# DCN cage.



## Bronte18 (Jun 2, 2014)

How many rats can the dcn cage hold? I have one coming tomorrow along with 3 rats on Wednesday (long story, was supposed to be 2 but then there would be one female left over, just couldn't leave her). 4 of my boys currently live in a furet plus tower (2 joined together) and sergi and the intersex rat live in a single furet plus. I'm hoping by getting this dcn I can get rid of some of these cages and make things a little neater. So there will be 9 rats all together 5 males together and 3 females plus 1 intersex together... Trying to decide who should go where, any suggestions?


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## Aeyna (Jun 16, 2014)

I think the 5 males would be okay in the DCN, and then the females could take over the the tower? Females tend to be smaller, so they would probably be okay in the smaller cage, but I think males need more room. This is of course coming from someone who has only owned one neutered male rat before, and he was the size of my ex husband's forearm, so in my head, all male rats are huge, lol.


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## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

I use the ratty cage calculator to check stuff like this. 9 does fit! 
http://www.rattycorner.com/odds/calc.shtml just posting this in case you would like it. I chose the option for 2.5 cubic feet and that can fit 12 rats.

If I am not mistaken people recommend the males on the bottom part of the cage and females on top. Just be aware there is room for error so you have to be careful with having both sexes in 1 cage even though it is sectioned off. You will want to buy a bottom pan for the top part because there will be a hole in the top pan. You latch the latter up to make the cages separate. If you want to buy a second full pan so the corner is covered I recommend a metal pan since you'd be buying a replacement anyways. My girls are chewing the plastic pans that come with it and i will be replacing them eventually anyways. I haven't confirmed it but I do know rats can mate between cage bars so that is why covering that middle part is key and I think males on the bottom would lead for a less likeliness of mating through bars upside down.
Here's the link to metal pans
http://www.bassequipment.com/Cage+Pans/Ferret+Pans/default.aspx

Do you have any writing about your intersex rat? It just sounds interesting to me!


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## Aeyna (Jun 16, 2014)

Oh, I didn't even consider splitting the cage in half. Nevermind, that should work, lol.


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## delilahrene (Nov 1, 2013)

I would have no more than 7 males or 9 females in a double. I once had 4 adult males in a single, and it looked terribly cramped. I would suggest having 2 cages to avoid and accidents with putting the wrong rat in the wrong half, and I personally would not have 5 males in a single. As for who goes where, I would base it off which group is more active and would use all the space of a DCN.


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## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

I thought that's what she was saying so I brought it up.
Personally if there are two cages that are substantial enough I wouldn't put them in the DCN because of potential accidental litters, but if you want to size down and just have the one cage, if you divide it well there shouldn't be problems. I seriously considered doing that but I thought the hassle on my part was too great, lol! I just stuck with ladies.

regarding number of rats: you just have to take into consideration how many you want in there. I wouldn't house 12 in my DCN but if you outfit it well there's nothing saying you couldn't. The cage calculator says "This cage will hold up to 12 rats if the space is used wisely." There's a lot of wide open space you have to fill with stuff in order to make 6 happy in a given section. Much more than just the bottom and shelve used in my opinion. It's really just a "this is the maximum" type thing.


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Don't trust cage calculators. Four is a good number for a SCN, but definitely no more than five. That extends to 8 or 9 for a DCN.

Also, the notion that you can put more females is a bit backwards. Even though males are generally a little larger, they tend to not be as likely to use the entire space as females usually do.


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## Bronte18 (Jun 2, 2014)

Thanks everyone for the replies, I've never actually seen a dcn in real life so I don't know exactly how big it's going to be, I just know it's a great cage and the doors on it are amazing! Yes my boys are rather lazy, their cage is big and they rarely leave the top floor or hammock! They like to have their litter on the bottom though. I've been told it's much bigger in real life, should be here tomorrow or Wednesday hopefully, I was hoping I could half it and have boys at bottom girls at the top, my largest boy is 600g so he's pretty big though not too big, he's a pensioner, he literally sleeps and eats in the same place, the rest are just lazy. I'm so excited/nervous about getting girls! I've heard they have much more energy! I'm used to boys (and an intersex) so am I in for a shock? Thanks everyone, I guess I'll know when it gets here, they are used to having a big space and I'll defo look into the metal pan to cover the bottom. I definitely do not want any accidents, as there will be 9 of them already, how am I going to cope lol!


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## delilahrene (Nov 1, 2013)

cagedbirdsinging said:


> Don't trust cage calculators. Four is a good number for a SCN, but definitely no more than five. That extends to 8 or 9 for a DCN.
> 
> Also, the notion that you can put more females is a bit backwards. Even though males are generally a little larger, they tend to not be as likely to use the entire space as females usually do.


Not necessarily that you can cram more in, but I feel you can get away with one or two more females without it looking like rats are overflowing. I suppose it comes from just general size. Although females tend to be more active, a few of my boys have tons of energy as well. I would give my boys more personal space than a smaller female just because of their temperaments. I had four females in a single when I was fostering a while back, and it never seemed too small because of their body size- they used every inch of it for sure, but they all got along so well and enjoyed bounding all over the place without getting in each other's way. On the other hand, my four boys in a single looked uncomfortable, used all the space available, and were more prone to having disagreements without extra room to maneuver (especially during the teenage rebellion period). I would be comfortable having 4 standard-sized females in a single, but would not go over 3 males unless they were smaller and had lovely, calm dispositions. There would be obvious exceptions to this, but that is just my opinion be it right or wrong


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## Bronte18 (Jun 2, 2014)

Could I possibly add a third layer on to the dcn and make it a triple? Is that an option?


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## delilahrene (Nov 1, 2013)

It is, but I am not sure how stable it would be. Plus it would be really difficult to reach the top section unless you are quite tall or enjoy standing on stools. You can modify them to attach at the side- that is what I did when I attached 2 doubles together. You could just add one and make an L shape.


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## Bronte18 (Jun 2, 2014)

Lol I had to laugh at the enjoy standing on stools part , and no I'm tiny 5ft. What is the size of the dcn in terms of ft and inches?


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## delilahrene (Nov 1, 2013)

I think with the stand it is 63 inches, so 5'3 ish


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## Bronte18 (Jun 2, 2014)

Thanks !


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## Aeyna (Jun 16, 2014)

EDIT: Never mind, I posted after reading page one, and hadn't read through page two.


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