# Stuffed cage?



## Katherose (Nov 20, 2007)

I've been looking at a lot of pictures of rat homes on this forum and others to get ideas for how to decorate the cage when I get rats. A lot of the cages I'm seeing seem really crammed full of toys and tunnels and hammocks. My question is this: Does that rat like it all stuffed like that? I've read a lot of comments that rats need a lot of space to run around, and it seems that with so very many things in their cage, they wouldn't get that room.

On the other hand, I know rats need entertainment and things to occupy them. I guess I'm wondering if it would be better to cram the cage full of toys or to stick a medium number of things in their cage and maybe switch toys out every so often.

Thoughts?


----------



## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

i think it greatly depends on the toys and the personality of the rats. a lot hammocks and tunnels in lue of levels gives them that room to run around. too many hidey holes and they are more likely to sleep then be entertained. toys that are ignored and not used by them at all should be removed as they are wasting space, even if they make the cage look pretty. but, if you have lazy rats all those hammocks that they can run on and tunnel in become beds. 

so i guess to anser your question you have to first look at the cage, then the toys inside it and the rats using it to determine how many of whatever toy you want to put in there.

edit to add: but whether there is a lot of toys or only a few rotation is always important. things should be changed around every so often to stimulate them into some action. have you ever noticed how active they get after a cleaning? they explore everything and are bouncing every which way. adding a new toy inbetween cleanings would produce the same result and changing the layout some at cleanings gives them something new to explore.


----------



## Kimmiekins (Apr 14, 2007)

I try and always leave plenty of room on the floor for running around, pop-corning and wrestling (not that they don't wrestle all over the cage, regardless), and keep most of the toys hanging up. Of course, that doesn't include hidey-houses and cardboard boxes, but the rats love those.

They do actually interact with things generally (depending on how much they like it, of course), depending on the rat's personality, playfulness and whatnot. I encourage lots of toys, but I also encourage rotating them so everything is new and exciting each time. 

I think there's definitely such thing as too little, or too much, though. A happy medium is lots to do, but space to do it in.


----------



## Matt (Jun 14, 2007)

Everything above my post is kinda what I was going to say.

What I do is I leave the floor totaly empty except the Waffle house, wheel, and the bin of aspen. And then I just hang toys and hammocks.
also, I switch it around every few cleanings.


----------



## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

My boys love hammocks, so I give them plenty of those, if I can, but I try to keep the rest open. My OCD kicks in when there's too much stuff on their floor. :lol:


----------



## rat_ratscal (Sep 23, 2007)

my rats dont like hammocks, so they have 2 just in case, they have a tent, a bed, house, climb rope and a litter box with a rock in it, i put kleenex in there and the make nests and stuff, shred it and then when i clean the cage they get to start over, their cage is gonna be stuffed with stuff after christmas, mwa ha ha ha!!! :twisted:


----------



## JoshDeMott2010 (Aug 25, 2007)

I like my cages to be cozy but not cluttered take these things into mind!

You want a good veiw of your rats playing to strategically place things so they arent in the way. 

Rats enjoy making travel routes to run in laps. some people will accidentally make these but i purposefully make a possible lap. example 

a shelf next to a hammock thats next to a rock by a ramp.. they may run from one thing to the next making a circular motion. =)

I leave the floor open as more as a free area. I have some shelves made of sticks with ramps also made of sticks this gives them room to run around and exercise. 

Basically feel free to be creative to match both ur personality and most importantly your ratties personalities. I would start out putting in a hidey house litter pan a rock maybe a branch. maybe some safe toys too. 

some people use food to stimulate there rats minds i rap the food in a paper or box then the rats have to think to get the food out of the package.


These are many great things to have a fun cage you'll learn more as you gain some experience..


----------

