RatPalace.com - Pet Rat Care and Discussion

Thu Feb 09, 2006 10:13 pm

Im so confused abt these cage calculators. Ive heard many ppl talking abt how cage calculators are inaccurate in that they say they hold more rats than they really should. But in my personal experiences, Ive found the exact opposite to be true. There is this giant cage at the Petco by my house that I could have sworn would hold 6 rats at the very least, probably 8 as long as they were female. Well, when I calculated the dimensions, the calculator told me 3 or 4 (I cant really remember which one right now) but still, either one was unbelievable! My husband thought so, too .. he was floored!

How do we know which ones are accurate? And what types of things should be considered when using calculators? I know rats should have 2 cubic sq ft per rat .. but how would a calculator know how many shelves were in it or how much floor space was in it?

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Thu Feb 09, 2006 11:03 pm

Plus, in my opinion, every toy, tube, rope, leapin ledge, house and igloo add to the cage in making it more available for more rats. You could have a massive cage with three floors stark empty, and maybe it would hold 5 rats but they would be miserable. If you packed them into a cage half that size that had toys and tubes and a wheel and places to hide and sleep and play- those will bethe happier rats! I dont understand why a rat would want/need space. They need each other, and things to keep them entertained and happy in life. Ive always felt that the calculators were a little over the top. Im not saying I would pack more than 20 rats into a cage that the calculator says can hold four. But when a calculator says 4, and your cage is fun, and entertaining, and theres all these great things, I dont see why 5 or 6 rats wouldent be happy. They dont use the space anyway- they all pile into one sleepy tube! lol

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Thu Feb 09, 2006 11:19 pm

Cage calculators are only accurate to a certain extent - they can tell you how many cubic foot a cage is, and therefore how many rats would probably be ok - basing that on the generally accepted principle that rats should have a minimum of 2 cubic foot per rat.

There is one calculator that ignores overall volume, and bases the figures on floorspace (so takes into account shelves) - there may be others, but I only know of the one on the Ratz R Us site. However that - like all cages - makes assumptions. Most calculators will make the assumption that you have enough shelf space in the cage, and the floorspace calculator bases the assumption on the fact that you will leave at least 12 inches between shelves, and doesn't ask you for a height.

As to how many rats will fit - really that's up to you. For me, two cubic feet doesn't seem like a whole lot for a single rat (if you look at a space that is 2 foot wide, 1 foot deep and 1 foot high) but it's often enough. You can figure out for yourself the volume quite easily though you may need a calculator to do the sums, depending on how your mental arithmatic is.

Suppose a cage is 30" by 24" by 36" - first of all you want to convert that to feet, so divide the inches measurements by 12.

That gives a figure of 2.5' by 2' by 3'. Then you just need to multiply those values together. In this case, that gives 15 cubic feet - which is enough for 7 and a half rats if you go on the 2 cubic feet per rat thing. However, that assumes that you're going to make sure shelves are spaced apart and you have enough of them. A cage that is three feet high, but there's nothing in the space above the rats, isn't going to be comfortable for as many rats as one with shelves, flooring, hammocks or other items up in the eaves, as it were, for the rats to sit in or on.

Really it's a judgement call - a cage that is appropriate in terms of cubic footage is a good starting estimate, but you can't base it simply on that - in some cases, the rats have more than enough space at that size. But in others, the cage can seem and feel cramped to both the humans and the rats. Some rats seem to need more space than others, and some humans simply prefer to give more space than the minimum recommendation.

I base it on floorspace as much as just volume. I try to ensure that there is a couple of square feet of floorspace per rat, and that the shelves are about a foot apart (where possible) to give them space to stretch and stand up without being cramped.

So, presuming this sample cage, above, has the same measurements (2.5' by 2' by 3') and has two full length shelves (at 1' and 2' high), then I'd base it on the following:

The shelves are equal in area (just about) to the bottom of the cage - so that's three floors that are 2.5' x 2' = 5 square foot per level, which makes a total of 15 square feet.

If the same cage had three shelves that were 1.5' by 2', then it would work out that there was a total of 5 square feet, plus 3 shelves of 2.5 square feet = total of 12.5 square feet of floor space. In addition, the headroom would be less for some, or all, of the levels, depending on how the cage was set up. However, the multiple levels might be more interesting, depending on how it is set up.

In addition, you need to bear in mind how much space might be taken up with ramps - some cages, a significant amount of the cage volume is unusable because of ramps, or the ramps might be at a steep angle. If you can replace these ramps with other ways up (such as staggered platforms in a step like structure, a tube, a rope or branch to climb on etc) or simply leave them out for the rats to climb the side of the cage upwards, then you will increase the usable amount of space, and make the cage more comfortable in terms of space.

Ultimately, you have to look at the cage, look at your rats, look at what you plan to put in it, the number of shelves and the size of them and if you can use them for things (like food dishes, igloos etc), how much space is available for hammocks or other hanging items and so on. And depending on how old the rats are, remember that rats do get a lot bigger - particularly the boys. I can honestly say that I'd never feel comfortable putting the same amount of boys into the same kind of space I would put girls in because my boys are twice the size of the girls - so if you have just girls (particularly young girls), the cage is likely to seem big for it's size compared with someone that has just huge 1-2lb squishy boys.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Thu Feb 09, 2006 11:26 pm

I agree with all and would just like to re-iterate that it really depends on the rats.

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Lydelia and the Critters
... and now they are five Mr. Green

Kitties: Miss Kitty, Catbot
Ratties: Eugenuis, Ralph and Elliott
RIP Oliver -- We love you and we'll miss you!!! Cry

Thu Feb 09, 2006 11:32 pm

Reeny - I think it needs a little clarification - it's not saying that "you are evil if you don't give them 2 cubic foot of space, you're going to kill them if you don't do it blah blah blah". It's say that, from people's experience, having adequate space in the cage is important to prevent fighting, aggression, stress and illness - not to mention boredom - and this has been brought up a couple of times. It's not about having empty space - an empty cage is going to be completely useless. It's about giving you more space to add things in to make them happier and keep them comfy, occupied and amused.

Like you said, often rats will simply pile into one tube, or igloo, and sleep in a big pile - but it's like when you are with other people. If you had to be sharing a single room with the same people 23 hours a day, you'd probably want to have space where you could retreat and do your own thing. You might not do it a whole lot, but if you didn't have the option available, you'd probably go stir crazy.

Of course, letting them out for plenty of time to explore, do things, get away or sleep is vital as well, but sometimes I'll see one or two of mine heading off to another part of the cage to eat, or to snooze in peace for a bit. Sometimes they spread out. Sometimes they huggle up. Sometimes one wants to go and play in the bathhouse while another wants to eat their lunch in the hammock and the rest are piled into the igloo. Other times, I find a huge ratty bundle in one giant furpile in the igloo.

It's something I have noticed a difference with - my guys were in a cage that was more than adequate according to accepted size estimates. But I moved them into a bigger cage, and they were happier still - less bickering (not that they fought really anyway, but less nonetheless) and more to do, and all over happier rats, it appeared to me.

But as has been said, it really does depend on the rats.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Fri Feb 10, 2006 12:56 am

Yeah, thats very true. It all depends on the rats. I love providing tons of hidey spaces and stuff to climb on, play times are so fun to watch. When they are wrasslin and running around, watching them move all over the cage, through and over and on and in and under everything they can as fast as they can- its better than TV! Mr. Green

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.