# Where to get accessories & help with towel!



## tahbitha (Feb 13, 2013)

Hello everyone! I am a new rat owner. I got my first rat a week ago and got his buddy two days ago. They're in a cage very similar to the ones shown here: http://www.80stoysale.com/images/cages.jpg

I was wondering where I could buy accessories for their cage. I REALLY want to add another level to their cage (like some custom made wood I can attach right in the cage) so they're not confined to just the floor. My little monkey Alfie loves to climb and explore his cage so I think he'd like another level he can go to. 

Other items I wanted were: a larger hammock that fits 2 rats, a rope climb, something they can chew on for their teeth, a corner hammock, yogurt drops, a wooden ladder that can lead to the second level, and a water bottle that is good in quality (ie doesn't leak).



And for my next question, I removed their bedding and replaced it with a towel for now until I go to the store to get a fleece blanket. I noticed at night they seriously have fun renovating their cage and they move everything, even the towel. How can I secure the towel and the future blanket I'll be getting? It simply lays on the floor of the cage with the litter box and food dishes holding it down. But that's still not enough because they easily move everything.  Any ideas?


Thanks in advance!


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

For accessories places like Petsmart have them, or for hammocks if you don't want to make your own this is a good place to go http://www.chelseyscozies.com/

Or really just type in rat hammock store and you can find places like that. Or when you go to get fleece you can get some extra fleece to make hammocks.

For the towel, you can get some tiles to place on top of it, that way they also file their nails. Other then that, I don't know.


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## HelloClarice (Feb 1, 2012)

Look at Walmart or any craft store [Jo-Anns, Micheals] and get fleece and make your own hammocks, you can make your own hammock, corner hammock, and rope [ if you braid fleece together] You can go to the Dollar Tree/Dollar Store and get rope dog toys and hang them up, you can also get tubs that would be nice as levels, just drill holes into the handles/side wherever you want and zip tie/hang to the cage for a second floor. 

I also saw someone here soak a piece of wood in kool aid type drink then let it dry and added it on to the cage so that their rats could chew on the wood and have a shelf at the same time, said something about getting the wood from scrap at a hardware store I think? so it was cheap to replace, I am really interested in this project lol


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## JLSaufl (Jan 20, 2013)

HelloClarice said:


> I also saw someone here soak a piece of wood in kool aid type drink then let it dry and added it on to the cage so that their rats could chew on the wood and have a shelf at the same time, said something about getting the wood from scrap at a hardware store I think? so it was cheap to replace, I am really interested in this project lol


That was me. 

Yep, I went to the feed and farm store and picked up an 8ft 1x3 for 75 cents. We cut it into 5ish inch pieces, which were dyed in koolaid, red, pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, sanded them down and hung them with washers and screws. They smell great, have a fruit flavor and my rats play on them all the time.

All in all it cost less than $5 and aside from dying the wood, took about 15 minutes to make.


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

I get my hammocks from Chelsey's Cozies. http://www.chelseyscozies.com/


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## EleashaC (Jan 30, 2012)

You can usually get ferret hammocks from most pet stores, but I think it's much cheaper to make your own. Even if you can barely sew, you can make a hammock. Google "how to sew rat hammocks" or something similar, and you'll find dozens of very simple, quick patterns. Ferret hammocks tend to run at around 15 dollars, and they get chewed up so fast I don't think it's worth it. 

You can either buy chew-toys from pet stores (or dollar stores), or make your own, as mentioned above. I soak pieces of wood in apple juice overnight, and then bake them in the oven (both to keep in the flavour and kill bacteria). 

Wooden ladders tend to be best coming from pet stores, because they're really fiddly to make! Having said that, if you've got the patience and are a bit crafty, I'm sure there are online tutorials that can help you out. 

You might just have to resign yourself to reorganizing your cage every morning, in terms of the fleece bedding, haha. I've tried all sorts of things to keep my rats' bedding in place, but every morning it's all ripped up and tossed around again. I don't mind so much, though, because it means that they're clearly having fun and being energetic, which is great. I wouldn't want them to be unable to burrow under the bedding and throw stuff around.  I use puppy pee-pads under my fleece bedding, which does go some way toward keeping everything in place, and also absorbs smells and makes things much easier to clean. 

For extra levels in my cage, I got some small dowels from the hardware store, measured them for the width of the cage, and cut notches in each end so that they would fit over the bars (well, I should say that my boyfriend actually did all of this, and I helpfully observed). If you've ever seen wooden perches in a bird cage, you might know what I mean. Like these guys: http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Twelve-7-1-8-long-wooden-bird-cage-dowel-rod-perches-/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/$%28KGrHqV,!q8E+0T51Nc5BQMop9Ot9w~~60_35.JPG

Once they were in place, I put plastic serving trays from the dollar store on top, and voila! New level. You have to be careful with those, though, that they don't slide off the dowels and plunge your poor ratties to a gruesome demise. You can get a bit creative with how you fasten them in place, but since you have horizontal bars in your cage, you should be able to sort of block the tray in place by putting another dowel slightly higher than the others (yeah, I'm explaining this badly), or using a tray with holes in it and fastening it to the cage with carabiners.


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## Snutting11509 (Nov 9, 2012)

I got fleece blankets at walmart for $3 a piece, so i had to buy 11  I have a ferret nation cage so i just fold the blankets over the trays and it does the job perfectly. I also like to make ramps/shelves out of old tank top shirts. I just tie them to the sides and stretch them real tight and my rats love climbing them and even sleeping in them. Also, my boys don't like their hammocks very much, so I tried sagging them a bit so that when they climb in there the hammock bottoms just touch the floor beneath them. This little trick got Max into sleeping in him Banana Hammock...which I paid almost $25 for. I save empty tissue boxes and soda boxes to make little lofts or hides out of. I tie the tissue boxes to the side of their cage and they love to sleep in them and sit atop them. Get creative and have fun! I want to try the wood and koolaid thing...sounds great! We are battling mites/lice so right now their cage is pretty bare... but assuming all goes accordingly and i have beaten those little buggers I am going to go wild decorating their cage next cleaning.


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## tahbitha (Feb 13, 2013)

Thanks everyone! All of your information is very helpful.  I'll see about building a second floor for them (rather, my bf will build it, lol!). I also went to the dollar store and got one of those dog ropes. It fits in perfect! I'll check out some websites and the websites mentioned for hammocks and things like that. ^^ I'm also gonna go to walmart for the fleece blankets since they're so cheap! 

Alternatively, could I use a rug instead of a blanket? They're heavier (which would seem harder to move), but is the material they're made of okay for the rats if they decide to chew?


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