# All Living Things Luxury Pet Rat Home?



## RosesRufflesandRats (Apr 25, 2013)

Hi everyone. I'm getting two female rats soon. I want to give them as much room as possible, which is hard in my small space. This cage, according to the cage calculators, is big enough for three, and I have a place to put it (yay!). But the reviews for it are conflicting. For one thing, I've heard that rats can chew out. Now, my mom will not be happy if there is any chance of the rats escaping in the house, so looking to avoid that, obviously! So, any input on whether this cage is good or not? Doesn't have to be about the chewing, just any thoughts in general. Thanks!


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## PrissyKrissy (Apr 27, 2013)

I have this cage for my two boys, and I like it. There are some downsides to it though, but i feel that every cage has it's ups and it's downs. Ok, the good things: the price, for what i paid for it, i feel it's a great cage. Easy to put together, and take apart when I clean it. The base pan is deep, so i can put lots of bedding in and it doesn't come flying out of the bars (except for when buster pushes it out). Oh, and it's small enough to fit on my dresser, which is a big dresser, but still there are some cages that wouldn't fit. ok, so for the downsides. the things that came with the cage: the wheel, hammock, and water bottle, aren't the best. but i make my own hammocks anyways, so i wasn't too blown by that. If my rats were chewers which THANK GOD THEY ARE NOT, they could chew thru the plastic base. i would say that would be THE BIGGEST downfall, if my rats were chewers, but they're not. so i guess u have to figure out if your rats are chewers, cause if they are, the cage won't serve it's main purpose: to contain your ratties!


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## RosesRufflesandRats (Apr 25, 2013)

PrissyKrissy said:


> I have this cage for my two boys, and I like it. There are some downsides to it though, but i feel that every cage has it's ups and it's downs. Ok, the good things: the price, for what i paid for it, i feel it's a great cage. Easy to put together, and take apart when I clean it. The base pan is deep, so i can put lots of bedding in and it doesn't come flying out of the bars (except for when buster pushes it out). Oh, and it's small enough to fit on my dresser, which is a big dresser, but still there are some cages that wouldn't fit. ok, so for the downsides. the things that came with the cage: the wheel, hammock, and water bottle, aren't the best. but i make my own hammocks anyways, so i wasn't too blown by that. If my rats were chewers which THANK GOD THEY ARE NOT, they could chew thru the plastic base. i would say that would be THE BIGGEST downfall, if my rats were chewers, but they're not. so i guess u have to figure out if your rats are chewers, cause if they are, the cage won't serve it's main purpose: to contain your ratties!


Yeah, I heard that the stuff that comes with wasn't so good. I don't mind replacing it, but I just wish they would not include it and then the price could be even lower. Ah well. As for the chewing I guess I'll just have to wait and see (my least favourite thing to do). I've heard that if they _are _chewers, including other stuff for them to chew on will minimize the risk of their chewing out. Hopefully that's true, 'cos like I said, if my mom found a rat running around the house, it would be bye bye ratties. 

Thanks for your detailed review, very helpful!


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## zurfaces (Jan 16, 2013)

I had this cage. My girls did chew but not much. Maybe a quarter sized hole. I hated cleaning it and it got really flimsy towards the end the bars were rusting a bit. My main complaint about it was it was a pain in the behind to clean. I used fleece throughout and a litterbox. You can't get a wheel in and out through the door so you have to take it off the base. The levels kept falling off when i tried to clean the cage. 

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## PrissyKrissy (Apr 27, 2013)

I guess i'm just so used to taking the cage apart completely to clean it i don't think of an easier way to clean it! haha. the wheel thing was a problem, but now i'm over the wheel cause my boys refused to use it. How long did you use the cage for Zurfaces?


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## RosesRufflesandRats (Apr 25, 2013)

I was thinking of taking out the wheel and a few of the levels and adding hanging things to climb on. And I won't be using fleece, probably cleanfresh.


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## FallDeere (Sep 29, 2011)

It's an okay cage, but you get what you pay for and it's very inexpensive as far as cages go. It's fairly flimsy and very noisy.

I wouldn't use the wheel. I tossed mine because a tail could easily get caught in the spokes. I let my rats use it with supervision, but if they ran the wrong way on it, their tail would nearly get caught. The hammock was the only good thing that came with the cage, though it is a bit flimsy. I recently gave away that cage, but kept the hammock because my boys love it. Just the other day, they chewed up a part of it, though, so now it's hanging by a thread.

The water bottle stinks. It never stopped leaking.

The shelves are okay, but it's easy for poop to be flung with a swipe of the tail and they're not easy to clean. Plus, the shelves are pretty small. The cage may be an okay size for a few girls, but honestly, I wouldn't keep more than two rats in that cage, with the way it's set up. I kept my two boys in it when they were babies and was constantly frustrated with the cage.

I only recommend that cage if you truly cannot pay more that $70-$90 for a cage. There are lots of better quality cages out there that are sturdy and well-made.

It is not a bad cage overall, though. Just definitely not the best.


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## zurfaces (Jan 16, 2013)

Krissy I used it for over a year housing two female rats. I hated putting fleece on it mostly getting the cage attached to the pan straight was always a pain in the butt too. My girls loved their wheel but we had to detach it at night because they would bang bang bang bang against the cage bars running on the wheel all night long.


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## PrissyKrissy (Apr 27, 2013)

hahaha, yeah sometimes i'm glad my boys DONT like wheels. they make enough noise in the cage at night as it is. I couldn't picture them in a different room from me either. if I had more than two rats i would probably have a bigger cage, but this cage is perfect for them. and it makes me feel better about the cage that you had it for over a year. thats not bad for 70 bucks. my boys are out of the cage for 3 or more hrs a day, and when it's time to go back, they are usually very eager, so it seems they're happy with the cage and i think thats all that matters. I'm thinking about taking my levels out as well and putting climby things in there for them. I posted on another thread about how i go on a UK rat forum, and it seems like in the UK they pay more attention to keeping rats busy and climbing, as opposed to filling the cage with 30 hammocks and fluffy stuff for rats to sleep on. someone commented that our rats are lazy just like us lol. maybe so...


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## PrissyKrissy (Apr 27, 2013)

whats clean fresh? i use the kaytee clean and cozy cause it's so soft i really like it.


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## zurfaces (Jan 16, 2013)

I actually bought it used lol so it's way older than a year. I don't know how long the lady before me had it. I sold it to someone else when I got my new cage. So it's still out there. One thing I really liked about it though was the door. It kind of made a ladder for them to climb in and out. My current cage has a storage area beneath it and they can't go in and out easily. I have to put a ramp in front of it. Before I could just open the door when I get home and they come and go as they please.


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## RosesRufflesandRats (Apr 25, 2013)

PrissyKrissy said:


> whats clean fresh? i use the kaytee clean and cozy cause it's so soft i really like it.


Whoops, I meant carefresh. It's a type of bedding made from natural stuff, says it's made from recycled pulp or something. Looked pretty good. I'll look into the Kaytee clean and cozy stuff. Does it absorb the smell good? How often do you need to change it?


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## FallDeere (Sep 29, 2011)

RosesRufflesandRats said:


> Whoops, I meant carefresh. It's a type of bedding made from natural stuff, says it's made from recycled pulp or something. Looked pretty good. I'll look into the Kaytee clean and cozy stuff. Does it absorb the smell good? How often do you need to change it?


In my experience, Kaytee Clean and Cozy has little to no odor control, but it's wonderfully soft and absorbent (which I confirmed when a water bottle completely leaked out in my spare cage and it absorbed every drop). To control odor, I mix in Yesterday's News cat litter. I use Kaytee Clean and Cozy for my rats and gerbils. It's great for tunneling and nesting. It has no noticeable dust.


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## RosesRufflesandRats (Apr 25, 2013)

FallDeere said:


> In my experience, Kaytee Clean and Cozy has little to no odor control, but it's wonderfully soft and absorbent (which I confirmed when a water bottle completely leaked out in my spare cage and it absorbed every drop). To control odor, I mix in Yesterday's News cat litter. I use Kaytee Clean and Cozy for my rats and gerbils. It's great for tunneling and nesting. It has no noticeable dust.


That's great! I'll definitely look into it. Yeah, my main concern is odor because my mom really doesn't want smelly pets, and she won't be happy if I have a stinky cage in my room.


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## Eden10 (Aug 11, 2012)

I had this cage for 2 boys before I upgraded to the CN...I actually thought it was pretty decent for the price....the 3 doors were a nice feature & its roomy [tho i wouldn't house more than 2 adults] Downside was the shelves, with 2 lazy boys that poop & pee everywhere the shelves got gross quick & yes I don't recommend using the wheel that comes with it.
The hammock is ok if you put a comfy blanket in it & my water bottle I'm still using now, had no issues.

So for the money & if you only plan on having a pair of rats, I'd say its worth it.


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## TGQ (Dec 26, 2010)

I have the smaller version of this cage, and the smaller version of the super pet cage (they're both temp cages), and I by far recommend ALT if the larger ones are anything like the smaller. My superpet is flimsy, and ALT seems to make pretty sturdy bars. I think it looks nicer. Mine hardly chewed it when they've been in there (the girls started out in the ALT before I joined forums and ended up upgrading). Also, it's pretty affordable, cheaper than the SPE for basically the same thing. Fits up to 3 rats I think? Has a nice, deep base so bedding doesn't get thrown around. Downsides from what I've heard are that the wheel is usually crap, the water bottle is crap (mine came with the same one and it started leaking after a while), and hammock will be chewed up in a second. I've seen some people push two levels together to make a bigger level and it looked really nice. In my smaller version the shelves can be a pain to remove and put back and pee rivers were awful, but you could always make some liners for them. If you're concerned about odor, I would consider a paper based bedding like Fresh News or Planet Petco Paper bedding.
Also, this is the smaller version I'm referring to. I still like it as a hospital/travel type cage.
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4471000&lmdn=Pet+Type&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No


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## Eden10 (Aug 11, 2012)

I'm sure it can fit more than 2 ratties, especially if you utilize the space well...but my personal opinion I wouldn't house more than 2 rats...not saying its wrong if you do keep more or however many the rat calculator says lol.


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## RosesRufflesandRats (Apr 25, 2013)

Eden10 said:


> I'm sure it can fit more than 2 ratties, especially if you utilize the space well...but my personal opinion I wouldn't house more than 2 rats...not saying its wrong if you do keep more or however many the rat calculator says lol.


I'm only getting a pair for now anyway, so it should be okay. Later on in the future, I dream of having a CN or FN and tons of ratties, but for now my mom said two is tops.


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## karip (Apr 14, 2013)

I have this cage too. We actually got it for even less with some coupons - around $60. It's fine for now as we only have two girls and they are not interested in chewing plastic (knock on wood!)

I actually arranged the levels differently than what they recommended and removed the bottom ramp so that my girls would use the lava ledges instead as a step up (trying to see if I can get their nails to be a little more blunt.)

We replaced the water bottle straight away with a nice glass one, but the food bowl (which sits nicely on a divet on each of the levels.) They aren't interested in pooping on any of the top levels, only in the deep bottom pan (and now we have them mostly litter-box trained, yay!)

Zip-tying the bottom corners of the cage together made it MUCH easier to take it apart to clean, as it prevented the edges from popping out and helped us get the top of the cage securely centered over the bottom. We have had no problem with fleece so far; just a large layer over the bottom, put the top on it, and use binder clips around the edges to fasten it in place.

We haven't had problems with the shelves popping out that others have mentioned; perhaps the sizing/fit is a little inconsistent between different individual cages?

Eventually it would be great to get a double critter nation, but that's not in the budget right now!


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## RosesRufflesandRats (Apr 25, 2013)

karip said:


> I have this cage too. We actually got it for even less with some coupons - around $60. It's fine for now as we only have two girls and they are not interested in chewing plastic (knock on wood!)
> 
> I actually arranged the levels differently than what they recommended and removed the bottom ramp so that my girls would use the lava ledges instead as a step up (trying to see if I can get their nails to be a little more blunt.)
> 
> ...


Thanks for the pointer about the zip-ties. That must be the case with the shelves, but I was planning on removing all or most of them anyway, that way there will be more space for climb-y things. I hear you on the CN, I looked wistfully at it, but it's not terribly realistic right now for me either. For one, they are spendy, and two, I don't have near enough room. Sigh.


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## lovemychubbies (Apr 20, 2013)

I had this cage for my two girls for less than a year. I purchased it because I was a novice rat mommy and didn't even consider turning to the internet for cage options and simply relied on what Petsmart stocked. Probably the thing I hated most were the shelves. The surfaces are a weird grainy texture, and the texture seems to just drink up rat pee! They also fell out of place ALL THE TIME. My girls didn't have chewing problems, but either way, you get what you pay for... And it felt like no matter how hard I cleaned that thing, after a few months it just always stank.
It felt complicated cleaning, too. We have a double Critter Nation now, and though it's a bit more time-consuming what with changing out the fleece liners, it's not as much of a painstaking process -- and I don't feel like if bump it wrong I'll bend the wiring of the cage or something.

I suppose it's a fine beginning cage, and I was happy to have it while I did, but I was also happy to see it go. I'll now use it to quarantine rats. If you can, try to find a higher quality cage in the same price range, I'm sure they're out there.


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