# Show your Hallowe'en cage decor!



## Ratpax

Please show pics of your holiday cage in this thread. ;D

I love how my Hallowe'en cage turned out, although technically it ended up being sort of a weirdish meld of Skelanimals, Sugar Skulls, and actual Hallowe'en stuff.

Works out well, though, 'cause I love sugar skulls and dia de los Muertos, and will use that part of the decor year-round. Since I'm sewing everything myself, I wanted to get a bit more use out of this than just in October.

I tried my hand at both sewing and a tiny bit of painting on this one--this is the upper level:



I made the girls' in-and-outs on all their cubes in the shape of skulls, was a bit trickier to do than it looks, or else I'm just challenged, hehe:



Painted the green sugar skull, and who knew you could find such a cute pink skeleton?:






This is Ara and Ahmi's favorite new thing--they are having a blast exploring this cross-tunnel thing I made from the Ratropolis tutorial.



Lower level (don't laugh at my black kitty, I painted him.):





The whole spooky deal:





I LOVED a couple of the Hallowe'en cages I've seen on here, please share some more pics, guys.


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## templet0n

Oh my goodness! I loooove your setup! The only thing that I'm doing this year is using a black and white theme; my room is Nightmare Before Christmas themed with black and white tile, black and white walls, etc. So I'm going to make them some hammocks and such to match, and maybe throw in a few orange things. c:


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## moonkissed

I love your cage! Did you paint those tubes yourself? What kindof paint did u use?


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## Nic

i think you've pretty much won the halloween rat cage of the year award. lol! Epic cage.


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## PaigeRose

OHHH MY GOD I love lovelove LOVE it!!! So creative. I'm going to have to raid my local dollar store this weekend for spooky stuff!


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## Akarah

Wow!! What an awesome set up!!


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## Ratpax

moonkissed said:


> I love your cage! Did you paint those tubes yourself? What kindof paint did u use?


First, thanks guys.

I'm getting weird looks from friends, hearing mumbled whisperings and...I fear they may be planning an intervention. ;D

Rat cage decorating is addicting.

I really enjoy aquarium decorating too--always have, but this is even more fun 'cause well, I love my fish friends, but rats are way more fun and interactive, obviously.

As for the tubes, yep, I painted them myself, just a non-toxic spray paint that had to set for what seemed forever before I felt comfortable with it. I made my poor vet read the labels (I've tossed the cans, sorry, would recognize it if I saw it again, but forgot the name) first. I'm still prepared to yank them out of the cage and just keep them in the supervised play area if I see any nibble marks, but so far, so good.

I really do hope some of you share pics of your Halloween decor, too--it's one of my favorite holidays to decorate for, and I didn't do much for the house this year--mostly just for the rat girls.


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## Mrs.Brisby

Great cage! I love the skeleton kitties!  I did the best I could with what I could find in the Target scrap bins though sadly the shiny stickers had to be removed after I found a pumpkin stuck to someone's butt.


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## Ratpax

"...sadly the shiny stickers had to be removed after I found a pumpkin stuck to someone's butt..."

LOL LOL!

Yes, a pumpkin stuck on someone's butt is rather a problem. ;D

Thank you for taking the time to post your cage over here. I really do love it. That kitty fabric--I would totally have bought that if I'd seen it.

And, yo--Templet0n, did you ever get your Nightmare Before Christmas decor done? If so, we wanna see.


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## PaigeRose

Just finished mine! I only had enough stuff for half my cage so the bottom is totally boring lol oh well.


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## PawsandClaws

Wow guys, awesome cages. I still have not gotten round to making my Halloween hammocks since I am in the middle of redesigning my sewing area but I hope to have put the Halloween cage up by the 20th.


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## Ratpax

PawsandClaws said:


> Wow guys, awesome cages. I still have not gotten round to making my Halloween hammocks since I am in the middle of redesigning my sewing area but I hope to have put the Halloween cage up by the 20th.


Pics, or you never did it! ;D


Paigerose, I think it looks great!

I'm so envious of all of you who managed to get your actual rats in the pictures--my girls are camera shy.

Ahmi was carrying around one of the tiny skulls in her teeth last night, and I nearly broke a hip, scuttling for the camera and leaping back into the rat room...by which point she was inside one of the cubes, skull toy abandoned, and already snoozing. Sigh.


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## northmcqueen

Did mine today, it's not the greatest since I couldn't find much stuff around here that they wouldn't have destroyed or wouldn't have been bad for them, but got a few bits and did some purple and black fleece!


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## Effy

*It isn't as I want it. It's SO frickin' hard to put things where you want them in a cage with practically no doors. Many swears were shouted. Many curses were uttered.
It's also more than I wanted at ground level.

So it isn't positioned as well as it will be and it's also more cluttered than it will be...but still. XP

After that amount of time, I wanted to share. .___.

Also, the first photos of Temp (Templeton answers to Temp as much as Templeton, which is awesome since that's SUCH a fitting name. xD <3 )
Sorry if you think there are too many photos, I was just excited to have actual toys in there!  <3

So, the whole thing, with a tubey hammock, a regular hammock, a purple plastic cobweb bowl thinger, a black/orange sputnik, a big black hanging hide thinger, some plastic storage trays and a soft pumpkin. Apart from the big hide, he can't actually get to these right now as he can't climb the bars. Since I didn't have time to arrange it how I wanted, safely, I made sure he couldn't get to them, as I don't want him falling with the large spaces left there. I watched him for a good few hours, tried to tempt him up and even put him up there to see if he could get down anywhere. Totally inaccessible right now. Also got a couple of random owls in there...they flash and I thought they were awesome, with their little fabricy wings, so hung those up too. x3
Got a corner litter tray with paper litter in, hope he uses it. (And some aquarium plants! Used to decorate the meece's digging boxes with these, so got a couple orange ones.)
Green tissue box, in a bigger box with bedding in for him to use as he likes and some skeleton friends! Also a ceramic purple and orange bowl hiding somewhere there.
What I don't have in, that I'm going to put in or swap, are: some more well placed stoarage tray 'steps' and I'm going to move the hammock and tube etc. There's an orange cobweb bowl and a purple/black sputnik for when I change it round. Also a hanging toilet roll holder with TP on, because he really loved that. He practically mummified the cage with it.
If he manages with the climbing when I've positioned things carefully, I'll try adding the second half of the height and adding more.
Anyone know any good solid shelves that would fit, for a halfway resting place? (That I wouldn't have to coat or paint or anything!)










Fuzzbutt's cube, a coffin shaped paper giftbox stuffed with paper, a couple of pieces of pasta and a couple rat chocolate drops. As soon as I put him in to explore, he stuck his nose behind this and flung it across the cage. So uncaring of my efforts. X3 There are a couple of upside down egg cups...when I had mice, they used to love playing with these for some reason, (dropping things in them and rolling them around and just dragging them along!) so I thought I'd try them out here, too. I got a dish for water, in case he preferred that (and also because one bottle was seriously leaky, so I took that one away) but it seems he prefers to try and sit in it and knock it over straight away. Guess this ratty likes water.  (I'll do pea fishing with him tomorrow when he's out, but not going to leave bigger water in there as it took a while for me to dry him from this...he didn't seem to want to do it himself.)










Good old favourite toys and an origami gift with folded, springy paper and monkey nuts inside (but don't tell him that, he still hasn't gotten inside it!) Apparently it was his third birthday last week. His real owner gave me some treats and a ball chew for him, so I gave him those straight away (in moderation) and bought this online for him from me and my little one. (Because I'm lazy and couldn't be bothered to origami myself! xP )
You can also see the bottom of a broom I got online. X3 I couldn't not get that. D;
And you can also see that I still only have newspaper down (loads of it, it's nice and thick) because I forgot to buy anything else...but he seems to like it, so, whatever! Just wish it LOOKED nicer!










After being told to get jingly cat balls by people here and his owner giving me a green chew ball, I decided to get some more and offer a variety. Not really a ball pit as it's not big enough, but still good I think! D: Ping pong balls, cat balls and chew balls there. Also got some orange and green chews hanging up and one of the treat sticks his owner sent for him. (and one of the NON leaky bottles...actually, the other isn't in these photos but I did put it back, he has a bottle at either side now.)










This is the first thing he decided to do when he got in. He knocked my delicately stuffed coffin over and then flung it to the opposite side of the cage!










He started washing himself a LOT for some reason when he went in here. Is that a good sign? Relaxed? Or a bad sign of stress? He didn't stop washing on and off for about an hour after I put him in. He seems fine now, but it was a lot more grooming than usual.










He seemed to like the ball corner, he had a nose around, but had other things to check out before he actually got anything out. x3













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## Effy

northmcqueen said:


> Did mine today, it's not the greatest since I couldn't find much stuff around here that they wouldn't have destroyed or wouldn't have been bad for them, but got a few bits and did some purple and black fleece!


*Love the green bucket. x3 Do they enjoy going in that? I wanted to use one but couldn't. ):
*


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## Jess <3

Wow! All of these rat cages are absolutely amazing! It's making me feel like a lazy rat mummy that i don't decorate mine for different holidays...ah well hopefully i'll find a part time job soon and then i'll go all out but until then i'll live vicariously through all of you guys! I'm looking forward to seeing what you all come up with for Christmas cages!


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## LittleBird

Effy- I bought a couple of these shelves from Amazon for my cage and they're perfect! They're a good size and nice & sturdy. 

Prevue Pet Products SPV3201 12 by 8-Inch Wood Small Animal Platform for Cages, Large https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00425AOGE/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_hEitub1T6PZDY


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## PawsandClaws

That black and orange sputnik is making me so jelly! I am so envious. Great cages everyone. I am so late with mine. Only just started sewing a couple of days ago. Got the shelf liners done, a cube, peek-a-boo and tube. Still want to make a honeycomb, pyramid and crosstube at least - and that is just for the youngsters. Then I have to make some easy access hammocks for my senior. Here are the ones I made yesterday.


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## Jess <3

Wow, love that hammock set, how are you all so good at this?!


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## PawsandClaws

Lots of practice. I wasn't very good when I first picked up sewing and I would say I am definitely still learning. The tubes are fairly easy and so are flat hammocks. Cubes are more difficult.


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## Jess <3

Well done, they look so professional! Is it more cost effective to buy the materials and make them yourself instead of buying the pre-made ones?


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## PawsandClaws

Definitely more cost effective since you can shop around for cheap fabrics. However, there's an initial start up cost for a good machine and additional extras plus a learning curve if you do not know how to sew. These costs can be partially negated if you hunt second hand deals on Craigslist but I have definitely spent a lot in the beginning. Then there is the time investment in making these, which you have to put some value on. If you are taking just fabric cost into consideration, it is a lot cheaper than buying pre-made. I spent $18 ($4-$5 a yard) on the orange fleece and bat cotton and have used a little under half of it making the hammocks you saw.


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## Jess <3

Wow that's definitely better than spending £10 or more on each one! My mum is very good at sewing so maybe i could speed up the learning curve with her help. I guess with Christmas coming up (and so hopefully some money coming my way  ) now is a good time to start looking for sewing machine, i probably will try to find one second hand to save a little money. The time investment shouldn't be too big of an issue, i study my A Levels from home so i don't have a college schedule to fit around and although i do hope to start working soon it will only be part time, that should leave plenty of time to work on my hammock making skills! Thanks for talking me through that, hopefully sometime in early 2015 i should be able to share my own creations here (though i'm sure they'll be a little raggedy at first)


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## PawsandClaws

I would definitely recommend it. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing your work at the end of the sew session. I really enjoy it (as frustrating as it is sometimes) and my boys love how often they get new stuff to play with. The cool thing is you can be as creative as you want and combine the patterns and colors that you love. One of my favorite things is fabric shopping. I get very excited when my boyfriend says he will drive me out on sale day.


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## PawsandClaws

Well, here it is... my cage this Halloween.















Tried to get some pictures of the boys in it but they were too fast for me!


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## PawsandClaws

Managed to capture Kiwi enjoying his pumpkin bowl. I wish I had better lighting set up for these shots 







look at his silly little hairdo!


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## mimsy

Love all your pictures of cages. I didn't do anything this year and now I'm feeling like I'm missing out. Well except the bucket with eyeball pingpongs lol-i went and got all that for em. 

Ratpax, yours is truly inspiring. I may steal several ideas from your cage-the painted pvc pipes, I love the embroidery patches on the hammocks. 

Ms brisby if that is a little cobweb carpet on the floor that I see, I'm so jealous.

Paigerose-lots of really cute homemade stuff-and I love purple with the orange and black.

Effy-those hide's are really amazing. Not only super cute, but they look really comfy. And the black and orange sputnik is priceless.

Great set pawsandclaws. I'm becoming inspired to try sewing my own. The orange pumkin bowl is really cute.


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## kksrats

@Ratpax--where on earth did you find pink pvc?! Or did you paint it? So much of my stuff is mismatched because I'm afraid they'll chew paint off >.<

@Pawsandclaws--the hammock, cube and tube are absolutely astounding!

@mimsy--the ping pong balls in the bucket is all I did too :/ 3 of my girls love them, my boys will just throw them out to sleep in the bucket and Isis just uses them to cover her food bowl (which keeps her from hoarding so I can't complain )


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## mimsy

kksrats-maybe she just wants to hoard, not necessarily food. Huge toy boxes full of lots of little things to take and hoard might be just what she wants.


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## kksrats

She's a natural food hoarder, but if I keep enough moveable objects (toys, fleece scraps, etc) in her cage she'll just put them over her food bowl without taking the kibble out. Occasionally after I clean I'll forget to put all of her stuff back in and she'll immediately start moving food into her house. I don't really care that she hoards (since she lives alone atm), but it makes it difficult to keep an eye on how much food she has and she also becomes really protective of her stash (if she's moved it to her house, in the bowl is fine) if I try to move her house or if one of the other girls finds their way into her cage.

I call her my little dragon because all of her extra shiny things that she's not using to hide her food will be stashed in her "lair" lol I never know what I'll find when I take the house out to clean. She steals things from around my office too >.<


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## Effy

*Tried to rearrange it so he could get to the higher stuff....but he still can't reach the hammock. Dx
Still haven't got a proper shelf or something to use as one, yet...so tried using loads of baskets.....dunno if it'll work yet.....
Also put the purple sputnik at the bottom.


















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## Crazyratlady94

I haven't decorated the cage yet, but my grandma sent my big girls some costumes for Halloween! Roro is a princess, CC is a giraffe and LeeLee is a ladybug! Please don't think I'm too crazy!


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## PawsandClaws

How did they take to the outfits. I love the ladybug. I wanted to do dress up this year but I do not think my boys will appreciate it much so decided against it.


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## Crazyratlady94

Roro-the princess, was the only one who left hers on for any period of time and I think that's just because she's a little chubby haha
I guess I'm a bad mama because I just giggled the entire time!


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## ratbasket

I couldn't do my cage, but I did do their play area!


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## Dezreeluv

My boys Halloween cage


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## Teapig

I'm kind of a newbie to keeping rats and I had no idea people decorated their cages like this... I am soooo impressed! These are SO adorable. I can't wait to get my boys a new cage so I can decorate it for the holidays!


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## northmcqueen

Effy said:


> *Love the green bucket. x3 Do they enjoy going in that? I wanted to use one but couldn't. ):
> *


Belated reply, sorry! Just saw this!
Yes they were dubious at first but then they ended up sleeping in it lol


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## Ratpax

Gosh, I've been super busy, and just briefly on here in a very hit-or-miss fashion.

I really missed a lot of replies, sorry.

I LOVE the costumes, and everyone's cage and play area ideas.

And yep, I painted the PVC. I let it cure a long time, prior to putting it in there--so far the girls haven't nibbled it except for one tiny tooth mark on the green pipe--I'm keeping an eye on it, and if they start to nibble in earnest, it will be moved to their play area instead--I supervise their play so can nix any paint-eating right away. It's supposed to be non-toxic, but, meh.

I sort of didn't want Hallowe'en to be over, this year, worse than usual. It's one of my favorite holidays.


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## Selz

I'm so sad I didn't get sewing in time for Halloween :-(. Got lots of ideas for next year though, thanks to some of your pics! Is it too soon to start sewing now?.....

So, if there are any straggler Halloween pics to come, please still let me see them! ;-).


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## Ratpax

Selz said:


> I'm so sad I didn't get sewing in time for Halloween :-(. Got lots of ideas for next year though, thanks to some of your pics! Is it too soon to start sewing now?.....
> 
> So, if there are any straggler Halloween pics to come, please still let me see them! ;-).


It's never too soon to start sewing! ;D

Plus, right after a holiday, the seasonal fabrics are usually half off or more if you catch a clearance deal.

I started the set that is going to be my girls' Christmas present (not Christmas-themed, just their warm comfy present) back in October, and then somehow got suckered into taking in boys and so my way-ahead-of-schedule project for the girls got waylaid and sidetracked, bigtime, while I got my boys some basics made up.

I'm glad I already got the set partly done, early, though--now I just might stand a chance actually getting it done by Christmas.


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