So i said i would...

Yep! barley is ok, I use it a good bit. You can also use dry wild rice, and other fun things.

Oh and if you have some spare cloth or some old jeans, cut a leg off those jeans and hang it from the bars on top. They will have a BLAST! :)

Hm.. I think that those plastic hoppers were designed with bunnies in mind.. they usually hang on the outside of the cage and hold alfalfa hay; the animal grabs the hay through the bars as needed; kinda works like a hayrack for a horse..
I would be extremely concerned with the rats' possible ability to squeeze through the bars; how far apart are they? My friend uses similar cages for bunnies, and I would definately not put a rat in the ones she uses, because the bars are almost an inch apart, and most rats can just slither right through that.
I feed differently than most people; I do not provide free-choice food, per se. I feed once in the AM and once at night; I put three lab-blocks per rat into the cage, and they eat them pretty much right away. Heh, you would be astounded with the amount of wasted blocks I used to see when I fed free-choice; they would get peed on and I was throwing money away; now, each night before bed, I just feed them the pre-mentioned amount, along with some of the mix I make (contains things similar to Becky's mix.) Then again in the morning, and I have watched them; they eat about the equivelant of one block, and curl up for a good day's sleep. Of course, water is always provided.

They tend not to waste the food. the only food that they take out is sunflower seeds, but those are in the mix, and im not going to sit here and pick them out. lol. The bars are definatley not big enough for them to fit through. they can stick their noses out, but thats about it.

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Originally Posted by Amy05

The bars are definatley not big enough for them to fit through. they can stick their noses out, but thats about it.

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That's good! I was just worried; glad it is not an issue.

Neat cage!

And another kudos to Becky's mix...my mommy mouse is pounding it...her 11 babies are now nearly 7 days old and starting to look quite cubby, hehe. =D

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

That's good! I was just worried; glad it is not an issue.

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i was at first, then i realized that i have these fat things that couldnt even get their head through them. lol. they are kinda fat, but, i think rats are supposed to be chubby. oh well. they're happy and healthy. :D

Most rats look a bit chubby in their natural position. Stretch them out a bit though and make sure they are well fleshed but not fat hon. Fat rats will get sick, get cancer, have strokes, etc. and die way earlier than they should. We made that mistake years ago with our pet rats. Now with our experience with the breeder/feeder colony we are seeing rats living well past their second birthday and they are still fit, healthy and in great condition even after a life of breeding and raising young.

most of my rats look plump till they stretch out . fred (2 lbs) looks fat till he stretches out , but he is longer than my fore arm .