# Can this cage fit two rats?



## Cinn (Mar 4, 2015)

The name mostly says it. Will this cage work for 2 rats?







I do not plan on using the flying saucer, bedding, or food


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## Wieju (Jan 25, 2015)

It doesn't quite reach the German minimum cage size. Here the minimum for rats is 80x50x80cm and the cage from your picture only has 71x44x80cm.


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## Cinn (Mar 4, 2015)

Wieju said:


> It doesn't quite reach the German minimum cage size. Here the minimum for rats is 80x50x80cm and the cage from your picture only has 71x44x80cm.


I live in the USA.


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## aelestis (Feb 10, 2015)

Yes! My friend has this cage and she has 3 rats in it - one female and two males. This rat space calculator: http://www.rattycorner.com/odds/calc.shtml says it can hold up to 3 rats at 2.5 cubic feet or 4 rats at 2 cubic feet. Personally, I think that 3 is already a little too much. 2 would be fine imo though. Make sure you put in lots of extra floor space too - the newer version of that cage looks like it only has 2 shelves..my friend has 3 shelves. Also, the bottom IS plastic, so if you have chewers, you might want to rethink buying that cage. Also, here's a more "accurate" rat space calculator as it takes into consideration the floor space, not just the volume: http://www.rattycorner.com/odds/calc.shtml. Hope that helps!


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## Wieju (Jan 25, 2015)

I know  that is the reason why I added the info that it is the German standard. 

I did a quick Google search for you and from that it seems like the standard in the US is about 2-2,5 cubic feet per rat so the cage you posted fits 3-4 rats based on that. 

General rule I would go by is go as big as you can afford


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## Cinn (Mar 4, 2015)

aelestis said:


> Yes! My friend has this cage and she has 3 rats in it - one female and two males. This rat space calculator: http://www.rattycorner.com/odds/calc.shtml says it can hold up to 3 rats at 2.5 cubic feet or 4 rats at 2 cubic feet. Personally, I think that 3 is already a little too much. 2 would be fine imo though. Make sure you put in lots of extra floor space too - the newer version of that cage looks like it only has 2 shelves..my friend has 3 shelves. Also, the bottom IS plastic, so if you have chewers, you might want to rethink buying that cage. Also, here's a more "accurate" rat space calculator as it takes into consideration the floor space, not just the volume: http://www.rattycorner.com/odds/calc.shtml. Hope that helps!


Thanks! I was just asking because I could get it easier than a double ct.


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## Millie & Daisy (Mar 7, 2015)

That's the cage I have currently, I think. All Living Things Rat Starter right? My girls are small and seem to have enough room in here. I adjusted the levels a bit and got rid of all the excess stuff, added some levels, etc. They don't care for the saucer, anyway. I have lots of little hiding places for them that I've made out of fleece and such, so that adds some room for them to run around on other levels without just dead space above or below them. They seem to like it. DO NOT USE THE HAMMOCK. The one that comes with it is made of plastic and my girls slipped off of it. Thankfully, I had a handmade hammock directly beneath them that they fell onto. It's also really hard to clip and remove. Overall it's a pretty good cage, though. I think it also depends on the size of your rats. When my girls get bigger, I'd really like to buy a Rat Manor or a Critter Nation! I have this one because I had to buy one for them in a hurry because their other habitat was inadequate and causing health problems. It's served them really well and their health has improved dramatically since upgrading them, so I really don't have much to say against the cage beyond that it's not meant to be a forever cage.


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## Grotesque (Mar 19, 2014)

That is the same exact cage I am using as a retirement cage for my two seniors. I'd say it's okay but only if they get adequate free time outside the cage. There are obviously better options, but it isn't bad.

If you want to see pictures of them in the cage so you can see how much room they have, let me know. I can probably take a video tour for you.


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## Cinn (Mar 4, 2015)

Grotesque said:


> That is the same exact cage I am using as a retirement cage for my two seniors. I'd say it's okay but only if they get adequate free time outside the cage. There are obviously better options, but it isn't bad.
> 
> If you want to see pictures of them in the cage so you can see how much room they have, let me know. I can probably take a video tour for you.


He gets about 1-2 hours of free range time in my room every day, so it should work out! Thanks!


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## Cinn (Mar 4, 2015)

Millie & Daisy said:


> That's the cage I have currently, I think. All Living Things Rat Starter right? My girls are small and seem to have enough room in here. I adjusted the levels a bit and got rid of all the excess stuff, added some levels, etc. They don't care for the saucer, anyway. I have lots of little hiding places for them that I've made out of fleece and such, so that adds some room for them to run around on other levels without just dead space above or below them. They seem to like it. DO NOT USE THE HAMMOCK. The one that comes with it is made of plastic and my girls slipped off of it. Thankfully, I had a handmade hammock directly beneath them that they fell onto. It's also really hard to clip and remove. Overall it's a pretty good cage, though. I think it also depends on the size of your rats. When my girls get bigger, I'd really like to buy a Rat Manor or a Critter Nation! I have this one because I had to buy one for them in a hurry because their other habitat was inadequate and causing health problems. It's served them really well and their health has improved dramatically since upgrading them, so I really don't have much to say against the cage beyond that it's not meant to be a forever cage.


Thanks! Actually, now that I look at it, I might as well get the Rat Manor from Petco. It's cheaper and bigger than the All Living Things cage. Do you think putting chloroplast on the levels and covering the chloroplast with fleece will work, as the levels are wire?


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## DaisyNDahlia (Jan 28, 2015)

Petco Rat Manor is on sale online right now for $69.99. I'm looking for a vacation cage for them. My mom is watching them for 3 weeks in the summer while I go to Portugal, so I might take advantage and buy this now. They have a DCN but I am not taking it apart to transport it to my moms. I've been looking into different cages but this one seems to be the best for what I need. I'll get some fleece to cover the shelves. It's not a forever home for them, just something here and there as needed.


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## Cinn (Mar 4, 2015)

DaisyNDahlia said:


> Petco Rat Manor is on sale online right now for $69.99. I'm looking for a vacation cage for them. My mom is watching them for 3 weeks in the summer while I go to Portugal, so I might take advantage and buy this now. They have a DCN but I am not taking it apart to transport it to my moms. I've been looking into different cages but this one seems to be the best for what I need. I'll get some fleece to cover the shelves. It's not a forever home for them, just something here and there as needed.


I'll probably just end up covering the platforms with chloroplast and covering that with fleece, so it's almost like the cn platforms. For right now, I only have one rat, but soon I'm getting another, so the cage doesn't need to be big, just big enough for two rats.


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

Cinn said:


> Thanks! Actually, now that I look at it, I might as well get the Rat Manor from Petco. It's cheaper and bigger than the All Living Things cage. Do you think putting chloroplast on the levels and covering the chloroplast with fleece will work, as the levels are wire?


For my spare cage (similar to the rat manor), I just took the shelves out, binder clipped fleece over them and put them back in. You'll have to do a double layer to make it soft, but it's quick and easy. I'm not sure how the levels attach in the rat manor, but it looks about the same as my spare cage. I wouldn't do the all living things cage just for the fact that it has plastic shelves which would probably be harder to cover and may end up absorbing urine odor over time.


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## Cinn (Mar 4, 2015)

kksrats said:


> For my spare cage (similar to the rat manor), I just took the shelves out, binder clipped fleece over them and put them back in. You'll have to do a double layer to make it soft, but it's quick and easy. I'm not sure how the levels attach in the rat manor, but it looks about the same as my spare cage. I wouldn't do the all living things cage just for the fact that it has plastic shelves which would probably be harder to cover and may end up absorbing urine odor over time.


Hmm. I'll probably (like I said) just put chloroplast over the wire, and covering those with fleece, that way it's almost like a DCN in the platforms come up. I'll probably just end up using the All Living Things cage for a quarantine cage, since I can get it for free anyway.


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## QueenBea (Feb 12, 2015)

I would not reccomend the all living things cage from my own experience...

The shelves were a urine trap always covered in icky things, the bottom pan is really thin plastic that my rats chewed through super quickly, my rats chewed the bars constantly and were always fighting to get out because they hated the size. It got dirty really fast and the shelves were always covered in urine and food mixed with the leaking water bottle's water.

It was a horrible experience and terribly difficult to clean. Also my rats escaping was a scary experience as well. 
I have upgraded to a double critter nation (technically the all living things multi level cage, same measurements and build) and don't regret a thing.

The rat manor is a much better cage as well, I'm geting it for my rats' travel cage. Definately reccomend that one high over the starter kit cage.


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## Cinn (Mar 4, 2015)

QueenBea said:


> I would not reccomend the all living things cage from my own experience...
> 
> The shelves were a urine trap always covered in icky things, the bottom pan is really thin plastic that my rats chewed through super quickly, my rats chewed the bars constantly and were always fighting to get out because they hated the size. It got dirty really fast and the shelves were always covered in urine and food mixed with the leaking water bottle's water.
> 
> ...


Okay thanks! I just ordered the Rat Manor from Petco because once I got there yesterday, they were almost 90 dollars. So, I just ordered online.


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## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

I have a rat manor and used to keep 3 females in it. I ended up removing the smaller levels and adding more hammocks. I stopped using fleece on the middle level (too hard to secure) and just cleaned the wire often. It is a solid cage and they can't chew out, but it is hard to clean well (with the wire mesh and all). I would not recommend it for male rats though, because it seemed a little narrow and might be too narrow for a large adult male to move around in. It was Ok for my girls though. They ended up using only the top half of the cage mostly, so even though the other cage is smaller, they may use the open space more than the space in the PRM. I have a cage similar to the top one pictured that I housed 3 males in and it seemed to work well for them. There was space for plenty of hammocks, climbing ropes, and a wheel, and it is easier to clean than the PRM. However, the base on my was plastic and seemed flimsy.. If you have chewers, the PRM would be safer.


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## Cinn (Mar 4, 2015)

artgecko said:


> I have a rat manor and used to keep 3 females in it. I ended up removing the smaller levels and adding more hammocks. I stopped using fleece on the middle level (too hard to secure) and just cleaned the wire often. It is a solid cage and they can't chew out, but it is hard to clean well (with the wire mesh and all). I would not recommend it for male rats though, because it seemed a little narrow and might be too narrow for a large adult male to move around in. It was Ok for my girls though. They ended up using only the top half of the cage mostly, so even though the other cage is smaller, they may use the open space more than the space in the PRM. I have a cage similar to the top one pictured that I housed 3 males in and it seemed to work well for them. There was space for plenty of hammocks, climbing ropes, and a wheel, and it is easier to clean than the PRM. However, the base on my was plastic and seemed flimsy.. If you have chewers, the PRM would be safer.


Well, I got it in today and put it together, and it was pretty big. After looking at the dimensions again, it's bigger than the All Living Things cage. Cinnamon is a small rat, almost as small as some females, so I don't think he will have a problem. The only thing I have to get now is chloroplast and fleece.


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## ratbasket (Apr 26, 2014)

My personal opinion on the Rat Manor levels is to just not bother, I took mine out (including the middle level) and the cage is still very sturdy, I was having issues with the urine dripping down from the center level and getting all over the bars , I would advise you to just take out all the levels and add more hammocks...


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## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

Ratbasket- Were you able to remove the middle level floor as well? If so.. that is great and I'll be able to reuse my rat manor.  I thought that removing the middle floor would make it unstable, otherwise, I would have done so long ago.


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## ratbasket (Apr 26, 2014)

Yeah I took out the center floor, then stability of the cage seems to be un-changed.  I like it so much better now that it doesn't have that floor


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