# Found a nice deal on craigslist, is this big enough for 2?



## pood (Sep 2, 2010)

I've been looking for a rat cages for housing 2 rats (Burmese Dumbo Dwarf)that I will purchasing later this month.

Will this cage be suitable?

http://www.amazon.com/Super-Pet-First-Multi-Floor-Large/dp/B0002DJ29A

Someone is selling it almost new for $40.

Product Dimensions: 18.1 x 30.2 x 29 inches


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## eddricksmommy101 (Jul 16, 2010)

whats the bar spacing, otherwise it looks great, be careful though, if its 1 inch bar spacing your gonna have to put hardware cloth around the cage to make sure of no escapers


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## Kiko (Sep 18, 2009)

Thats a great cage, It has 1 inch spacing, which for 2 males that are grown it is totally fine, and for females that are fully grown it is usually fine unless they are very small.

My smallest female does not fit through 1 inch bars, but there are some exceptions.


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## oatsnyogurt (Apr 5, 2010)

dwarfs could walk through a 1 inch space so if dwarfs is what you are going to get I would say either cover it with hardware cloth all over it or just look for something else. :-\


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## Kiko (Sep 18, 2009)

Oh, If it is Dwarfs you are better off getting a smaller spacing defiantly.

Look into Martins cages, 680 and above is what you want. They are very affordable. And have rat proof spacing.


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## pood (Sep 2, 2010)

OatsnYogurt said:


> dwarfs could walk through a 1 inch space so if dwarfs is what you are going to get I would say either cover it with hardware cloth all over it or just look for something else. :-\


Really? Is that when they're still young or fully grown? I'll probably go checkout the cage tomorrow, I'll just get some cloth to cover it if the cloth isn't too expensive.


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## Kiko (Sep 18, 2009)

Hardware cloth is cheap, like 15$ for a large roll, or cheaper for smaller rolls, you need wire cutters, and zipties also.
it is a pain to put on (literally and figuratively)


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Full grown dwarfs are usually less than 200 grams, and a lot of females 300 grams plus slip through 1" spacing easily, so yeah you are gong to have to mesh that cage. It doens't look nice, its hard to do, you need to buy tin snips, zip ties, measure everything, cut out the panels carefully put it on, etc...I found it a royal pain. I would look into the R-680 for your pair of boys and never have to worry about meshing again. The SP also has nasty, what I call Pee-river shelves...not an SP lover anymore, after having had FN's and Martins


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## pood (Sep 2, 2010)

Looks like I may not be getting dwarfs afterall, the breeder is not responding to my emails, so I may wait a few weeks for 2 dwarf rex hair dumbos.

I got the cage today from the craiglister, very clean and freaking huge! The guy originally purchased it for $100 locally.


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## pood (Sep 2, 2010)

Lol, so I got my babies yesterday (just past 5 weeks) finally, they're not dwarf, but they slipped through those bars so quick! 

Spent all day cutting up wire cloth (not fun!) Is it okay that i use galvanized? lowes didn't have any coated versions.


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## PEG (Aug 19, 2010)

Yeah but be prepared to replace it once the pee soaks in and it starts to smell!


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## pood (Sep 2, 2010)

PEG said:


> Yeah but be prepared to replace it once the pee soaks in and it starts to smell!


replace them? took me all day to cut them out with my cheap wire cutters.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

Yep, galvanized wire will eventually absorb the urine and start to smell after a few months, depending on how much your ratties pee on it. It's also been linked to cause zinc poisoning in birds, although I'm not sure about rats.


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## Nagi (Sep 19, 2010)

Is anyone slightly bothered that the cage is meant to be for ferrets.....?


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## ema-leigh (Jan 24, 2010)

Just because its marketed for ferrets doesn't mean thats all its suitable for... if anything its more likely to give your rats more room than your average commercial 'rat cage'

Like everyone mentioned.... bar spacing is crucial.

I have a double FN, that was securely zip tied and one of my females chewed off some straps and found her way into the three boys part - be very careful. I know not all females will chew through the zip ties and she has not since... but don't take the risk! I would of never if I thought for a second they could get through the hardwire cloth. 

I find having the cage covered in hard wire also makes it harder to clean, but you can buy a non toxic spray that will protect the hard wire cloth a little better and coat it with a gloss.


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## Nagi (Sep 19, 2010)

I'm aware  It just worries me that some consumers would feel that a cage like that is good for ferrets. *shiver*


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## ema-leigh (Jan 24, 2010)

Oh sorry I totally misinterpreted what you said! I agree, I think a ferret nation is the bare minimum space needed per ferret.


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## pood (Sep 2, 2010)

ema-leigh said:


> Just because its marketed for ferrets doesn't mean thats all its suitable for... if anything its more likely to give your rats more room than your average commercial 'rat cage'
> 
> Like everyone mentioned.... bar spacing is crucial.
> 
> ...


What's the spray I can get?


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## ema-leigh (Jan 24, 2010)

I don't know whats available in your area, brand wise. Just go to a paint specialty store and ask for a non toxic spray for metal that would protect it from corrosion.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

not sure that would work... i dont know if there are any nontoxic sprays that would adhere to metal like that, and since the metal is bendy, they might just peel and flake off... hard to say :-\ i would ask if they had anything to coat hardware cloth in particular. otherwise, you could look into having it powder coated but that would be pretty expensive, youd be better off just ordering some of that green plastic coated stuff from a hardware store i think :-\


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## Kiko (Sep 18, 2009)

Do what I did, I have a Martins cage that is hardware cloth covered for mice and I used Rustoleum Painters touch primer, then black paint to coat the cage and make it rust proof.
Worked just fine, just a big PITA


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