Do rats have bladders? It’s no secret that rats have a tendency to pee everywhere. If you’ve had a pet rat for a while, I’m sure you’re familiar with this behavior. Many people are confused about why exactly it is that they do this. Could it be that they’re marking their territory, or is it perhaps because they do not have a bladder and are therefore unable to control it?
In today’s post, I’m going to go over everything you need to know about rats and their bladders.
The short answer to the question of whether or not rats have a bladder is this: Because rats pee a lot, it is often believed that they do not have a bladder. This is false – they most definitely do have one. They simply pee a lot because they use their urine as a way to communicate with their fellow rats. For instance, they can use it to mark their territory or even use it to identify other rats.
Are pet rats incontinent?
No, pet rats are not incontinent. Many people believe that pet rats are incontinent and can not control their bladder because they have a tendency to pee a lot. The reason why they pee on things is that they mark the object (or person) they urinate on as their territory or part of their group, not because they cannot control their bladder.
Rats actually have very good control over their bladder. They’re quite particular with where they pee and are relatively easily potty trained. If you want to teach your rat how to pee in a particular spot, the best way to do it is by putting a litter box in their cage filled with a different kind of substrate than what they have in their cage. To learn more about potty training your rat, check out this tutorial.
Potty training your rat is not all that difficult and is a good way to make their cage easier to clean.
Does their urine smell?
Rats are very clean animals. They spend a lot of time washing and rats themselves usually do not smell. However, their urine is a different story. It has ammonia in it and that can have quite a strong smell. Since their urine is used for communication, it’s quite important that there’s a smell to it. Otherwise, other rats would not be able to smell it and that would make it useless for communication.
So yes, their urine does smell quite strongly.
Rats communicate through urine
It might sound weird (and a bit gross), but rats can communicate with each other through their urine. Did you know that rats can learn information about other rats, such as age, species, gender, reproductive status, testosterone levels, and more, through urine? It’s quite remarkable.
Furthermore, they often mark each other with urine. Female rats are known to mark males that they like with their urine. They usually do this before they go into heat. It’s suspected that they do this so that they will know which males they’d like to reproduce this before they go into heat.
On the other side of the spectrum, males also mark females. It is believed that they do this not notify the female that they’re available for mating.
Do rats leave urine trails?
Yes, rats do leave urine trails. The reason why they do this can be to mark their territory, although there is debate about whether or not this is true. They can also do it to mark other rats. Furthermore, they do this because they like it when things in their surroundings smell familiar. Try putting a new toy in your rat’s cage, and you’ll notice that he’ll mark it almost immediately.
Where is the rat’s bladder located & what does it look like?
The rat’s bladder is located on the bottom of its body, near its tail. Take a look at this diagram to get a better idea of where their bladder is:
Conclusion
People often mistakenly believe that rats do not have a bladder. They definitely have one, and can even be potty trained! They do pee everywhere, but they have a lot of control over where, and when they pee.
They pee to mark other rats and to communicate with one another.
You might also be interested in: do rats have bones?
For more information about rat behavior, check out this post.
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