2 new free rats!

I use a plastic bin with wire inlaid in the lid, none on the sides. They've been fine in that, but not with a solid lid on top.

thanks for the reply's and advise so i bought a foot by foot metal mesh for the top whats the best way to attach it?

Cut out the middle of the top, leaving about 2 inches on all sides, then drill holes all around the edge of the lid, cut your mesh to the right size, and attach the mesh with zip ties through the holes you drilled. Should take an hour at most. :gj:

I ziptied the mesh onto my tubs.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...f/IMAG0739.jpg

I only have ventilation coming from the lid and none on the sides. My rats seem to be doing alright. Although I have been debating whether or not to put some vents on the sides...However, I don't want to lose the support of the bin.

Your water bottle support looks a little weak. But then it could just be the photo. It's a little hard to see.

I had my bottles rigged like yours at one point, and one somehow broke off its clasp and turned over. The tie was too low and the water bottle was too heavy for it. So The rats in that particular tub didn't have water for a while. D:
I made a rig out of zip ties to prevent such a thing from occurring again. I'm not worried about them being chewed off as my rats aren't really chewers. Plus they like hanging off the tie sometimes. You can probably do it w/ metal wire or ties to avoid breakage from chewers.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...f/IMAG0774.jpg