smell from the cage. This may have an adverse effect as your rats will mark the cage again if they do not find any scent.

• Once you have collected all the solid feces from the cage, now place these feces in the pre-arranged litter box along with the new pee rocks. This is right where you introduce the pee pebbles to your pet friends.

• For the next few days, make sure to indicate your pet rats to litter only inside the new litter box. It may take some time to develop the habit. Rats are curious small animals with the ability to fast-learn anything you teach them 

• Within a few days, you will find your furry friends urinating and excrete only inside the litter box and not all over the cage accessories. You may also witness your rat friends naturally loving and marking the river stones with their pee. 

It is a new fun game to them as the pebbles stand out from the rest of the surroundings. 

Rats love to keep themselves clean and all groomed. Also, because these little rodents are sensitive to smells, they prefer to keep their play area, chewing items, and toys clean. 

Cleaning habits make rats litter in the stinky part of the cage only, which is into the litter box.

This process of litter training may take some time if you are a new pet rat owner. However, if you choose to follow the above-mentioned steps properly, I am sure litter training your pets will be an easy task.

Litter training your pet rats will also reflect during their play or cuddle time with you. You may be their parent, but to attest superiority your pet rats will mark you with pee. 

But, litter training them can save you from cleaning puddles and ratty mess after playing or cuddling. So in case you haven’t already, I suggest you litter train your pet rats using the pee rocks. Pet Rats Love to pee on rocks!

My Experience With Pee Rocks

I loved the idea of introducing pee rocks for litter training my pet rat Goofy. My local vet was the first to introduce me to it. I agreed to use these river pebbles at once. 

Goofy took about four to five days to learn and develop a habit of using the litter box. Now, she loves to mark all the small rocks. It was great fun watching her learn a new marking trick. 

These are the small joys of pet rat parenting. I am happy to bring home the best care possible for Goofy. I hope you do the same if you have not already. Happy Pet Parenting!