Pet Rat

So I recently got myself a rat. My cousin actually found him in his yard but I'm quite sure this rat was a pet. He is fairly docile and doesnt try and bite.
I have named him Moose :P
I just have one question. Can I make him a little hide out of paper mache? just newspaper and flower/starch. It would give him a place to hide and something to destroy :rofl: But I just wanted to know if that was safe.

Congrats on the new pet rat i have 2 , a good word of advice though,if you join any rodent forums make sure your name is not snake related and you mention nothing about keeping snakes,they will go insane on you :taz:,they will think your just breeding it for your snake,trust me i know lol. Good luck.

I just gave my two rats large plastic cups with pine stuffed in them and they love there hides,no way they can bite all the way through that and if they do it's only a dollar so oh well :), your idea will work too.