# Thoughts On These Cages?



## DragonFire43 (Oct 20, 2012)

not sure about the plastic. about $95 so good price. reviews were great







ramps a little steep. around $160







around $70. all mesh. reviews said hard to clean







around $80. comes with a bunch of chinchilla food and stuff i probably couldnt use.







around $100. lots of plastic. unsafe wheel. 

your thoughts?


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

1. Good cage reviews, has 1 inch bar spacing and plastic shelves so will Need to line them with fleece and make sure that your rats are big enough to not get through 1 inch (Or wrap it in hardware cloth) that was actually one of my first choices when I was looking for bigger cages. A good cage for rats who like a lot of room to run. has about 14 to 16 square feet.

2. Personally for it's price you can get a Critter nation which has more space. Plus the wire grid floor. about 8 to 10 square feet

3. I have it, I like it. It Can be hard to clean, but we just put it in the bath tub use a thing called Mineral shock (I forgot the name of the company but you can get it at most janitorial supply warehouses) and then spray it with 1-18 (same company as the Mineral shock) let it dry for a few minutes then put it back together. in total takes about 5 to 10 minutes if you have someone helping you, without help maybe 10 to 20 minutes. If you can get it on craigslist in good quality that would be better. 6 square feet.

4. I know nothing of the cage, but personally I wouldn't get it since it would have stuff you wouldn't be using. Has 8 square feet.

5. A lot of people like them. you can take the wheel (and hammock) out. Once again plastic shelves so you need to line them with fleece to keep bumble foot from happening. has 8 square feet.


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## Cocoriggs89 (Sep 11, 2012)

The bigger the better 


Luna and Isis mom


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## PrincessRat (Aug 22, 2012)

Personally I would go with the second one. The ramps don't look all that steep to me, and the rats should be fine with them. Unless you're like me and can't stand the vertical bar spacing, then it looks like a good cage. 

Second choice would be the last one, if you can remove the wheel.


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## PrincessRat (Aug 22, 2012)

Woah I didn't see the price on the second one at first. If you want a cage like that, go for a single level critter nation, not much more money and way better cage.


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## DragonFire43 (Oct 20, 2012)

The thing with the critter nations are that the rats might be able to spill bedding all over my floor. Because the pan on the bottom isn't very deep


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

Yes, that's a drawback of the FN/CN. Litter training and washable liners would be your best option there.

The last cage is probably the most suitable one for rats. It's got the same footprint as a Martin's R-680 (30x18x24) so it is a good size for 2-3 rats. The downside is the shelves/laders and pan is cheap flimsy plastic and it has a nice ridge they can chew on. Super Pet does actually sell full replacement parts for this cage. If you can find it for cheaper I'd go with that one. Otherwise what about a Martin's? http://www.martinscages.com/products/cages/rat/


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## gal5150 (Aug 14, 2012)

I have #2, the prevue rat/chin cage, the ramps aren't steep....or at least not any steeper than any other rat cage. I personally prefer it to the CN because the bar spacing is tighter (1/4") and its only inches smaller. I find it super easy to clean and I just removed the wire floor and am only using the pan. My boys have been in it since 5 wk old and they love it and have had no problems scaling it....I actually like that they have to work a little harder when climing because of the verticle bars. I love it


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## McWhat (Oct 15, 2012)

I have the last one. I just bought it on Friday. My girls love it! Worth the price. My girls aren't huge chewers so I'm not too worried about them chewing on the shelves. I've lines all of the shelves with fleece and still use care fresh bedding for the bottom...I'm in the process of litter training. My girls would much rather take the litter from the litter pan and hide it than actually use it. But they love the space that the cage offers. I got mine from petsmart. I'm considering taking out one or two of the plastic ramps seeing how they like to scale the side of the cage. As for the wheel, I didn't even bother putting it in the cage. I bought a rat safe one from the pet store, but the girls aren't really interested in it. I put it on their free range table and sometimes they use it, sometimes they don't. 

Hope this helps


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## LaTortue (Oct 17, 2012)

How many rats will this cage be housing?

1.) Personally I don't use cages with 1" bar spacing for any of my rats, even adults. Adult females can be, and usually are, pretty petite, and I've also had quite a few males that never get that big. A young rat of any age, as well as a small adult female and even male, can very easily squeeze through 1" bar spacing. And modding the cage with hardware cloth is really way more trouble than its worth in most cases.

2.) You would need to remove the wire grate on the bottom (i *think* this might be possible to do pretty easily) in order for it to serve the purpose of being able to contain bedding better than the CN pans and also be appropriate for rats. If its possible to do this, and the pan underneath is deep enough to hold at least a shallow layer of bedding, then it might be a possibility. Also, most people don't use loose bedding in their CNs, they cover the pans with fleece, liners, towels, etc. which can be changed out and washed regularly. 

3. On sale with free shipping at petco.com for about $63 right now, and for 2, maybe 3 rats, it really is quite a good cage for that price. I've owned several, and while theres definitely things that could be improved on it, I still liked it quite a bit. Like LightningWolf, I did not find it that hard to clean, and the wire levels/shelves and metal base vs. plastic are also major pros in my opinion. My biggest issue with it was the size of the doors--you can't fit litter boxes or wheels through them meaning the whole thing has to be lifted off the base to get them in, and it can be hard to reach certain spots when trying to hang hammocks.

4.) Don't know much about this cage--what are the dimensions and bar spacing? Personally it doesn't look worth it to me.

5.) I've owned several of these cages as well. Its a good size for 2-3 rats, the base is deep enough to keep most bedding in, and there are lots of decorating options. Also, the wheel it comes with is actually safe for rats. The new styles of mesh wheels they make now, unlike the old-school ones with bars they used to make for hamsters, are perfectly fine. I've used mesh wheels in multiple cages for years with no issues. The plastic shelves are one of the big drawbacks to me, they collect pee and poop like crazy and end up absorbing the urine smell which can be nearly impossible to get rid of. But if you line them with fabric that is changed regularly, or are diligent about wiping them down with an unscented baby wipe every day, you can keep that from being an issue. I know that I've seen them in many stores and online for less than $100, probably closer to $80.


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## PrincessRat (Aug 22, 2012)

DragonFire43 said:


> The thing with the critter nations are that the rats might be able to spill bedding all over my floor. Because the pan on the bottom isn't very deep


I have a CN and use fleece and a litter box. I've also heard that if you use the Carefresh crinkles bedding it usually stays pretty well with the flat pan but I'm not sure. Some people don't like the idea of fleece because of the fact that rats like to nest and dig, what I do is use the fleece liners for the pans and then put carefresh, toilet paper, bits of cloth, cardboard, etc. in there and they pull it into their houses and beds. I've also found that with using fleece, it's much easier to keep little toys in the cage. When I had my old cage with a deep pan, I got some little blocks and balls and stuff for the rats and they would always end up buried and peed all over and never played with. Now they play with them all the time. Also I Iove that the full front opening doors, decoration and cleaning is quite easy. 

And if you are really not into the idea of a cloth liner bedding and want to use paper or aspen or whatever you prefer, you can replace the flat pans with bass pans in the critter nation. I've been considering this because as much as I love using fleece, my girls have gone completely nuts with their chewing and I'm not sure if I can afford to replace the fleece so often. 

I love my critter nation and hope to get a DCN soon, I would never use another cage after having this.


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## DragonFire43 (Oct 20, 2012)

Thank you everyone for the help! I appreciate it!


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## VampireSmeezeGirls (Oct 7, 2012)

I wouldn't call the first cage escape proof at all. The wire is flipped from an FN and it's not as sturdy as an FN. I've had two pound males pancake themselves out and wiggle out of that type bar spacing easy peasy.


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## Run Computers (Oct 14, 2012)

They do sell extension pieces that attach to the critter nations pan, to stop the bedding from being kicked out. Don't know why they just don't include the pan lips with the cage?


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## CrazyRatLady (Oct 20, 2012)

I noticed #2 was the most expensive of the ones you were considering, but if you're willing to pay that much and your space isn't extremely limited, I'd recommend this cage. It's similar in design to the FN/CN cages and there would be a lot of space for your ratties. It's $160 with free shipping on this site, but you can also find it on amazon.
If you have your heart set on one of the ones you posted I'd probably go with either #1 or #3. Good luck choosing a cage for your babies


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## PrincessRat (Aug 22, 2012)

gal5150 said:


> I have #2, the prevue rat/chin cage, the ramps aren't steep....or at least not any steeper than any other rat cage. I personally prefer it to the CN because the bar spacing is tighter (1/4") and its only inches smaller. I find it super easy to clean and I just removed the wire floor and am only using the pan. My boys have been in it since 5 wk old and they love it and have had no problems scaling it....I actually like that they have to work a little harder when climing because of the verticle bars. I love it


The bar spacing on the CN are 1/4 as well and they are horizontal specifically for rats to climb on.


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## DragonFire43 (Oct 20, 2012)

Thanks everyone! I don't have a lot of money to spend considering I'm 13. But I'll see what I can do. You guys are a great help!


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## gal5150 (Aug 14, 2012)

PrincessRat said:


> The bar spacing on the CN are 1/4 and they are horizontal specifically for rats to climb on.TE]
> 
> My bad, I was thinking of FN bar spacing. I still like the vertical bars....rats can never get too much exercise or challenge. Both great cages!


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## DragonFire43 (Oct 20, 2012)

Lol thanks


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## DragonFire43 (Oct 20, 2012)

and i shouldnt say i dont have a lot of money to spend. my parents will help pay. cos they are awesome.  <3 but i dont want to spend a lot of money more than i have to


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