Cages

[matttherat]

Dec 10, 2007 22:38:05 GMT 10 christie said:

I have my 4 girls in this cage



It was the best one i could find at the time. I do want to get a bigger one eventually tho.

thats a nice cage that one

[misskooky]

Hey christie, I picked one of those good black cages up for free from a guy I used to live with. They're really solid!!

I had no use for it then (only recenty having discovered that rats are awesome) so I gave it to a friend to use as a finch and quail cage.
So now I'm going to adopt some rats (yes I am kicking myself over giving the cage away) so I went on a hunt for cages, and this same friend brought me to a really cheapo shop where we found a bird cage around 50cm by 50cm at the bottom, and as tall as my hip (I'm not sure how tall my hip is), for $50.
It may have been that cheap because whoever put it together did it wrong and so it has massive gaps all over the place, OR because it is the most hideous shade of blue.

But both those things are easy fixed or ignored, so it was instantly snapped up by us! With the help of the levels and bottom grating from the old rat cage, and the bottom grating of this tall one, I'm in the process of turning The Broken Bird Cage into Le Chateaux de Doe for the two girls I'm going to get!
Yay!
The store is called Dollars and Sense, it's a chain of cheap stuff stores and according to my friend, they quite often have humungous cages in there for really really cheap. and smaller ones for even cheaper if you wanted to add on to your old one.
All you need is a trip to bunnings and some handy-ness and it should work!!

[ceara]

I bought that same black cage in the photo several months ago in preparation for getting my rats (I'm finally living somewhere as of today that will allow me to have rats again! Woohoo!). I'm planning on having two girls in there, and giving them a lot of time to run around freely inside as well with us. I've got it all kitted out with 'carpet' made of car cleaning towels, hmmocks and hidey-holes. The cage looks lovely, although I would like to get them more space. I think it's important to use the space you have as well as possible.

[nathan]

when i was keeping them i kept them in Guinea Pig cages but thay were very bored in those cages as there was not much to clime on im going to look at a higher cage this time

[Prue]

yeah, i use a low-level cage so that when the boys are older they wont have to climb as far...

its a guinea pig/bunny cage with one shelf that can be raised or lowered.

of course that's not enough fun for adventurous boys but i add ropes, hammocks, small levels, ledges, suspended levels made from balsa wood covered with cheap vinyl placemats (about $1 each from big w) covering to limit wee absorption.
[of course they love to chew these up so there's a bonus right there destructo ratto!]

they enjoy running and leaping between the added levels and ive even witnessed a battle royale or two on the highest (and most narrow ledge).

Ive always been in the mind that large low cages are acceptable as long as they get their free range time/ added shelves. It saves purchasing a different cage for the twilight years.

[oldratmum]

can anyone tell me the best space for the bars on a cage?

I saw one on e(vil)bay, an it says the bars are 2 cm apart.

is this OK?

or will some Houdini-rat get through it??

(I also like it because it is not $399!!)

[rach]

2cm would be ok for adult rats (generally speaking, any on the smaller size or experienced escapists may be able to get out). If you're going to have any ratties under 6-8months(ish) you will need closer bar spacing.

Another option is to buy the cage with 2cm spacing and wrap wire mesh around it so no little ratties can get out. You can remove the mesh when they're bigger so that the cage looks a bit nicer ;)I'm planning to do this with a cage I have that is fine for adult rats, but am getting some little boys who could definitely squeeze out.

[maesie]

Although an old topic, I thought I'd add my bit. I also have the cage pictured above, but have added a bird cage to the side of it to create more room. Here's some pictures. It's a bit of a pain to clean as there are two separate trays and the poo ALWAYS goes between them. But other than that it's perfect. Plenty of room to sleep, eat and run, run, run!!!

Here's their sleeping quarters, with hammocks and cardboard hidyholes which get thrown out when needed. The hammocks get washed and used till unuseable.


Here's their dinner quarters. In this side are their food bowls and water.


And lastely, altogether. It's sitting on a cupboard where I store all their things.

[wolfinlied]

I have my rats in one of these:
cgi.ebay.com.au/SALE-FERRET-KINGDOM-FERRET-RAT-CAT-CAGE-RRP-650_W0QQitemZ200341091792QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Pet_Supplies?hash=item2ea54275d0&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14&_trkparms=|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A30

I put the link because my camera never seems to have batteries in it. Ill buy some if i remember when im out today and take some shots. If you have the money its really worth it. It stands taller than me! (no im not really that short lol). It took me like maybe 2 hours to put the thing together and the rats love it. The huge amount of space means they can happily frollic about. It comes with lockable caster wheels if you want to put them on so you can move the cage easily if you need to, as it does end up quite heavy. It also has a shelf down underneath it so if you want to store things like thier food or snacks then you can. I need to buy more ratty play things as i dont have enough to put in it yet haha.

[christie]

Yeah we just bought one of these cages as well. I agree its defantly worth the money. Its a breeze to clean compared to my last cage (the black thing posted in this thread) soo much room, and so many options with decorating. I should get a pic of how mine looks fully decorated with the hammys i make in it.

[wolfinlied]

Id love to see it, ill admit im not the best at decor, so maybe i can get some hints and tips from you!

Im going to get some material today to cover the half shelves that have the black on it because the rats are scared to stand on it (its probably a little slippery) nothing really that i cant fix XD

[christie]

Okay here is a pic of my section of the cage (i have the top and my housemate has the bottom)



2 of the boys are mine and my boyfriends the rest are looking for homes
Also all the hammys in the cage are what i have made.
Sorry for the mess, i cleaned it up about an hour before taking the photo ready to take it then to find the battery's were dead lol by the time they were charged the cage was a mess again.

[Kim]

I wish someone would tell me how in hell do you get your rats to not destroy the material on the shelf and bottom of the cage.. I cant put material down for my rats because by the end of the day they have destroyed it..

I love your set up Christie

[rach]

I have never tried fabric on the bottom of the cage. I currently use newspaper and they tear that up without fail. I may try the fabric though. It looks so much nicer and is more absorbent than newspaper.

[Lioness (Zoey)]

Polar fleece is awesome, but sometimes they do chew it. My girls (well, one in particular) likes to chew the fleece on the upper level, and it seems like there's always one of the boys under the fleece in Christie's half! I'll take a photo of the girls' half today (I have the bottom section, I'm short), all hammocks also made by Christie.