# Help with awful cage.



## lost_whisper (Nov 11, 2014)

Well, a few months ago I almost adopted a few babies but finally I couldn't take them for some unexpected reasons, so I thought for this year I wouldn't have the opportunity to have rat friends at home.<br> Suddenly, a couple days ago I was offered a lonely 5-month-old female without a cage (she's been living in a tank) because the present caretaker can't get a friend for her or even play with her as much as the little rat needs, and for a few months(until I can save enough for a better cage or build my own) the rat (and eventually a new ratty so this one stops being so lonely) will have to live in a cage like this:<br><br><img style="margin: 1px;" src="http://www.ratforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=212185&stc=1" attachmentid="212185" alt="" id="vbattach_212185" class="previewthumb"><img style="margin: 1px;" src="http://www.ratforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=212193&stc=1" attachmentid="212193" alt="" id="vbattach_212193" class="previewthumb"><img style="margin: 1px;" src="http://www.ratforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=212201&stc=1" attachmentid="212201" alt="" id="vbattach_212201" class="previewthumb"><br><br>According to the ratty cage calculator, this cage could be enough for 2 rats if 'the space is used wisely'. I would love to have 3 but I don't want to cramp them there and force them to fight, and this really is small for 3 females, right?<br><br>The measurements are, in cm, 65x35x53 deep (25.59x13.77x20.86 in). And the space between bars is of 1.4cm (0.55 in).<br> <br>As far as I can think of, those wire shelves should be covered with fleece, (I have access to polar fleece, is it right?) And I should add hammocks and toys.  What do you think would be wise to add so 2 rats can live there as happy as possible? I would still take them out for 2 to 5 hours depending on the day (is that enough?).<br><br>Does anyone have some advice? This is so sudden I didn't have time to decide, but the lonely rat really broke my heart, so I want to give her the happiest life I can afford. But sadly, my health hasn't been that good lately so I am not currently working. ht!<br><br>Anyway, thanks for reading and I'm sorry if my English is not the best, you are always free to correct me


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## JAnimal (Jul 23, 2014)

well a least the cage isn't a tank. anyway you can put some fleece on the bottom of the cage, and maybe a hut, a hammock a sputnick (look on amazon), and some wooden toys. 2-5 hours is plenty. what are the dimensions of the cage and the bar spacing. i just want to make sure it is all safe so you dont have rats escaping. also you should have a plan just in case the two rats dont get along. but it seems you are doing fine. good luck. and by the way its actually a decent cage if you fix it up.


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

It is really hard for me to read your post lol so if I miss soemthing, I apologzie.

that is an itty bitty cage.  I really cant see two rats in it. But I think it could work if u r sure you can get a larger cage soon? 
Definitely add a hammock.

I would give them as much time as possible outside of the cage and that will help.


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## lost_whisper (Nov 11, 2014)

moonkissed said:


> It is really hard for me to read your post lol so if I miss soemthing, I apologzie.
> 
> that is an itty bitty cage.  I really cant see two rats in it. But I think it could work if u r sure you can get a larger cage soon?
> Definitely add a hammock.
> ...


Ohhh whatever happened to my post?? haha, it looks as bad as the cage! (I'll see if I can fix it).


I won't be able to get a better cage for at least a couple of months, but for what I've read a lonely rat is not much of a healthy rat, so yeah, once I get Sake a friend I'll make sure to take them both out to play as much as possible. For now it's just Sake, I'll wait at least a good week or two before I take in another rat. And then I'll have her in quarantine before introductions, of course.

Btw Sake doesn't seem to know how to climb on things except my shoulders, so I guess she never had much exercise or playtime outside the tank. I guess I'll have to pay her lots of attention and give her lots of toys. She doesn't understand that I put little boxes in her cage so she can hide. The good part is that she already loves me and wants to spend lots of time with me. She behaves weird for a rat!

This is pretty sad, but this is pretty much the way things are for fancy rats here in Argentina. Few people have them as pets, so there are not proper cages, foods or toys made for them. And most rat-lovers don't seem to know that you can't have rats in glass tanks, or with pine bedding. Which brings me another question: Until now Sake has been kept in a pretty dirty glass tank with pine bedding, she is really well at grooming herself but she definitely smelled like her own wate yesterday when I picked her up (today is much better), could she already have any respiratory problems? I heard her sneeze a few times this morning, although now she is fine.


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## beccaneko (Jun 11, 2015)

If the reason you cant get a bigger cage is due to money issues you can always get a used ratty cage, i got mine used from sites like kijiji / craigslist, because the cage does seem a little small for two rats.


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## lost_whisper (Nov 11, 2014)

beccaneko said:


> If the reason you cant get a bigger cage is due to money issues you can always get a used ratty cage, i got mine used from sites like kijiji / craigslist, because the cage does seem a little small for two rats.
> 
> View attachment 212241


As I said, rat cages sadly don't exist in Argentina. Things specifically sold for ratties are not a thing in my country. I will save money and when I have enough, I'll check if I find a suitable ferret cage. Those are easier to find, but the used ones can get as expensive as a new Critter Nation no kidding. I would like to make my own if possible, but my father would have to help me (since the tools are his), but he's pretty sick (chronic disease), so I'd have to wait til summer when he feels better(it's winter down here), so I'll try saving as much money as I can for now.


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## JAnimal (Jul 23, 2014)

Can you make a DIY cage. Like out of coroplast and mesh. Oh and I'm sorry I said it was an ok cage I have really bad spacial issues and it looked bigger to me.


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## lost_whisper (Nov 11, 2014)

Ok, I searched through Mercadolibre (latin-America's Ebay)and I took a look at each of the cages they have published. There are aprox 3200 on the site. Some are for birds, some for ferrets, some for bunnies and so on.Of course no rat cages. But I came to find one ugly cage that might be slightly better than the first I showed you (which is a bit more expensive than I should really pay for, but what the ****). It seems to be from the same person that built the first cage I showed you. It's not really tall, but it's a bit wider. If I do get it, I'll add an extra door on the top floor, and I have a medium-sized bird cage at home which I could use as an add-on on top to make an extra floor.

Would you feel really bad about having 2 or 3 rats(this would be the max. amount) in there? When I get the cage, I'll be getting a friend or possibly 2 for my present rescued rat because the rat lady that will give me the babies rather give me a pair than a single one. I would still let them out to play a few hours everyday. The cage is 64x64x40 cm.








Is there anything else you would do if you had this cage (apart from bedding, fleece on the wire shelves, toys and hammocks)?

Ahhh looking through all of those cages gave me a terrible migraine, and it really saddened me that I would need double of my money to buy something a bit more decent in a used condition.


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