Rat
Rescue :: Rat
Cages
Rat Cages
Making a home for your rat is a relatively simple task. His
toys and bedding are inexpensive and easy to replace. You can
find them along with the water bottles and heavy ceramic food
dishes you will need for your rat cage at a local pet shop.
Rat Cage
A 15-gallon aquarium makes an adequate cage for a pair of rats,
but it’s better to buy a 20-gallon tank if you have the
space in your house.
You can also choose to keep two rats in a wire cage that’s
at least two feet square, but find one with a solid bottom and
sides made out of small-mesh wire netting. Rats can get their
feet caught in gaps anything larger than a half inch square.
Terenziani produce the best at the moment. Anything smaller
than a Michaelangelo cage (69 X 69 X 44 cms) is just not good
enough. The Michaelangelo is pictured on the right. There is
also another cage which is three storeys high called the "Moore"
The one drawback of the Terenziani cages is that they have
wire floors, and you should never keep your rats on wire floors.
However, the base floor is simple to remove and you can cover
the upper floors with lino, vinyl or floor tiles, wood or cardboard.
You could cover any cardboard or wood with sticky back plastic
for an easier clean.
Use the Rat Cage Calculator below
to work out the correct cage size
Bedding
In recent years many rat owners have campaigned against pine
and cedar shavings — formerly popular rat beddings –
because these beddings contain phenols that can irritate the
sensitive upper respiratory tracts of small rodents. We recommend
using a paper based product such as Ideal
Pet Bed which has been double dust extracted and is
thick, absorbent and goves the ratties something else to play
with.
As long as you give your rat some extra material for his nest
you will only need to line the cage with 1/2 to one-inch of
your bedding of choice. Torn paper or clean rags make good nesting
materials.
You will need to clean your rat's cage once or twice a week,
depending on how large the cage is and how many occupants it
has. Ammonia from urine can build up quickly in an aquarium
so many breeders recommend a daily spot cleaning to remove urine-saturated
bedding and faeces.
Entertainment
Rats are very active and intelligent. They can turn almost
any object into a toy and will make good use of all of the extra
climbing materials you give them. You can put cardboard boxes,
wooden ladders, large PVC pipe fittings, clay flowerpots, empty
cereal packets and any number of other semi-indestructible entertainment
items in your rat's cage. Remember that your rat will try to
taste all of these cage additions so stay away from anything
coated in plastic or paint.
But before you surrender all of the floor space in the cage
to these cage extras, remember that you need a heavy ceramic
dish for your rat's food. Most owners feed their rats dry lab
blocks, but no matter how clean pellet food seems you must still
wash this dish with soap and hot water when you change the bedding
in the cage. Supply your rat's cage with a hanging water bottle,
too.
Rat Cage Location
Rats have very sensitive ears and it may be stressful for them
to live in a room that’s always chaotic and noisy. At the
same time, you don’t want to banish your rat to an unused
spare bedroom that no one visits. Pick a family room that gets
a decent amount of foot traffic but doesn’t have a television
blaring in it 24/7. Keep your rat's cage on top of a sideboard,
away from drafts and direct sunlight.
Rat
Cage Size Calculator
How many ratties will be happy in your cage?
