# Cheap rat enrichment for a student?



## heartemis (Mar 29, 2014)

Hi, everyone ;D

I mentioned on the welcome page that my fiancé and I are students, so while we're diligent with out of cage time and try to update the cage when we can, my rat's home is looking a little boring because we can't buy all the nice toys for them. A lot of people make their ratties sweet little hammocks and tents, but unfortunately I'm no good at sewing/don't have a sewing machine/can't buy fabric/my rats pee on everything.

What I'd like is some ideas for cheap, around-the-home kind of DIY toys that'll give the girls some fun in the evenings when we're asleep, especially things that they can destroy.

Things I've tried:

Empty tissue boxes (Weren't much of a hit. They didn't chew it, play in it or sleep in it. Didn't even pee in it!)
Draping a rag-cloth over the cage for them to pull through (I did this by accident, at the time. I was temporarily drying a rag cloth on their cage during a rainy day, and they made mincemeat of it, so I guess that means "Yes, please and thank you, mum!")
Empty toilet-roll treat parcels (Giving them one this evening after we're asleep. The smell of cheerios and dog bickies are driving them crazy, already)
Any more ideas?


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

If you can find a place with clean soft orchard grass hay, get that! My rats love it! I have rabbits so they have hay constantly available, and sometimes I'll throw a decent sized handfull into the rat's cages and they love it! I will also sometimes sprinkle treats like a few seeds and cheerios in the hay and they all forage and dig and burrow in the hay searching for the goodies. They seem to really enjoy it. They also will nibble the hay a bit, and use it as bedding and move it into their sleeping spots. Make sure it's not straw hay or other hay with hard sticks, just in case they poke themselves in the eye while nosing around in it. Orchard grass seems good for me. And be sure where you get it stores their hay INSIDE. The one single time I ever bought hay from a new store it was stored outdoors, and ALL my animals got mites/lice and had to visit the vet and get meds and went through a whole huge hassle. It's a risk to get hay, but you can also try freezing it for a few days and that should kill off bugs.

Make pinatas! Similar to your toilet-roll treat parcels. Use newspaper and pile on hay, shredded newspaper, treats etc. then wrap it up and tie on both ends like a popper and hang it in the cage so they have to stretch and shred at it and exercise a little more than if it's just on the floor. Make them work for treats! lol

Just regular shredded newspaper, throw it all over the floor of the cage. My rats eventually collect it all and shove it into their beds and make multiple nests out of it. So it's kind of a gathering activity for them. They also sometimes burrow under it like the hay.

If you have space in your cage, my rats love their wheel. Out of my 5, only 1 doesn't seem to use it. But the rest like it a lot. Especially one girl. She runs in it ALL the time. We've taken to calling it "Aoife's wheel" haha. We have a Wodent Wheel, the largest size, and It's great! Easy to take apart and clean, and very save for the ratters, and good cardio workout for all the runners hehe.

Hmm... I haven't tried it yet with my current 5 really, but have you tried water toys? Get a heavy dish or bowl and fill it with clean rock and frozen veggie like peas and some plastic toys adn interesting tidbits and if you have brave ratties, they will explore it and get the treats and hopefully end up liking the water. Some rats learn to like swimming and dunking their faces!

That's all I can really think about right at this moment. I hope there's something new in here that your rats might like! ;D


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

Oh, one more thing.

Baskets! If you have any second hand thrift stores type of places, you can sometimes find baskets for cheap. Make sure you get non colored, non shiny/untreated baskets that don't have chemicals on them that could hurt your ratters.

We will zip-tie them to the sides or top of the cage, or sometimes just throw them in, and the rats love using them as beds or like hammocks. They occasionally will nibble them too, since destruction is so fun! But then that of course means they have to be replaced haha.


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## heartemis (Mar 29, 2014)

Thanks for the tips 

I do have a wheel in my cage for them to use, one of those ones that don't hurt their feet, but they tend to ignore it in favour of chewing anything they can get their paws on. I hope that we have something like orchard grass here in Australia; I bought barley hay for the mice to play in once, which they loved, but just like your rats, they got a nice mite infestation (from the sealed supermarket brand hay!) and I've only just gotten rid of it, more than six months later. The mice probably only survived it with constant mite spraying. Must've gotten into the carpet, too.

The shredded newspaper is a good one: there's a layer of newspaper at the bottom of the cage underneath the litter pellets, which they tear up and toss around, but they're not so good at nest-making. In fact, if I put tissues down for them in their plastic cubby home, they pee on it and then pull it all out (not necessarily in that order). Haven't been game to do the water toys yet because they don't have a secure out-of-cage area (we have to constantly supervise them). Maybe I can sort that out in the bathroom?

Geez, my rats are fussy! They don't like their wheel, they don't care for tissues; the only thing that makes them happy is chewing my curtains, bed sheets, pillows and sofas.
Hey. Actually. I should make them a dodgy little pillow stuffed with hay and treats; they'd go mad for that!


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## heartemis (Mar 29, 2014)

Ooh, baskets; great one!


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

Plant pots, the larger the better, with extra rat sized holes in them

Branches, aim for fruit tree branches or those with edible nuts when raw. Make brill climbing frames

Buy some cheap fleece throws, you can cut them into strips and plat together to make ropes. Dog rope toys can also be adapted as can thick leads or horse lead reigns.

Look out for wine racks, cd racks etc in charity shops these also make good climbing frames.

In fact most of my rat stuff isnt originally rat stuff, less some hammocks. If you go to my website and look under habitat theres a lot about set up and ideas there


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## heartemis (Mar 29, 2014)

Really great ideas!

(P.S. I just gave them a toilet tube stuffed with dog biscuits and cheerios, then wrapped in paper. They're going _mental_)


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## TheBears (Aug 8, 2013)

The Dapper Rat (http://www.dapper.com.au/toys.htm) has some fun ideas also. And just because you're on a budget doesn't mean you can't look, right? But seriously, I refuse to spend $7 on a toy that they're either not going to play with or will destroy in minutes but I always check the small animal section of the store for deals. I found a fun bird toy with ropes, wooden balls, straws, etc for about $1.50 at Walmart and got a 7" hamster ball (to hang in the cage as a bed/nest) for $2.78 at Petco the other day. You might also find some inspiration for other things you can make!


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

Most toys made for birds are also safe to use for rats since birds are so sensitive, there isnt much to worry about as far as chemicals and such on the toys. I'd avoid plastic if your rats are plastic chewers, but I have some hanging bird toys that are enjoyed.

There's also this skwer type thing that is sold for birds and rabbits and small animals that you can skewer through sliced fruits and veggies and close the sharp end, and then hang it in the cage as a toy and they have to claw at it and rip off the foods to eat them. Sounds like it'd be fun for most ratties! Not sure how expensive it is to buy one in stores, but I'm sure it'd be very easy to make one at home, and maybe use just rope through the treats.


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## Lare (Jan 18, 2014)

I have the skewer thing Finnebon just mentioned, my mom picked it up for the rats a few months ago at PetSmart, it was probably under $10 or she wouldn't have got it. I usually put pasta and cheerios on it with those little wooden chews between them so they're harder to get. It's fun for about 5 minutes because my boys have no sense of saving something for later and will tear the treats off in a heart beat and scamper off to eat them. 

For more long term enjoyment, I take those cat jingly balls (you can get like three in a pack for a dollar or two) and stuff treats through the tiny slits. It's hard, but it's hard for them to get out, too. There's been a cheerio and a yogurt bite in one ball for almost two days now and they're getting more and more frustrated with it, it's pretty funny. I also just stuff treats in hard to get places that they don't frequent as much, stuff a little veggie bite in a loose gap in their rope, hide some in their digging box (which is basically a box full of fleece scraps and toilet paper, broken toys, and toys I throw in when I'm cleaning), and they have oven-dried pine cones and sometimes I stuff cheerio's into them and hide them somewhere in the cage. I usually do all this every other day before I go to bed so they have something to do while I'm asleep.


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