General Rat Caging Dimensions

I keep my breeding rats in a pet style setup/treatment as my personal preference. My small group now lives in a 40 breeder that's 36x18x16. I'm making plans to add additional levels that can be closed off or opened from other levels depending on need.

The engineering is easy, but I'm not sure what the appropriate height should be for each level. I want them to have enough headroom for comfy lives but don't want to waste any space if the rats won't benefit. The height matters when it comes to the hardware cloth I'll need to buy and will effect the number of levels I make.
So how tall is tall enough?

If you're familiar with the Critter Nation/Ferret Nation, the general "pet" preference is max of six rats per Single Critter/Ferret Nation. I'm not sure of the dimensions, but maybe you could make use of the dimensions the SCN/SFN has?

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personally, I think rats use floor space more than levels... I think you'd get better results in terms of odor / waste control by giving them more floorspace. The DCN / SCN mentioned above is about 2.5' x 3' as the floor space.

Level height will depend on if they are expected to climb up to the level or if you are providing a ramp for them. As long as they have a way up (ramp or climbing the sides of the cage) I'd go with about 10" - 12" from the floor. Rats will stand on their back legs and stretch upwards and I think that would give them room to do so. If you are using only hardware cloth for the levels, I would get the smallest dimension of it (1/4" or smaller) and consider covering it... I think 1/2" hardware cloth would be rough on their feet if uncovered and am unsure if the 1/4" would also have a negative effect if uncovered. I've had cages with pvc-coated wire shelves before without issue, but never used uncoated metal shelves.

I definitely will be putting in ramps, I wouldn't want an accidental injury from jumping and missing. Also noted about the 1/4" hardware cloth. How comfortable do you think 1/4" hardware cloth covered in fiberglass, steel, or aluminum window screen would be? So heavy wire for structure, but fine mesh to walk on. They'll still get polar fleece "substrate" on any floor above the aquarium, but my ideal is to have the topper be something I can just wash out in my shower or driveway periodically. I have access to corrugated PVC as well, but I don't know how that material holds up to urine over time. The hardware cloth I'm looking at is galvanized.

Thanks all. And thanks too for input about their activity. Levels 12" apart would let me build more floorspace than what I was originally measuring; it'll be nice to have room for the colony to grow when I get additional snakes in the future.

I would think the mesh with screen over it would work, but a couple points.... maybe: 1. make sure you use a screen that would hold up to water...they will pee on it and you will have to clean it somehow 2. Make sure you trim off all the sharp edges... hardware cloth will cut you up.

You could also consider making the levels out of pvc legs and ceramic tile for tops maybe (attached with gorilla glue or some such. You could still clip fleece over it, but they would be more waterproof to clean / wipe down. I made a platform like that for my BTS and it was easy to clean and seemed pretty stable.

You could try the plastic covering you mentioned... and just see how it goes and replace if needed.

Something else to consider. If this will be inside a cage add-on (wire sides) you could avoid the levels all together and hang hammocks, baskets, etc. instead. Some people will hang small cat-litter trays and fill them with litter to make them easier to clean. I use hammocks made of fleece, which then gets washed every week. I also use climbing ropes.. Large bird rope perches that screw onto bars.