Rats and Birds in the same room?

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Due to circumstances I won't go into in detail, it appears we may wind up housing 3 rats for some period of time. My first instinct was to put them in my studio, but the cats' stuff is there and I'm told that's a no go for the rats. The only place the cats are excluded when we aren't around is the office, which is where Scooter is. I'm guessing rats, even very clean ones (I'm told they are used to bathing weekly) kick up more dust than would be good to have in the same room with bird. Does anyone know more about rat and bird coexistence? Obviously the bird's health takes priority, but these guys don't deserve to be fed to the coyotes either and I've run out of other options pretty much.

[notscaredtodance]

I had the same dilemna! I actually had my rats and bird in the same room for about 3 weeks before I moved them. This was a decision that wasn't just for the bird's health, but my own. I'm really, really allergic to them. I don't know if you have a basement, but even though it sounds sad to put them down there, they actually love cooler, darker places.

If you only need to house the rats for a few weeks, as long as you clean them out twice a week, they're not dirty at all. The best bedding for them, and least dusty, and easiest to clean, it newspaper, just like birds. I don't know what kind of cage they're in, I'm assuming it's multi-level, but just cut the paper to fit the shelves and base . Just fold them up every night or three and put more in.