# finally... maybe- cage question



## Marysmuse (Apr 28, 2008)

Well...

One major obstacle may be overcome in my quest to get a pair of ratties. I've been waiting until I could afford a suitably large cage. 

Recently, we were given a guinea pig my neighbor's kid didn't want to be bothered with any longer. She came in a 23x23x27 cage (grrr, no where near enough floor space for a gp!! And the idiots at the petshop told her it was "perfect" because it had shelves... As if gp's like to climb!!!! 8O :roll: :roll: :roll: NOT) :x 

So anyway. Today I was looking at the cage, and it occurred to me that it might possibly be large enough to house two rats. I'm thinking females, because, in general, they don't get as large as males, and I don't want them overcrowded.

Some questions- The first is, will this be enough space for two ratties? I don't plan to get more than a pair. Math is not my strong subject, but I think it fits the "rat calculator" dimensions of 2cubic feet per rat?

Second, as I recall, rats suffer from a plastic deficiency in their diets. And from what I've read here, a fleece deficiency as well. (which is a joking way of saying, they'll eat anything fleece or plastic within reach.) Should I replace the plastic shelves with wire mesh of some sort, covered obviously, with fleece? Or would covering the plastic shelves be sufficient?

Also, will they eat their way through the plastic tray bottom? Do I need to reinforce it with hardware cloth or similar material to keep them from chewing the tray?

Finally, the bar spacing on the cage is 1 inch. Fine for a GP, but it may be too large for ratties? Will adult girls squeeze out through 1 inch bars? Should I hold out for a 1/2 bar cage?

I'm in no rush to buy rats- the only local sources are petshops, so obviously I'm still searching around for a reputable breeder or rescue. I'm willing to wait. It will probably be a couple months, anyway, with school starting back up and other family issues to settle down before I'd be ready to introduce rats into our chaos.  

If this cage isn't suitable, I'll curb-side or give it away to some one with something that fits in it, maybe chinchillas or degus? and buy something else. 

Thanks for any advice. I'll be off now to search the threads. I'm just a bit overwhelmed with the number of topics in the cages section.

Here's some pics I took today:
(the black blur in the first pic is our dog, Nellie's tail.) :lol: 
And yes, the porch is a mess. We've been rearranging, and I need to curb-side some of the old furniture. In all my *spare* time. :roll: :wink: 



















Rejoicing in the day,
-Mary


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

Rat cage calculator says would hold up to 4 rats  so the size is fine. I don't think there would be a problem with the size for two boys, if you preferred them to females. 

As for the plastic base, some people don't have a problem with their rats chewing it, some do. My two boys don't chew on anything at all lol. If it caused a problem, I've heard of people replacing it with a metal base of some sort? I'm not too good on the bar spacing so I'll let someone else answer that bit. 1" spacing may pose more of a problem with females though perhaps.


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## Nicotine (Jan 2, 2008)

Ooh - that's the cage I'm planning on getting for my boys! If you do get rats, make sure you update us on how well you like the cage, eh?


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## Kathleen (Jul 1, 2008)

I had two females in cage with a plastic bottom. They chewed out all the corners within a month. I then moved them into a larger cage that happened to have 1" spacing. They could easily get out so I had to treat it with hardware cloth (which I hated).

It really depends on your individual rats, whether they like to chew and how big they are.


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

Many girls will be able to get out through 1" spacing. Most grown boys probably won't... I think. It depends on your rats. But young ones could definitely get through.


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## Marysmuse (Apr 28, 2008)

I'm leaning toward adults. Turns out Mainley Rat Rescue in the rescue sticky does have fosters in upstate NY!! I've filled out an application. So we'll see.

The gal e-mailed saying she has two boys... Tom and Huck. 
:lol: Could that be any more perfect? I'm a huge Mark Twain fan.

"The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between the lightning and the lightning-bug." -Twain.

Well... we'll see. I still have to track down a local rat vet, talk to the hubby, and pass their application process. I'm in no rush... Rather to give the rats a good home and be well prepared than to rush in to anything and end up with sad pets and sad family!

Thanks, all. I'll check with the rescue on the size of the rats before I make up my mind. I may end up with two boys, after all.

Rejoicing in the day,
-Mary


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

Have you seen pics of them Mary?

Look what I found  Tom and Huck!

http://mainelyratrescue.org/rattieblog2/?p=136


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## Hallie-Mae (Jul 31, 2008)

Wow Stace, genius  ! 
And awww poor boys ! Gorgeous squishes though  Huck looks like he's hooded too ?


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## OnlyOno (Apr 4, 2007)

aww, cute boys.

the bar spacing shouldn't be a problem for those boys, and the plastic bottom is generally pretty hard to reach, so as long as your boys have something more productive to chew on (like those plastic levels, lol) the bottom should be fine. you can construct alternative levels out of hardware cloth etc if that would be better for those boys, but you'd definitely just have to see what kind of boys they are.

best of luck in the rat application process and all!


scroll: http://dragcave.net/user/OnlyOno


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## zoe9 (Oct 3, 2007)

Oh the poor fellas.

Mary, if you end up with them I think they'll be very lucky.

Hope it all works out.

Cheers,
Zoe


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## Marysmuse (Apr 28, 2008)

OMGoodness, they're adorable!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

What kind of sick person could curb-side two lovely babies, tank and all?!!  8O 8O :evil: :evil: :evil: Oh that just makes me steam. Poor things.

I've filled out the app, but I still have some research to do. And I have to convince Ken. Shouldn't be hard, because we've got two guinea pigs and a hamster moving out soon... (his nephew is taking our "ooops" twins, and we've finally found a home for our foster-ham).
I sent him the link to the page, thanks Stace! 

I have to contact my vet(s) and find out if any of them have rattie experience. We use one vet for my husband's dog- she's only two, so she's had to have regular boosters, be spayed, all that sort of thing. My older dog, Amanda, and the cats go to the clinics for their boosters, much less expensive. And my gliders go to an (expensive!) exotics specialist. 
If anyone's ill other than hubby's dog, we go to a closer, less expensive regular vet... but my fav vet from that practice has moved out of town. *sob* so I'm stuck between the vet we use for Nellie (who is great with animals, but has a lousy way with people), and the other vets in the practice she left, who I don't know as well. *sigh*

Of course we take our animals at any sign of illness or injury, but we're not one of those families who do regular "well" visits. (we don't do them for ourselves, either, except for the kids' physicals and vaccines for school). I don't know Mainley's policy on "well-visits", if they require them for their adoptees or not, but I'll find out.

I hope things work out for these little guys. Of course I hope they come to us as their forever-home, but wherever they go, they deserve the best care they can get. Poor things! I just want to grab them up for a cuddle! And Tom looks so much like my dear Max... I'm already in love!

Rejoicing in the day,
-Mary


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Oh my, what a small world!!! Amanda (NYDaisy on RatShack and Goosemoose) is the one fostering those 2!! She's the wonderful lady who helped out so much in the Moncton Rat Train and fostered some of the US rats until she was able to get them to adopters :lol:


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

Let us know what Ken thinks of them when he sees the link


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

Did he see the link to Tom and Huck?


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## Marysmuse (Apr 28, 2008)

*sob*

No word from Mainley yet. I'm trying to be patient. I'm sure they have lots to do.

Ken couldn't open the link at work. I'm gonna show him at home as soon as I get a chance. He had fireman's meetings today. Ah, the joys of being chief. :roll:

But he did say Ok to getting the rats, if we're approved.  It's a long-ish process, it seems, having to fill out an application and all, but it's also reassuring. They obviously care about the animals, and I'm sure we'll get a good match, personality wise. Much better than going into a petshop and buying blind!

Rejoicing in the day,
-Mary


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## junior_j (Jan 24, 2008)

Aw its guna be great if u can rescue the rattiesÂ¬!
Jess x


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