# Dollar Tree Rat Hacks (Finds and Straight Up Treasures for $1)



## Millie & Daisy

I've been bamboozled! Why? Because two weeks ago, I spent something like $3.45 or $4.45 on a bottle cleaning brush at the pet store. Just a warning, this thread will be very picture heavy. Right now it won't let me paste from URL, so I'm just straight up pasting and REALLY hope it won't end up in some plain-text-lost-in-translation-mess.

Today, I'm at the dollar tree and I see this: 








http://www.dollartree.com/health-beauty/baby-children/Feeding/Angel-of-Mine-Baby-Bottle-Brushes-10-frac34-/591c592c989p338836/index.pro

It's literally the same thing, but for a dollar! Made for baby bottles instead of rodent-ware, but pssh, it really is the same thing. Everything about it is the same, including the nozzle brush on the end of the handle. The brush is made from the same material, even the handle is very similar. Both of them are made in China (in case it wasn't obvious that at least one of them was), so I would assume (not knowing much about oversees manufacturing at all) that it may even have been made in the same place. I do know that American manufacturers do this all of the time, manufacturing off brands on the same equipment as name brands.

Not that All Living Things is a name brand, because it's sort of not. In the rat world, I really don't know if there are any name brands besides cages.

I also found this thing, which normally retails about $7-$12 at major retailers, for a dollar. $1, people.









I thought, why not give it a go and use this as some sort of treat-ball toy? I think it's one of the best things I've ever bought for them, because as of tonight, Millie is now opening lids. I stuffed some carrots and cheerios in it and gradually showed them how it worked. I would slide it open a little bit and they would open the rest with their nose. Within five minutes, I had it fully closed and was showing her how to open it, cracking it a little to get her started. Well, instead of start on my side, she took both of her hands and slid it open on the other side, mimicking my movements and opening it effortlessly. Then she started rolling it around, which sort of defeats the purpose. 

Still, it was pretty awesome. It showed me that Millie is a LOT smarter than I give her credit for. Thinking about it now, she's figured out how to solve a lot of problems with virtually no training at all beyond knowing her name and coming to me because we've bonded so closely. I have no come to the conclusion that she will be the leader of the new world order of rats that overpower humans. Apes will have no planet. It's all rats.

For some reason, it's not on the Dollar Tree website. But, it was in the baby section of mine next to all of the teething stuff. 

Oh, what else did I find? Balls. Lots of balls. Cat balls, ping pong balls. The cat toys are not too shabby. Of course, I chose them with lots of discretion because I would never want to give them anything unsafe. The upside is, a lot of the ones I saw were the same quality at the pet store or Walmart. And, unlike Walmart, the cat toys aren't all filled with catnip. I'm not even sure if it's an actual thing, but I always feel like if I bought them a cat toy with catnip in it, I could OD them with it. Catnip even makes _people _sleepy (so says the amateur herbalist). Here are some of the things I was able to get for a whopping...$1 each. 










Not the exact one I bought...Mine looked more like the treat ball sold by Doctors Foster and Smith with a smaller treat ball inside of it, bell included. And it came in a two pack, not a four. Also, I got one that looked sort of like this. It's not the actual toy featured in the picture, because that's apparently a real brand that has catnip in it. This is just the closest picture I could find. These toys are all catnip free. Plus, mine was just plain, natural twine. Seems sort of ironic, because it feels like the undyed twine would actually be safer than one with coloring; dollar stores being notorious for selling dangerous knock-offs. (We will get to the "dangerous knock-offs" disclaimer later). 









Yes, the subject matter of the toy is quite ironic as well. I think they will like it, since Daisy is going through rat puberty and has taken on the nonchalant attitude of a cat. 

Also, ping pong balls. My vet said these are some of the best toys you can put in a digging box. My girls have had respiratory issues that have resurfaced, and now I can't really have anything in the cage that can't be thoroughly cleaned every two days or so. It also has to be kept as dust free as humanly possible. Even though I'm a fan of aspen - the look, the way they move it around, the smell, the way it makes my rats smell, the ease of clean up, etc; the vet said it may be the culprit. That meant that the apsen I'd been using was out. She said she fills up her digging box with ping pong balls, wiffle balls and golf balls. I would guess it's an enjoyable experience for them, similar to what a ferret does in a box of packing peanuts (which Doctors Foster and Smith literally sells. An empty box, full of packing peanuts). 

Exhibit A:









_Please note the "Ferret not included" note in the bottom right corner. _

Instead, I bought ping pong balls and cheated a little by using some unused dog tennis balls I got from Walmart like 4 months ago. They come in eight packs, so I got two! They also had some weird golf balls that I guess got wasted after some Merck campaign gone wrong...because they had the name of a diabetic medication printed on them with dosages and everything. I wish now I'd taken a picture, because it was really bizarre. Maybe it will be there next time? Anyway, it gave me sort of a creepy feeling, because I had this image in my head of a needle coming out of one of the balls to inject me with medication  Sort of like that SNL skit about the doll that injects the HPV vaccine. Anyway, it's late and that's really beyond the point. Here are the ping-pong balls.










The vet also warned me, never ever get these things hot. They will melt and make the house smell funky. Just wash in tepid water and soap.

Oh, and as for the digging box, that's also a-la-Dollar Tree. The storage container section is GOLD. I literally have not bought a hide-out from the pet store since before I brought my girls home. When their first log-home got all poopy, I stopped using it and made them a popsicle stick house. That house is long gone, and I've discovered the charms of using plastic nesting boxes. 

They don't sell these at mine anymore, but these are so awesome. When placed upside-down, they look like a rat-garage! They love to slide underneath it and hide away! They also have some holes on the rim, so I've used it right side up as a hanging basket by attaching some shower curtain rings to it and baby rings.










This is what I use as their digging box:










There isn't a listing on the website anymore, but I used a metal Easter basket as a hanging basket for the girls a couple of months ago! It got kind of nasty, but the great part is, when it's just $1 you really don't feel bad about throwing it out. I still have a bunch of containers that are queued up for use as hide-aways, and I've barely made a dent in my supply. The plastic ones last pretty long. Longer than even their pet store litter boxes! I will throw in a picture of the girls enjoying their dollar tree basket hack! There is a strategically placed fleece scrap on the bottom to provide optimum comfort and to avoid bumblefoot. Look at Millie yawn : )








Besides these, I also have a bunch of containers from dollar tree that aren't in with the rats. They're very useful for storing stuff on the shelf beneath the Critter Nation as well!

Finally, I have a few miscellaneous things I'd like to mention without adding to the huge amount of pictures. I was able to purchase a two pack of really pretty microfiber towels to place in their hideaways. I also purchased two large bags of river rocks this time around (I already had one bag) to complete my very efficient pee rock garden (mentioned in another post). I have a little container that I bought in a two pack about a month ago, sort of like the kind of oval plastic tray they put wax paper in and serve french fries and a hamburger in at a diner. Filled it with the rocks and some zeolite I have, and the girls are pooping in it instead of all over their cage! It's a miracle. 

I had two litter boxes that we seemed to be making steady progress with until about a month ago. After that, they were purely play places. Now, there is poop in the litterbox! I have the high-corner locking one on the top shelf and the little fast-food container on the bottom. Both filled solely with rocks. I have yet to see a raisin anywhere but the litterboxes, which is unheard of.

Oh, and I almost forgot! SHOWER CURTAIN RINGS. They have a 10 pack for a dollar, and they come in almost any color you can imagine. I use them to hang EVERYTHING. They're also fairly secure, as they snap closed and lock in place pretty well. 

Well, that's my shpeal. I do hope this helps you guys as much as it's helped me! Just as a disclaimer, I actually don't trust everything from the dollar store. Always watch your ratties to make sure that they don't eat any of the plastic things you might buy. Mine are extreme chewers, but they generally don't eat their nest boxes. As always, use your best judgement! You know your ratties better than I do!


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## Finnebon

Some great finds! I'm always really suspicious of cheap things though and their quality and what materials they are made of and if it's toxic if chewed on or eaten by ratties. I'm assuming a lot of the plastics are maybe made with PVC. And the metals can contain lots of other sketchy stuff too. Even paints and colors used on plastics and metal things. I live in CA and there was a law passed a while ago that requires stores to put up signs that warn customers if there are any foods or products that "contain chemicals known to the state of california to cause cancer". And those signs are ALL OVER cheap stores like dollar tree and the like.

Sorry, don't want to rain on your parade or anything, but it's something good to keep in mind just in case! Hopefully everything you found is pretty good quality for a $1!


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## kksrats

Most of the toxins/carcinogens in plastics and metals are not immediately harmful and take YEARS of exposure to do harm. This is typically why a material can literally be used for decades before it's understood that it's possibly harmful...and even then, toxicity/cancer from those materials doesn't happen in everyone who came into contact with them. Considering our rats have such short lives, I think that the biggest concern when choosing things to put into cages is if it's a choking/cutting hazard if they tear it apart. I'm not saying people shouldn't be mindful of material, but I don't think that it's as dire of a situation as it's made out to be sometimes.


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## Kuildeous

Yeah, I like hitting the Dollar Store and thrift shops. I need to do it more often. 

I also bought a package of Ping-Pong balls, but I never considered a dig box with them. I may have to buy some more. And they're convenient to wash with the other toys. 

I have a couple nice finds from the thrift store in terms of baskets. I have one device that is actually two baskets with one handle. The baskets are about 2 inches across and 6 inches deep. I have it hanging with shower curtain rings. The rats sometimes like to sleep in the basket, and if I stuff a basket with tissue and Cheerios, they get very curious. I got another interesting basket. It's about 10 inches across but only an inch deep. I had it hanging vertically against the cage with some food trapped. It took them a few hours to figure out how to get the food out. It made a fun little wobbly step since it was fixed to the cage by only one shower curtain ring. Right now, it's acting as a shelf. I put a Ping-Pong ball in there to spin around, but I don't think they've taken interest in that. 

I've rethought how to handle garbage now that I have rats. It's an interesting paradigm shift.


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## Rat Daddy

For the most part, I just look where something is made. US manufacturers and EU manufacturers are liability conscious whereas certain pacific rim countries are more profit driven. It doesn't matter where you buy your stuff, it's more a matter of who makes it and out of what... If you have any doubts call the manufacturer... if the manufacturer can't be reached they most likely can't be sued either. If they are above product liability laws, they don't really have to worry what they put into their products or who gets sick over time from using them.

Otherwise there's nothing wrong with saving money by shopping smart.


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