Rat Cages?

Okay so i'm looking for a bigger better rat cage than what i got. Its nice because its all metal and stuff but its just not big enough for two full grown rats. My 2 rats now are kinda snug actually and they aren't even adults. anyways i'm tryign to find a cool cage thats semi affordable and this is what i found,

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2007+113918

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2007+113918

would one of these work well or will my rats just chew the plastic bottoms up?

I kept pet rats in similar cages with plastic bottoms for years and never had any issue with chewing out. Finally after a long while one did start to nibble but she was a notorious chewer. If they have enough other things to do, stuff to chew on, and things to mess about with, as well as not being overcrowded, most won't bother to chew on their enclosure bottom (at least in my experience). Those look like lovely multi-level cages for a couple of pet rats.

Those look fine, but I'll tell you what I did for my girls, who are now in rat Mecca.

First cage was a creation of my own; a combo of a 'My First Home' guinea pig cage and a two story tall wire cage. It was a good size, but he** to clean. So, when I got my tax return, I went to Petsmart and purchased the 'Midwest Ferret Nation Double Unit Home'. My girls couldn't be happier, it's really easy to clean, and it looks really cool. To solve the problem of the bars being spaced for ferrets, I just covered the outside with 1/4" wire mesh from Lowes...works like a charm. I have pics, but I can't upload them into a post...oh well, just trust me on this.

Also, yes it costs around $200, but the investment is well worth it if you intend to have pet rodents for a long time. Myself, I will always have a pair of rat ladies until the day I can afford my dream small animal: a chinchilla. :)

I have a couple of the bigger versions of the My First Home....the ones for rabbits. They work really well, and the girls and boys had lots of room but I have one cage now that only has one clip instead of two, b/c someone chewed thru the other. It's not usu. a problem with the way I clean and vacuum, but when I had to try and find Kishnah and found he was underneath, I forgot and picked the cage up by the bars, not the base. That was stopped PDQ!


They've chewed up the plastic bowl a bit, but I had added hammocks, extra toys and roll tubes to play with and that helps.

I have 3 rats in a first home rabbit kit cage and it works fine. Was like 39$ and it's plenty of room

Thanks guys for the responses! I ordered the one with the blue bottom. It was more affordable for me. Ill just have to keep them extra happy so they dont start chewing the bottom

www.martinscages.com

LOVE THEM!

Ah, now I know how to post pics! Here is my rat cage:

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...atcagepost.JPG

And yes, those are my girls in the top left corner. Tho you can barely see them cause of the reflection.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

www.martinscages.com

LOVE THEM!

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Becky don't you have problems with bumblefoot since it looks like there aren't any solid shelves? They appear to be all mesh. Isn't that a problem??? Or do you put carpeting sheets/ hammocks in there?

Just curious. I'd like to get some Martins but that's a concern of mine.


Thanks!

Bumblefoot is caused by abrasive surfaces(rusty wire), surfaces that are constantly wet and dirty(bacterial infection), etc. This can cause the feet to break down and fungal and bacterial infections can occur. The cage is good, especially with boys, because they are constantly peeing everywhere, and the wire doesn't allow the wee to puddle, where they have to stand in it. Those cages are good because they also have a pan on the bottom where you can put bedding. I always put a litterbox on one of the top floors anyway, so they have somewhere to marinate ;) Icky boys.

The super pet cages are the ones you really have to watch because the pee can puddle in the shelving, and the rats are having to sit in it. The majority of my rats are in wire cages and I have never had a case of bumblefoot.

Thanks, Becky!


Yeah, cleaning the bucks' cages can be the pits with the piddle puddles, but the one cage that has a solid shelf, I clean it 1-2x a week. Otherwise, everything is cleaned and changed 7-10 days.

It's time to upgrade, so I'll be looking at the Martins again. :)

I had two Martins cages years back for my rats, when I had twenty something Hairless, and they were the best by far. I even cut an opening in the side and connected two cages with pvc pipe, so my kids could go back and forth from cage to cage!

People will always seem to debate the wire/plastic bottoms, however I've found that it's really up to the specific rat which is better.

When I had my two girls I had a very large multi level with wire bottoms and a hammock at the top level, it was great because puddles didn't occur at all and as long as each level was thoroughly soaked in hot water and dried completely once every three weeks (combined with spot cleaning every three days or so) all were fine. I'd also spread out a bit of bedding on each layer to give them a spot to lay about. I had found that with plastic bottoms inside they would chew the plastic instead of chewing on their chew blocks, but they were both notorious chewers anyway.

My third Rat however had trouble with the mesh. I got her as a baby and her feet were too small to negotiate the mesh bottoms and I ended up housing her separately in a single level cage with a couple plastic platforms as the larger females liked to pick on her... She never once chewed anything but her chew blocks, so she would have been fine with the plastic, and I found that she didn't like to relieve herself on anything but the bedding, so as long as the plastic was kept bedding free it was a breeze to keep clean.

I was gonna buy a martins cage... then I decided I cant afford it, in money or space. But I will DEF get one when I can. lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Argentra

Ah, now I know how to post pics! Here is my rat cage:

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...atcagepost.JPG

And yes, those are my girls in the top left corner. Tho you can barely see them cause of the reflection.

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Wow that's an amazing enclosure for them. They must have a blast with all those toys to mess about with and all those levels to explore. Rat heaven!

:D Thanks. They certainly do enjoy it...well, Amber does. We lost Mint (the silver hooded) last sunday. But I'm getting two new little ones Monday from the same breeder Amber came from. One of them is even a manx, so this should be fun.
I love to build and refurbish things, so adding the wire to that cage was kinda fun, if you don't count all the times I got scratched by the ends before I filed them down. :)

Oh so sorry to hear about your other pet rat passing on. I'll bet Amber will be happy to get some new buddies in there with her. Rats just don't do all that well without others around to cuddle with, groom, have a good boxing session, that sort of thing.

Thanks for the condolences.

I'm pretty sure that once the quarantine is over, Amber will take to the two little ones pretty quick (BTW they're 2 months old right now, so nice and young). She's just the cuddliest rat you ever saw. :) Right now, I hold and pet her at least once every day to try and keep her from getting too lonely. Seems to be working, but it's hard to tell with an animal that sleeps most of the day and comes out after you're asleep :)

So, anyone have any recommendations on things to do to keep a lone rat from getting depressed until the new ones can be added?

Just extra attention and treats of course (rats being so food driven that love = food for most of the scroungers LOL). I'm sure she'll happily mother the new younger females and they'll all settle in together quite nicely. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Argentra

Ah, now I know how to post pics! Here is my rat cage:

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...atcagepost.JPG

And yes, those are my girls in the top left corner. Tho you can barely see them cause of the reflection.

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as for this enclosure.. is the bottom bars/wire? im thinking of buying something very similar and was told it had a bottom with wire so the feces could fall through, was wondering what to do in this situation, they are really little babys for now so we would keep it till they got a bit bigger (maybe put them in it now if i could think of a proper bottom) what are your thoughts?

:) I just put up a newer pic of the cage in your other thread.

To answer: the actual bottom is the same wire as the whole rest of the cage, but with THICK plastic trays set on top. This isn't as hard to clean as one might think, cause the plastic rinses easily. I moved back and forth between aspen and sewn together pieces of repti carpet for the substrate in there.

As far as wire bottoms go, you have to make sure the 'holes' are small enough so the rat isn't doing a high wire act, but large enough so their feet don't get caught. In most cases, I just place a slotted plastic material (called 'Magic Mat' by Oasis) over the wire floor and that does the trick. :)

If the cage you saw on craigslist (which is a great place if you handle it right) really is a ferret cage, it will come with all the trays and shelves too. Make sure to ask for a full list of accessories before committing to it.