# Not sure about cages.



## Yuka (Sep 13, 2012)

Alrighty, so the rats aren't with me yet but we're trying to figure out how to house them. The ones we're trying to get are 6 weeks old so they're gonna be tiny little things who won't need much space right away in comparison to adult rats. We already have this cage already that we use for our hamster 'til she moved into a tank: http://www.superpetusa.com/product-list/my-first-hamster-home-2story-4pack.htm. Would that be okay for a couple of babies for a little while? 

Also, would this cage be suitable for adult rats or maybe teenagers: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752703&lmdn=Pet+Type? Or would it be better to get this: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4470997&lmdn=Pet+Type? So many choices! Help a sistah out here, eh.


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## achackysac (Sep 11, 2012)

The first one seems okay for babies, but they will outgrow it VERY fast.

The dimensions for the chinchilla cage are good, bigger is better, but the pan is shallow. In my experience with my girlies, shallow pans mean HUGE messes if you plan on using bedding like Carefresh. If the bottom of the cage wasn't at least 4 or 5 inches tall, about half of the bedding would be kicked out over night. Just something to think about ;D If you plan on using liners or something, or maybe get lucky with some less, mess-oriented fuzzies, then it would probably be fine. It looks like there is some good room for toys and hanging beds stuff!


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## IOVERATS (Aug 25, 2012)

The first one, being a hamster cage is a bad idea, because this cage will stump their growth which is extremely bad for them. I would just buy a bigger cage first time round and save all the hassle. Another reason why I wouldn't use the hamster cage is because its not very exciting, so basically if they have an argument (the two rats) then it will be difficult for them to get their own space, rats ideally need a nesting box and at least two hammocks so they have options and the chance to get away from each other. So I would strongly suggest buying a bigger cage to start off with. Agreeing with achackysac, if you get a cage with a shallow pan, you will get bedding and any other bedding type things, so I would use fleece liners for shallow panned cages, but some people complain that CareFresh is too dusty so if your concerned about that, then I would use fleece liners which is just ordinary fleece bought in craft, material etc shops. I personally think that the last cage is better because its more exciting and I think that they will enjoy it much more, its also got lots of room for hammocks, hanging toys and anything else you may want to hang up or put in the cage .

I would personally avoid the hamster cage, as it won't do your rats any good! So good luck


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## unlikelyfather (Sep 11, 2012)

Yuka said:


> Alrighty, so the rats aren't with me yet but we're trying to figure out how to house them. The ones we're trying to get are 6 weeks old so they're gonna be tiny little things who won't need much space right away in comparison to adult rats. We already have this cage already that we use for our hamster 'til she moved into a tank: http://www.superpetusa.com/product-list/my-first-hamster-home-2story-4pack.htm. Would that be okay for a couple of babies for a little while?
> 
> Also, would this cage be suitable for adult rats or maybe teenagers: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752703&lmdn=Pet+Type? Or would it be better to get this: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4470997&lmdn=Pet+Type? So many choices! Help a sistah out here, eh.


There's nothing wrong with the hamster cage for two six week olds. You'll hear a lot of "don't use it, don't use it!" but six week old rats are tiny and sometimes the bars on larger cages aren't meant for tiny rats. Which can involve squeezing out if your rats are the sly kind. 

I haven't looked at either of the cages but there is a link to a rat cage space calculator running around here somewhere. It can tell you how many rats you can have in each of those cages. If you don't want to use that litter tray that others are saying is small, you could do liners and put a litter box in of your own choosing - which would be better in the first place because it means cleaning less once you get them litter box trained. So I wouldn't worry about it too much.


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## Yuka (Sep 13, 2012)

Hey everyone, thanks for your replies!  

Just letting you know, once we get them we're gonna immediately start trying to potty train them. It'll make things so much easier for us in the long run lol. We're thinking that gonna buy the big rat cage now anyway since they are gonna grow like weeds but we'll see how they do. We'll get the big cage set up and if it looks like they can squeeze through the bars, into the hamster cage they go until they get a bit bigger. How would I go about making and maintaining fleece liners by the way? They sound very nice.


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## Pixxie (Jun 3, 2012)

I have the All Living Things cage and I absolutely love it. It's essentially the Super Pet Exotics cage, but a different brand. The SPE is a few dollars cheaper on Amazon right now with free shipping, but the cost difference isn't really much: http://www.amazon.com/Super-Pet-First-Exotics-Large/dp/B000TZ5BRI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347682487&sr=8-1&keywords=super+pet+exotic+cage

Pros of the cage:
-It's huge without being too huge, so it fits places.
-It is reasonably well made and not hard to take down to clean once you get the hang of it
-It is insanely easy to assemble. Literally, all you do is unfold the wire top part and pop down two clips to keep it on the base. The levels are a little tricky to get in right at first. 
-It has a nice, deep pan to keep litter in if you do ultimately go to litter
-It has wheels but is light enough to be easily picked up
-It has good 1/2 inch bar spacing and enough doors to access most of the cage fairly easily

Cons:
-Good luck figuring out how to hold a liner down on the bottom
-Shelves are a bit tricky to work with at first
-Some corners are awkward to get to, especially when hanging hammocks
-It is really only good for 3 rats maximum


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## Yuka (Sep 13, 2012)

If I could get that cage that cheap, I would probably go for it lol. But that's the American Amazon and I'd need to use the Canadian one and it's not available on there. The cage is available at Petsmart, however it costs $100 though. :C


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## aripatsim (Jul 26, 2012)

I used to house my two males in the All Living Things cage and I enjoyed. It's very suitable for two adult males. I wouldn't put more than two though. 

I hate how the dimensions on the website are wrong! It's actually bigger than that. The shelves are good too because you can clip them however you want. Some people do it like the picture, but I've seen others put there's together to make a whole second floor. It's nice because you can switch it around to keep your rat's interested 

The wheel that comes with it sucks though. It's cheap and wire, don't use it. In fact, if you take it out it gives your rats more room to run/jump. My rats (and most) prefer hanging toys and hidey houses.

The water bottle that comes with the cage isn't terrible, but I would reccommend getting a better one. The food dish is actually sturdy, although I prefer the kind that hang on the side of the cage  

The bar spacing is great, too I would go with that cage because like you said, they'll grow fast and you won't even have to switch them to a new cage. That one is fine for 6 week olds


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## IOVERATS (Aug 25, 2012)

unlikelyfather said:


> There's nothing wrong with the hamster cage for two six week olds. You'll hear a lot of "don't use it, don't use it!" but six week old rats are tiny and sometimes the bars on larger cages aren't meant for tiny rats. Which can involve squeezing out if your rats are the sly kind.
> 
> I haven't looked at either of the cages but there is a link to a rat cage space calculator running around here somewhere. It can tell you how many rats you can have in each of those cages. If you don't want to use that litter tray that others are saying is small, you could do liners and put a litter box in of your own choosing - which would be better in the first place because it means cleaning less once you get them litter box trained. So I wouldn't worry about it too much.


Oh, 6 WEEKS! Not 6 MONTHS! I was reading your post and I thought, 'ummm no way, can you keep a 6 month old rat in a hamster cage, let alone two' and then I realised. So yeah, you can but not forever  


A wise t-shirt once said 'my rats think your gross too!' directed at all you rat haters out there!


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## IOVERATS (Aug 25, 2012)

Yuka said:


> Hey everyone, thanks for your replies!
> 
> Just letting you know, once we get them we're gonna immediately start trying to potty train them. It'll make things so much easier for us in the long run lol. We're thinking that gonna buy the big rat cage now anyway since they are gonna grow like weeds but we'll see how they do. We'll get the big cage set up and if it looks like they can squeeze through the bars, into the hamster cage they go until they get a bit bigger. How would I go about making and maintaining fleece liners by the way? They sound very nice.


I don't have rats yet, but my cousin has 22 rats, and they all have fleece liners, because they are so much easier to use and also not only that it's dust FREE, you don't find that much in CareFresh, or many others like it. The only problem with it, is that it doesn't absorb urine very well and the smell was horrible (I don't mean rat urine smells horrible, but image 22, possible even more rats at the time, weeing, it didn't smell good). So she went to her local craft shop and bought loads of fleece, cotton wadding (I think that's what it was called) and some zip parts. She sewed two pieces of fleece together (the same size as the base of her cage) she left one end open, and stuffed it with cotton wadding, because it absorbs urine really well! So once she had a really nice amount shoved in she put the zip thing along the open end and zipped it up, she was going to do double fleece on each side so that it would be warmer, but she didn't, but she put it in the cage and it was wonderful it absorbed all the urine and her boys and girls (yes they all got some!) and she changed them every time she did the big clean out, because they were THAT good. However they started chewing them so she went back to fleece liners and towels. Her girls were trying to get the wadding out, so she stopped using them completely because she was scared of chocking.

But with the fleece and the towel just make sure you clean them out more often, whenever you feel like they need it. Just shove them in the washing machine with a safe detergent, I'm sure I found a list once, will look it up for you  when I'm not so squeezed for time, as it is I'm running late haha, but the rat forum is more worth it . 

Also, if you want to keep the fleece from being ripped up and stored in their beds, I can't promise no chewing of the fleece, but if you take off the top of your cage (the wire part) and then put the fleece in, making sure it drapes over the sides of the cage, and then clip the wire top bit back on  good luck  sorry if a rambled a bit too much! Being shouted at now to get of my iPad  bye  


A wise t-shirt once said 'my rats think your gross too!' directed at all you rat haters out there!


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## Yuka (Sep 13, 2012)

Ooh so much information~ <3 You guys are wonderful! Would the smell on the fleece liners for a pair of rats be all that noticeable? Kinda paranoid about that lol, small apartment and all. 
I'm glad to hear my choice of cage suits 2 males because that's what we're going for.  Unlike hermit crabs, not as easy to stick a bunch of those together. xD Now as for wheels, is it NECESSARY for them to have one? Or would they wear themselves out by playing with each other, with other toys and with us? Because that'd be nice to have peace and quiet. ahahahah


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## unlikelyfather (Sep 11, 2012)

Yuka said:


> Ooh so much information~ <3 You guys are wonderful! Would the smell on the fleece liners for a pair of rats be all that noticeable? Kinda paranoid about that lol, small apartment and all.
> I'm glad to hear my choice of cage suits 2 males because that's what we're going for.  Unlike hermit crabs, not as easy to stick a bunch of those together. xD Now as for wheels, is it NECESSARY for them to have one? Or would they wear themselves out by playing with each other, with other toys and with us? Because that'd be nice to have peace and quiet. ahahahah


Most people will say that wheels are totally optional. The rats don't usually go for them, and they take up unnecessary space. Get some cat toys to play with them with and you'll be fine. 

You know, feather fluff ball on a string type cat toys.


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## Yuka (Sep 13, 2012)

unlikelyfather said:


> Most people will say that wheels are totally optional. The rats don't usually go for them, and they take up unnecessary space. Get some cat toys to play with them with and you'll be fine.
> 
> You know, feather fluff ball on a string type cat toys.


Ooh fantastic!  They shall have many toys of the feline variety. ^.^ These guys are gonna love me lol


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## IOVERATS (Aug 25, 2012)

Yeah, wheels are not necessary so don't worry but some love them, my cousin has 22 rats and only 4 like wheels , so all rats are different, it's just finding something they ALL like! That's the pain, well I have no rats yet, but my cousin has 22 . There are loads of websites out there that will help you make your own rat toys and they are so cheap, and even sometimes free  

Dapper rats is a good website  
Rat chatter is another one. 
Just look up on google and I'm sure you'll find plenty of great ideas, half of my cousins rat toys are homemade, so that's good .

About the smell on the fleece liners, well, it depends what you wash them with, if you use weak detergent, chances are the smell will stay. However if you wash with something too strong it's bad for them, so it's getting the mix just right. You could try washing them by hand, my friend does that, but it takes awhile, so it's just really what you would prefer to do. My friend has 2 male rats and their at the age now where they're scent marking so it means that their fleece liners smell terrible! So she uses a strong shower gel and hand washes them, it takes her around 30 minutes to clean them properly, so it is a tedious job, but i help her when I can but it may be depending if the rat is in the teenage stage (males normally, but females do scent mark sometimes) so if you wash them regularly then you'll be fine  

Good luck  fleece liners are Deffo the best option by far, they are dust free and they are so soft and comfy  downside, they can be expensive 

I have a good idea for a ratlet (baby rat, if you didn't know, sorry if you did) hanging bed. If you get a beanie hat (not woollen as this will get their nails and feet stuck in there) and hang it up from the cage, and maybe put a bit of fleece inside it for comfort, they can snuggle up in there, will have to try that with my cousins rats. 

Another thing is, if you know where you can get a feather boa or a feather duster, then you can let your ratties chase it, this is normally a better option for hyper baby ratties . But some adults still like chasing things, my cousins rats love chasing things but that's mainly her baby ones . Or if you can't find anything like that then buy a cheap dressing gown and take out that bit used to tie it around you and they can chase that  and if the actually dressing gown itself is safe for rats, you could drape it over yourself and let your ratties climb all over you, this is better for young ratlets to bond with you because they associate dark and warm as safe, therefore your exhibiting these factors and they will bond with you really well . Or a cat toy that are used for cats to chase are another good thing for them, as they love to chase things and it does the same job anyway . So you can see there are plenty of free or cheap ways to entertain your ratties . 

If you know where you can get cheap bird toys, then that's another good option for ratties  good luck with your ratterbums. 


A wise t-shirt once said 'my rats think your gross too!' directed at all you rat haters out there!


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## Pixxie (Jun 3, 2012)

My three boys rarely ever used their wheel. They sort of half-heartedly ran on for 30 seconds it so I took it out. The wheel that comes with the ALT cage doesn't really squeak as long as you oil it periodically, so you can let them run on it and see if they like it. I can personally attest to the fact that you can easily come across free rat toys- my rats get my used tissue boxes and other cardboard boxes and go nuts with them. Also, Walmart is great for finding cheap cat and bird toys that rats really like. Just make sure to take a good look at the toy to make sure it is safe. And so long as you keep up on changing the liners and wipe up what doesn't make it into the litter box, it doesn't smell.


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## Yuka (Sep 13, 2012)

Thanks for all the tips! ^.^ I really really appreciate it!


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