Your Rats Home
The cage
The golden rule with rat cages is that the bigger the better. Its not always possible to give your rat the run of the house or a a huge cage so the minimum of 2 cubic feet space per rat. However if you can only provide this amount of space you should maximise the space by adding levels and hammocks. the other thing you need to worry about is what type cage you get. There are 3 main types of cage: glass/plastic, wire and wood.
- Glass/Plastic - These cages have their advantages - they keep in any smell and are relatively easy to clean however they are not the most pleasant for the rat they are often hot, smelly and water often condenses on the glass leaving the cage damp and humid.
- Wire - This is the most popular choice; its easy to clean, has good air circulation, gives the rats climbing oppertunities and keeps the cage cool, the only downside is that they let out any smell which shouldn't be a problem of you clean them out regularly
- wood - These are basicly wooden boxes that have 1 or more sides fitted with wire or glass. Although these cages are useable they aren't really appropriate, mainly rats will chew wood, they are difficult to clean, the cage can get hot and the cage can still be smelly, especially if it is fitted with glass rather than wire.
Homemade cages are often good as they can be built to you needs and are often a lot cheaper, the only real downside is the labour and time needed to make it. below is a good example of a homemade cage:
There are a few other things you need to consider:
- The wire spacing - 1 to 2 inches for adult rats and less for babies/youngsters
- Keep clear of wire bottomed cages as wire floors have been linked with causes of bumble foot instead cover the floor with wood or a solid material or even better buy a cage with a plastic tray bottom to avoid the problem all together.
martin's cages are often recommended as is the ferplast jenny rat cage which comes complete with acessories! Remember the bigger the better.
 |  |
Bedding
there are many beddings you can use including the following:
- shreaded cardboard such as ecopetbed it isn't kicked out of the cage, it doesn't smell, is dust free and is ecofriendly however they are expensive at £6 per bale.
- paper based litters such as biocatolet are a lot like cardboard but is smaller and is more likely to be kicked out of the cage.
- sawdust is used by a lot of pet owners who say it is comfortable for the rats and their rats have no side-effects however it has been linked with respiratory problems and pine sawdust with other problems, especially poor quality sawdust.
- Newspaper do not use newspaper the ink used these days is usually toxic and will rub off on light coloured rats.
- shreaded paper is good for the rats as it is comfortable and absorbant as well as being cheap and easily sourced however it doesn't evaporate the urine and quickly starts to smell. shreaded toilet roll is better but more expensive although the rats seem to have a lot of fun dragging it into their bed
Cage accessories
As you can see from the picture above you can put an unlimited amount of different accessories in your rats cages, such as:
- hammocks - made from old clothes or bought from a pet shop
- tubes - old kitched roll or toilet roll tubes
- ladders - made from dowel wood
- old rope
- screwed up paper with treats inside
- fruit branches
- rat wheels - plastic NOT wire
- treat packages - your ratties favourite treat hidden in a cardboard box
- digging boxes - seeds and treats in a box of soil of shreaded paper
- bean bags - cloth pillow filled with rice that you can warm it up in a microwave or cool down in a fridge for those hot of cold days
links for accessories:
Wodent Wheel
http://www.transoniq.com/
Quality Cage accessories (metal solid wheel)
http://www.qualitycage.com/rataccessories.html
Pet Smart (Pick-a Peanut)
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT<>prd_id=845524441779411
Pet Smart (Happy Hut Hideaway)
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT<>prd_id=845524441776719
Super Pet Products
http://www.superpetusa.com/
Oasis (water bottles and guards)
http://www.novalek.com/oasis.htm
Lixit (water bottles)
http://www.lixit.com/
