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Thread: New Rat Bins

  1. #1
    BPnet Veteran frankykeno's Avatar
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    New Rat Bins

    Finally got around to gettings the pics of the new bins as I promised in another thread.

    Here's the list of supplies I used to make them....

    Sterlite 35 gallon heavy blue bin (must be snap top lid) - $11.00 each

    Super Pet 32 oz water bottle - $4.00 each

    1/2" Hardware Cloth - $5.00 for a small roll (does about 3 or 4 tubs...the bigger roll is more cost effective per enclosure) for mice or ASF's use 1/4" cloth

    Heavy grade zip ties - $3.00 for 100 (I use 20 zip ties per mesh side so 40 per tub...I like those rats secured in LOL)

    So basically not counting bedding and whatever food bowls you use it's approximately $16.00 per large enclosure.

    Label from bin....


    Label from hardware cloth....


    Super Pet 32 oz water bottle....I love the spring clip, works very well to remove the bottle without detaching it and the 32 oz gives lots of water to the rats....


    New bins....they measure 30 long x 18 high x 19 deep....as you can see by this pic there is very little kick out of bedding through the mesh sides...this is about 30 hours after a tub tidy and basically all you get kicked out is a light dusting from their feet when they climb the mesh.....


    They have a nice strong lid clip on each end and the lids themselves are good and rigid with little give....very easy to grasp and move around even for me and I'm barely over 5 feet...not particularily heavy even with the rats and so forth....


    View through both mesh sides....these mesh sides are 24" x 10" and provide excellent flow through ventilation....I'm finding this much more efficient than the top mesh concept I first used....I allowed for bedding kick out by not starting the plastic cut out until about 6 inches up from the bottom of the tub.....


    The bin I took these pictures of is my grow out bin for my future female breeder rats (that's Violet and Diva climbing)....the rats seem to enjoy climbing the mesh but have not show any interest at all in lid chewing....I think they enjoy the exercise of climbing up and along the mesh and I'm all for fit, happy rats! LOL....


    Bird's eye view of the same bin, showing a bit of the mesh sides.....


    Bins stacked two deep...so far this duplex is working out really well for me....I have recently found a large plastic shelving unit that will fit these tubs perfectly and with the mesh sides the shelves of the unit will not interfere with the nice air flow I have going on....depending on the weight of the rats you could likely stack them 3 high without any problem with the lids....


    These were my older big rat bins and I still have some of them in use. The only issue I've ever had with them is the plastic is a bit thin on them compared to these heavier grade blue bins and I did have some chew outs. These blue bins are stronger and have less ridges inside so I believe they will be better on that issue.


    I plan on using these tubs for adult rats, grow out feeder rats and mothers with litters over 15 days of age. I double them up at that point, 2 moms that get along and their litters in one of these bins...seems to be working out very nicely so far. Before that time each female rat is in a 10 gallon tank with her new borns.

    The "Maternity Ward"....


    Hope this was of interest to some of you.
    Last edited by frankykeno; 03-14-2009 at 08:44 AM.
    ~~Joanna~~

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  3. #2
    Steel Magnolia rabernet's Avatar
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    Re: New Rat Bins

    Looks great! So no issues of them chewing the plastic around the mesh?

  4. #3
    BPnet Veteran frankykeno's Avatar
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    Re: New Rat Bins

    None at all Robin. Granted it's early days yet, I've only been using this new design a few weeks but I really believe if rats have enough hard food to chew and the ability to move around without overcrowding and a view of their outside world...you just never get all that much cage chewing going on. I did allow for some chewing with overlapping the hardware cloth by at least one or two rows bigger than the plastic cutout. I also chose the heaviest grade zip tie I could find as I have seen rats "taste" these before.
    ~~Joanna~~

  5. #4
    BPnet Veteran MeMe's Avatar
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    Re: New Rat Bins

    nice work Jo!!!

    They look like they are enjoying the new digs!


  6. #5
    BPnet Veteran SatanicIntention's Avatar
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    Re: New Rat Bins

    Those look good. Nice cross ventilation. I would really put the mesh on the inside though, it will help decrease the chance that they can get to the plastic. If it's eye-level, they will chew it, IME. I wish they made metal zip ties.. I've had enough of the plastic ones chewed to last me a lifetime(although the dwarves haven't touched the zip ties holding their custom cage together... Beats me!).
    --Becky--
    ?.? Normals, 1.0 100% Het Pied Classic Jungle, 1.0 Yellow Hypo, 0.1 100% Het Butterscotch Hypo, 0.1 100% Het VPI Hypo, 0.1 100% Het Yellow Hypo, 1.0 Enchi, 1.1 Yellowbellies, 0.1 YB Granite, 1.0 Black Pastel, 1.0 Lemon Pastel, 0.1 50% Possible Het Banded Albino, 0.1 Spider, 1.0 Fire, 0.2 Granite

  7. #6
    BPnet Veteran frankykeno's Avatar
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    Re: New Rat Bins

    Thanks all. Good suggestion Becky! I will incorporate that as I tweak this design over time. I'm noticing with these side vents that there is little to no ammonia build up. I'm keeping the tubs pulled out from the walls so ensure the rats get maximum fresh air.
    ~~Joanna~~

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    Re: New Rat Bins

    Very nice... A stackable housing unit that doesn't even need shelves.

    One piece of advice, though... I bet if you switched to Woody Pet, or some other pelletized wood product, you wouldn't have any smell at all, and would have no kick-out due to them climbing...

    Jim
    0.4 Normals (Sugar, Delihla, Luna, Sol)
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  9. #8
    BPnet Veteran Shelby's Avatar
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    Re: New Rat Bins

    Those are pretty nifty, Jo. I'm spoiled by my freedom breeder racks though.

    April
    My art gallery (herp related) http://cerulean-serpent.deviantart.com/

  10. #9
    BPnet Veteran frankykeno's Avatar
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    Re: New Rat Bins

    Quote Originally Posted by CntrlF8 View Post
    Very nice... A stackable housing unit that doesn't even need shelves.

    One piece of advice, though... I bet if you switched to Woody Pet, or some other pelletized wood product, you wouldn't have any smell at all, and would have no kick-out due to them climbing...
    I can't find Woody Pet anywhere in the city of Toledo.

    Quote Originally Posted by Shelby View Post
    Those are pretty nifty, Jo. I'm spoiled by my freedom breeder racks though.
    Bet you are. They are great racks but out of my current price range LOL.
    ~~Joanna~~

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    Re: New Rat Bins

    Quote Originally Posted by frankykeno View Post
    I can't find Woody Pet anywhere in the city of Toledo.
    Ask them directly: http://www.woodypet.com/dealer.html

    Just don't call... The guy in their US distribution center will talk your ear off for hours about all the uses of their product. he's REALLY excited to talk to people about it.. lol

    Jim
    0.4 Normals (Sugar, Delihla, Luna, Sol)
    1.0 Pastel (Maple)
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