# Natural Cages?



## fera (Dec 10, 2015)

I keep seeing these absolutely beautiful natural hamster cages, and I love them. So I'm wondering has anyone seen/done anything similar but for rat cages instead? Of course i understand that the structure would have to be completely different, because rat cages are different from hamster cages, but still, I don't think I've ever seen much of an attempt to create a natural rat decor?

Or what about using one of those natural bridges to section off a part of a cage to make a digbox?


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## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

I think there would be two issues with doing this sort of setup with rats vs. hamsters.
1. Rats tend to pee / mark a LOT more than most hamsters, so all of those great wood accessories would end up reeking of urine fast (I used to have a wooden house for my rats and had to toss it after a month)
2. Rats can also be more destructive than hamsters. I could see them shoving all the dig box litter out of the dig box into the other section, dragging items around, etc. If you didn't mind that, then it would be OK.

The kind of "natural" setups I've seen for rats so far have been on the UK rat forum (fancy rats forum I think is what it is called) it seems like they focus more on climbing and providing activities for the rats vs. using wheels and hammocks. Some of their setups look great, but might be hard to duplicate. 

I have seen people here in the US create dig boxes using a rubbermaid tub with a hole in the top and filling it with peanuts, aspen, etc.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

You could start by adding tree branches in your rat cage. What cage do you have? Rats love to dig in sterile potting soil so that is something you might want to try.


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## fera (Dec 10, 2015)

Gribouilli said:


> You could start by adding tree branches in your rat cage. What cage do you have? Rats love to dig in sterile potting soil so that is something you might want to try.


I'm not sure exactly, but it is one of those large rabbit cages. It houses my two boys. 












I'd love to try making a dig box for them. What treats would you use in it? I'd assume some dry treats or seeds?


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## Angel_Rat (Feb 17, 2016)

I love this idea and I have yet to try it out myself. 😄 You can clean the wood by boiling it, and give it a "sniff test" lol to see when to clean it. It also depends on how much your rats scent mark and chew. Do you have rats that love to chew? I've never truer this before but you can spray the wood with fouling tasting spray like for dogs, but you'll have to be careful it isn't toxic to the rats or will upset them cuz of the smell, or affect them badly like dusty bedding. Do you have males or getting males? Or females who like to spray as much as males? Take this into consideration. It'll probably look very beatiful but might need a little more time than usual to care for than a regular plastic fashion cage.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I think you would have to define what's "natural for a rat" first. Rats like to dig deep and large burrows under rocks or foundations. They also like lots of irregular 3D climbing space... and it has to be big and preferably have hidden pockets of spoiling food... Overall, you would be building a scale model of a city dump in an average living room size cage... 

And if you ever build one... they rats will come. Our rats free range in our house... and they build rat's nests... Rat's nests evolve into huge smelly things with creepy crawly things co-habitating with your rats, once you tear apart a rat's nest you will be changed for life. We try and confine the nesting to a single metal cabinet, but I think most folks wouldn't want anything that looks like a natural rat environment in their homes...


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## RatAtat2693 (Jan 13, 2016)

Hahaha, RD. That's what I was thinking. These are gorgeous, but I'd end up stripping them and not replacing them thanks to the up keep. Plus, you can bet there would be dirt thrown everywhere. But, you might be able to use a hard plastic in substitute for the wood. Astroturf for grass? Contain the dirt in a disguised sterilite box. Still sounds like SO much work for what? Aesthetic? Definitely one of those really cool things I'd rather look at than actually do. And if you do, please post pics, but I think I'll stick to tossing fleece in the washer once or twice a week and calling it a day. :grinning:


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## mimsy (Jun 8, 2014)

If you had access to a lot of safe wood it could work. You'd be able to switch out, soak and let it bask in the sun. that would take care of smell. I do that with the few wood items I use.

You wouldn't set it up like the hamsters, it would have to be set up so that deconstruction looks good too. 

There are those natural looking plastic rocks and wood water holes for reptiles, which could work for litter boxes. Use wood pellets for the natural look instead of any colorful paper type litter.

Use big thick ropes for climbing. Add branches. Maybe some large rocks for climbing on. (easy enough to boil rocks when they get gross)

Get creative with the hammocks...if you can sew, perhaps a natural looking one..like you would see in a human garden or somethng. (you could even still use fleece if you are careful about colors and patterns)

I don't think I'd want to use dirt or sand in a rat cage for cleaning purposes. but you could probably use something that looks more natural and is still easy to clean. Maybe coconut husk bedding.

Look outside the norm for dishes-scout human dishes and even some of the reptile ones.

Keep it natural colored items-brown, green, tan fleeces. Natural wicker ball toys, or a sea grass ball or mat.

It would be fun to set it up like that.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Whatever you choose to do, the most important thing is that you keep your cage clean at all times. A dirty cage is the number 1 reason that rats get URI. I'm not saying that all rats who get URIs leave in a dirty cage or that rats leaving in a clean cage never do, but...a clean cage can really decrease the chances that your rats will ever get URIs. If a natural cage is more difficult for you to clean or if you don't have time, then better stay with your cage as it is.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

I use a lot of natural wood in my cage, if you get the set up right then you can do it with not too much extra effort. I mostly use branches for climbing on, wooden flat surfaces are much more of a smell issue than branches complete with bark, cleaning well involves soaking and scrubbing every few weeks, but mine are reasonably toilet trained. 

It’s a balance though, I wouldn’t entirely use natural things as my rats love hammocks, I do do fairly organic themes though using camouflage hammocks, natural coloured ropes, branches and plant pots as tubs. I have a bit of a love of orange and bright colours though so that often invades.


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