# Rat Home Questions



## Faeleigh (Oct 29, 2012)

I was looking through the diffrent homes everyone has for their ratties. Ive noticed a lot of fleece in several cages as well as hammocks. Is there a reason for this? I had a hammock at the begining my rattie Sugar chewed it up to were it was no longer hanging. She chews anything clothe as well as cords and plastic if you're not keeping a close eye on her. My home for them is sorta boring because Im not sure what they would like, Sugar chews up everything. Also, where can I get tunnels big enough for rats? None of the pet stores I have been to have any.







I have gotten an igloo and the hammock is gone since this pic was taken.


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## SIN_sarah (Aug 25, 2012)

Fleece is used because it wont leave stay strings that your rats toes/feet can get caught in and hurt them. I found that after i covered the bars in fleece mine stopped chewing up their hammocks. So maybe more toys will stop the chewing, it's a good idea to get them a wood chew or wooden hut to chew mine love it. For tunnels go to your hardware store and get PVC piping, it's a lot cheaper and you can get all different sizes, just drill holes in it and use metal chain to hang if up. You can use almost anything for toys but just keep in mind that they will chew most things so keep an eye on the toys so they can't hurt them self. If you want some ideas for toys I can give you a few to make. 


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## Faeleigh (Oct 29, 2012)

She chews the fleece too, lol. I would definitely be interested in some toy Ideas, I have apple wood chews for them they like those. They have wood in the cage for chewing but they never chew it.


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## SIN_sarah (Aug 25, 2012)

yeah mine still chew the fleece sometimes but i find that the tighter it is over the bars and the more toys in there the less everything gets destroyed. another good toy idea are those rope perches you can get for birds you can attach them all over the cage and they are good to climb on. You could make your own ropes out of pieces of fleece braided together. 

have a look here http://www.dapper.com.au/toys.htm i've gotten heaps of ideas for toys from there.


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

One reason is that fleece is soft & comfy  Wouldn't you want to sleep on a soft blanket rather then some of the other choices? lol That is probably the best reason for hammocks & other hanging type beds. They love them. My girls chew through some, like the one u have in your cage now, but others have thicker straps or hooks you can use that usually last alot longer.

Other reasons for fleece just depend on what you prefer. I like fleece because it is way less messy then little pieces of wood chips or paper everywhere. And I can just wash it instead of constantly throwing all their bedding away. I find it is way nicer to clean.
Also fleece is great at wicking away moisture which I like.
Also fleece is cute and I can style their cage with cute designs or colors, which is just for me they don't care but still lol

My girls only chew if they can't pull it up. They are getting better at it with the more other hiding stuff in their cage. I have found most blankets last me a long time even if they have a hole here or there.


For other cage stuff, I use alot of boxes. Diet coke cardboard boxes are great, and I have a ton of them lmao. But any box is fine. I got a tunnel online. They never have anything good in my local stores. http://www.ferret.com/ is good and they have nice sales often.
This is a huge favorite of my rats: knot chew


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## Faeleigh (Oct 29, 2012)

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions!


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## JessyGene (Feb 27, 2012)

Mine chew on their fleece too, which is why I buy it second hand and sew my own hammocks. You should check out thrift stores for fleece blankets or even fleece clothing. You don't have to sew to make fleece hammocks; you can just cut a square and then pin it up (some people use grommets). That way when your rat chews them up they aren't not too expensive or difficult to replace. And you can keep the chewed up fleece for bedding.


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## pocketmouse (Jun 13, 2012)

Mine tend to chew more on the fabrics in my room than the fabrics in their cage -_-; I like to use baby blankets/towels/etc that I get from Goodwill and other thrift stores/garage sales to line the bottom of their cage and shelves, as others have mentioned comfort is definitely a reason, and personally I've found that using fabrics has been cheaper/less messy than using a more 'traditional' rat cage bedding (like Carefresh, etc.), also you don't have to deal with the dust that a lot of these beddings produce, and I personally find fabrics to hold less of a scent than the traditional beddings (obviously I change out and wash my fabrics regularly, as well as doing frequent 'spot checks') I like how many different pattern and texture options you get too, and you can switch up the fabrics for the holidays, etc, I really enjoy trying to make my cage visually appealing. For hammocks I have a couple of store bought ones, but they're so expensive and since I can't sew I've added a few "homemade" things in there, like a piece of cut off jeans that I've ziptied to the top of their cage as a fabric tunnel, and for hammocks I've been using Dollar Store wash cloths I just poke a hole in each corner, and zip tie on plastic clips that I took off of old McDonalds toys and there you go, ready to hang in the cage, and of course the rats can't tell the difference between these and the store bought items. Same goes for the plastic tubes that are large enough for rats, I have some that somebody gave me (he had gotten them off Craigslist when he bought a cage, it came with other stuff too. In pet stores they're usually labeled for ferrets or other larger rodents) but I'm sure PVC piping as others have suggested would work just as well, I have a plastic tube zip tied to the top of the cage that my rats love, you could just drill a couple of holes in the PVC piping and use a few zip ties to attach it, and I'm sure your rats would love it. The more toys, hammocks, tunnels, and fabrics that you have around your cage, the more entertained they'll be and they'll probably find specific things they like to chew on instead of everything, my rats have chewed a couple of holes here and there but mostly they just have this one scrap of fabric in one of their hammocks that is completely covered in holes, but now for the most part I think they find enough other things to do in their cage/and while they're out free roaming and hanging out with us that they don't really chew much at all anymore.


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## trematode (Sep 8, 2012)

My cage has a really shallow pan. I tried aspen once but they kicked out and it was incredibly messy to clean out the cage. Fleece is a little easier. I use binder clips and clothes pins to hold it to my levels. I discovered that Velcro works well to stick it to the bottom pan. When it gets smelly, all I do it rip it up, pop it in the washer and then stick a new one on. They occasionally chew fleece. If it gets really bad, I use the chewed pieces as bedding instead of on the levels. It is a lot easier to pick up the stray poops. I've been having a hard time finding things they like to chew. I have some wooden accessories and cardboard in the cage. They seem to like to chew the litter tray and the tupperwear containers that I put their bed in. I just picked up some apple wood and loofa chews to try.


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## Faeleigh (Oct 29, 2012)

Thanks for the responses!


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## Faeleigh (Oct 29, 2012)

Okay well, I exchanged the bedding for fleece, put in a litter box, made a hammock and gave my little mommy a bunch of nesting material, but she keeps trying to take the fleece i layed on the bottom of the cage, is there a way to keep her from trying to shove it in her nest?


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## JBlas (Oct 21, 2012)

Sarah--when you say "I covered the bars in fleece", what do you mean? How do you cover the bars. Draping? Thanks for clarification!


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## pocketmouse (Jun 13, 2012)

Have you added some extra scraps/layers of material? That's what I would do so that they would take that instead of the bottom layer of fabric. I would just put a couple piles of scraps in varying sizes and materials and leave that close to her nest. Maybe you could try clipping the bottom layer down with something too, or tuck it underneath the shelf/cage.


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