# My converted parrot cage



## 750XL (Oct 3, 2011)

Hi all,

Rather than spam another thread with my pictures I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and create a thread to show my cage  I'm a first time rat owner, so any hints and tips are more than welcome to improve the quality of life for my rats.

The cage is a parrot cage which I purchased from eBay as I didn't particularly like the one I had as it was longer and not very tall. I have the rats in my bedroom so I wanted something which would take up less room, I also thing a 'taller' cage makes it a lot more fun for the rats.

To help the rats get around the cage I have wooden shelves dotted around the bars which are held in place with a screw and a washer (I actually bought these from eBay for a really good price, although it'd be relatively easy to make yourself if you're any good with DIY. Ask me if you want me to post the link ). I've got two 'hammocks' in the cage. The green/brown one is made of rope and is more for them to climb over than sleep / rest on, just below that is a fleece hammock which they hardly ever use. As you can see below, I also have a plastic tube / box toy I got off eBay. I think it's actually made for hamsters, but works fine for the rats too. I normally put treats into the 'box' section so they have to crawl up / down the tubes to get to it, other than they they don't really care about it. At the bottom of the cage I have a cardboard box filled with bedding for them and a small hole they chewed to get in / out which is great, no bedding all over my floor! As it was a parrot cage, there is a slide out tray on the floor which I put cat litter in to make cleaning easy, only takes me a few minutes every week to empty and re-fill it.

Everyone's pics usually show rats huddled up together on a nice soft hammock, but not mine. They'd rather sleep at total opposite ends of the cage on the wooden shelves. One normally sleeps on the very top shelf, and one on the very bottom, strange animals


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## Fahlaemee (Oct 4, 2011)

The bars on the floor of the cage can cause bumblefeet. Better take it out!


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

Fahlaemee said:


> The bars on the floor of the cage can cause bumblefeet. Better take it out!


this not true. dirty cage conditions and genetic predispositioning are generally the causes of bumblefoot. there is no real solid cause for it that we know of yet. the bars themselves won't cause it, but either way, standing on them all day is tough on their feet, and they can get caught and sprained - or even broken. 

i have had bare bars in my martins cage forever and none of my rats have had bumblefoot. just make sure you wipe them down daily and give them solid spots to rest their feet on.


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## Kiko (Sep 18, 2009)

What Jaguar says is true.

And also, very nice cage  The only thing I would change is add more hammocks. That way is someone takea a tumble (which does happen) they don't fall 6 feet to the bottom but have a better chance of landing on a soft hammock.


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## 750XL (Oct 3, 2011)

My rats do tumble from time to time (tend to hear it at night when I'm trying to sleep!) but I don't think they ever fall off from a great height as there isn't really anything 'narrow' for them to crawl on etc.

Ideally I don't really want to add any more hammocks as they don't use the one they've got at the moment for anything useful and it just tends to smell after a while.


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## ratjes (Mar 26, 2011)

How about giving them a box/tray with dirt to dig in and branches to climb and chew on? It seems like there is not enough things to do for them despite being a nice roomy cage. It has great potential.


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## 750XL (Oct 3, 2011)

Hello,

A box of dirt would create far too much mess for my bedroom, I don't really want them kicking stuff all over the place.

I'm not sure what you mean exactly by branches? As in branches from a tree? I've never heard of them being put in rat cages for them to chew on / climb etc...


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## ratjes (Mar 26, 2011)

750XL said:


> Hello,
> 
> A box of dirt would create far too much mess for my bedroom, I don't really want them kicking stuff all over the place.
> 
> I'm not sure what you mean exactly by branches? As in branches from a tree? I've never heard of them being put in rat cages for them to chew on / climb etc...


yep, tree branches from non-toxic trees like fruit trees. rats are little mess makers so you have to give and take some.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

you can also use things like shredded newspaper, toilet paper, tissue paper, scrap fleece, etc. in nesting/digging boxes, too 

debarked and dried fruit tree branches work great, i had a bunch of old apple tree branches that sat out to bake in the sun over the summer, and with a little sanding, made perfect rat perches and gnawing toys  my girls loved to pee on them, too!


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## sez-kg (Sep 16, 2011)

> The bars on the floor of the cage can cause bumblefeet. Better take it out!


I also have a bird cage conversion, I put newspaper on the bottom so they have something to support their feet. They do like to chew it up and move it eventually so I try to weigh it down with one of their sleeping houses and their food dish etc. Works pretty well


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