RatPalace.com - Pet Rat Care and Discussion

Wed Aug 28, 2002 8:59 am

I was wondering if a sweater box (25 L minimum) is good for 2 rats? i would cut off the flat part of the top and replace it with wire and also drill holes for ventilation and a hole for the water bottle. Thanks, Brandon

Wed Aug 28, 2002 12:17 pm

I've heard the absolute minimum size for a pair of rats is two foot by one foot floor space - will your cage provide that?

Another thing to consider is rats love to climb .. will this cage let them?

toyah

Wed Aug 28, 2002 6:03 pm

I can't really picture it in my head, but I do know that if you drill holes in somthing, they will chew it and make it bigger, and then escape through it, it may be ok for temporary (providing it's big enough) but doesn't sound very good for a permanent home.

Wed Aug 28, 2002 7:43 pm

I'd cut holes for them to climb and i'd put chicken wire or something like that over the holes so they wouldn't do too much damage

Thu Aug 29, 2002 3:31 am

The easiest way I've found to make a nice size cage is to take one of those under-the-bed storage bins (about 3 feet by 1 and a half feet, and 4 inches deep) and use that as a drop pan, and then bend hardware cloth (1/2inch by 1inch or 1/2inch by 1/2 inch) to make the walls. Top it off with the plastic top of the bin, and you're done. The hardware cloth is about ten bucks for a nice size amount, even enough to make a level and ramp, then the storage bin is ten as well. Throw in about 3 bucks for latches here and there, and it's awesome. I was lucky enough to find a storage bin that had a flip top, and was on wheels too. I hope that made sense.

~Vande,
Lisa Rainbow Smiley

Thu Aug 29, 2002 3:56 am

I think MilkyMaiden has a great idea. You can also find a real goos cage on http://www.martinscages.com They are well priced and very well worth your money. I have a R-695 and my ratties have so much room to play, eat, sleep, and climb. A cage like theirs will last you a long time!

Sun May 25, 2003 11:35 pm

Well, after looking around, I couldn't find any reasonabley priced rat cages.
*Sigh*
They are all too small, and I want my rats to be as happy as can be. Suddenly, I stumbled upon the Grotto. My answer is finally here! I'm going to build my rats a beautiful mansion.
Grotto:
http://www.dapper.com.au/grotto.htm
Of course... It will be smaller than the Grotto, because of cost issues, and the fact that it will only house two lazy rats. But its size will be much larger than that of a 50.00 Martin cage.
Plus, it will be customized, original, creative, fun for the rats, as well as functional. Now, I'm hoping that we can turn this into a collabrotive "Rat Palace Project..." I'll be scanning the images that will soon be plans for the design. I will be hopeful in your return of prompt answers if I come accross a problem. I thank you in advance for your answers, comments, and/or questions.
For my first obstacle... I see that the Grotto is made out of a special, water-proof type of wood. Unfortunately, I have found that this type of material can be quite costly. Sad

So, that kind of sucks. But I find that I can make the cage larger if I use cheaper wood, which will most likely be particle board. My dilemma is:
I need the wood to be water proof, so should I use:
A) Sticky sheets m,uch like that of counter grips... Cheap, and easy.
-Down side? It may be some what trouble some to replace when my ratties chew on it.
B) Water based, non-toxic paint. Water Proof, easily cleaned, durable, and smart.
-Down side? I'm not so sure about its price. If any one wouldn't mind... Can some one aid me in my quest of finding the price on such paint. Probably, two gallons worth, maybe more.
Well, there are my options. Any ideas?
-Stanza
BTW: This topic will be added to GREATLY in the future, so keep checking it for new information!

Last edited by Last_Stanza on Sat May 31, 2003 2:04 am; edited 2 times in total

Mon May 26, 2003 1:03 am

omg! i did the same thing as you. i built my cage like the grotto! (weird eh?!) well the waterproof board stuff is called melamite. me and my dad built it in about 2 days. the cage was about 100 dollars all together. i also used wood for the panels for the door and used carpenter staples to staple this aluminum mesh. you can get the mesh at a hardware store for about 2 bucks. (and i mean money not male rats) if you have any other questions i can go into more detail if you want to e-mail me at britt_dogluvr@hotmail.com

_________________
Brittany

~the~girls~
Cocoa~Baby~Daisy~Oreo
"People who dont like rats......limit their happiness"

Mon May 26, 2003 1:05 am

britt_ratluvr wrote:

omg! i did the same thing as you. i built my cage like the grotto! (weird eh?!) well the waterproof board stuff is called melamite. me and my dad built it in about 2 days. the cage was about 100 dollars all together. i also used wood for the panels for the door and used carpenter staples to staple this aluminum mesh. you can get the mesh at a hardware store for about 2 bucks. (and i mean money not male rats) if you have any other questions i can go into more detail if you want to e-mail me at britt_dogluvr@hotmail.com

That's awesome! My Mother is not to keen on the idea of me harboring rats. So, I'm pretty much on my own with cage building...
It shouldn't be too hard. I'll post my plans when I finish drafting them.
Check back later for details!

Mon May 26, 2003 1:08 am

Oops I forgot to ask:
How many rats are harbored in your cage?(I only plan to keep two together in one cage.)
And, could you post the dimensions by chance?

_________________
-=Stanza=- [Riding shoulder is:]
Sugar [Magnolias], Peanut, Willow, and Scarlet [Begonias].
This stanza is my lament. This world is my imprisonment. I know I can never be...
I know I'll never be free.
The cut that never heals...

Mon May 26, 2003 2:14 am

i have 4 rats in my cage now. i can have upto 6 rats in my cage. (and mine is still like 2 feet smaller that the real grotto! lol) the cage is 48 inhes high (four ft) 23 1/2 wide and 16 1/2 depth. hope this helps!

_________________
Brittany

~the~girls~
Cocoa~Baby~Daisy~Oreo
"People who dont like rats......limit their happiness"

Mon May 26, 2003 2:45 am

You may like to look at my cage and how it's built:
http://homepages.tcp.co.uk/~padlam/cage.html
http://homepages.tcp.co.uk/~padlam/cagebuilding.html

(well actually that was a couble of rebuilds ago - it's kind of addictive)

Pete A.

Mon May 26, 2003 3:06 am

For something that's 4 ft by 2 ft with about 4-5 levels, I would think you can hold more than 6 rats, depending on gender. Are you going by the cage calculator? The cage calculator gives you a decent-okay idea of how many rats for a cage, but it cannot take into consideration the levels, if it's long or tall, etc. So even though it's a good idea to check the calculator out, I think you could hold more than 6 rats. That's just my opinion though

And in reply to Stanza : Why couldn't you do a martins cage for 2 rats if you know that's all you're doing to get?

_________________
Sara & Daisy

Gone, but never ever forgotten~
~ John-Paul & Earl; Benjamin, Russell, Chester, Dexter, George Harrison, and Leeroy. :*(

Mon May 26, 2003 3:41 am

Well, I know that I may get more in the very distint future, and I want something that I can upgrade.
Plus, if for some reason you need to seperate your rats, you can use the trap door feature.
Plus, it's cheaper.

_________________
-=Stanza=- [Riding shoulder is:]
Sugar [Magnolias], Peanut, Willow, and Scarlet [Begonias].
This stanza is my lament. This world is my imprisonment. I know I can never be...
I know I'll never be free.
The cut that never heals...

Mon May 26, 2003 12:40 pm

I also built my cage "grotto style". The wood that Robyn used it melamine and it's not expensive nor is is waterproof. You have to put down contact paper and seal the cracks with caulking. You can buy a book shelf and convert it to a rat cage. Have you looked at Robyn's cage page? My cage is pictured there. I believe it says, Teri's Rat Mansion. If my boyfriend wasn't a cabinet maker I would have opted to buy a cabinet and convert it. That may be the cheaper route for you if cost is a problem Look for a bookshelf second hand. Go to Robyn's cage page for more ideas if you haven't already.

_________________
Teri and the 4 nakies

Mon May 26, 2003 10:09 pm

http://www.backyardaviary.com/do_it_yourself.htm
http://www.ceshepherd.com/aviaries_cages.html

(Personally I'm not a fan of semi-enclosed cages like the grotto, although I think that just one back wall of solid material would be a good idea,to protect walls. Transparent solid material, though, IMO.)

_________________
Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Tue May 27, 2003 7:01 pm

I finally put my girls together. Sage(blue) is four months old and Smudge (blue dumbo) just turned six weeks. I took them up to my loft, where they'd never been before, dabbed them with some vanilla... and it went so well! They looked like they were going to box at one point, but no full body slams! They've been neighbors for two weeks now. I just wanted to wait until Smudge was old enough so she had a fighting chance. :rat:

I've been thinking of linking their cages together so they can still maintain a separate space but can come & visit. What's the best way to do that? Are there ferret tubes which are secure and do I do that from the door or cut a hole in the cage? I'm brainstorming and could use some help.

I'll post pictures as soon as I can figure this out. Is the yahoo free photo album not sufficient for pics? Do I need to subscribe to something?

Anyway, thanks for the help! :cool:
Ginny B
Sage & Smudge wink

Tue May 27, 2003 8:38 pm

I'm the wrong person to be giving advice here since cage remodelling is like a drug I can't get enough of. I even do it for other people (once without being asked Embarassed

).

Um, yeah, do it, do it. I personally would cut a hole and use a ferret tube. But save the cutout pieces in case you want to replace them later (using cable ties) and have two separate cages again.

As for pix, I've never used Yahoo, but it seems it's unviewable to others half the time. I'm sure a Yahoo user could give you a better answer on that. You could try http://www.ImageMagician.com if you don't mind spending $10 a year; it's really easy to use.

_________________
Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Tue May 27, 2003 9:15 pm

I've actually thought about that, and one way I would do it would be to:

1. Decide on what is going to be used for tubes (let's assume ferret tubes--as I recall, they're about 4 inches in diameter. . .I think).
2. Obtain four square pieces of plexiglass, about eight inches by eight inches. Round off the corners.
3. Cut out 4 inch diameter circles in the middle of all of the plexiglass.
4. Cut out 5 inch diameter holes in each of the cages (the holes are a little bit larger than the tubes so that you won't have to worry about matching the holes up *exactly* right after a cage cleaning). Also, match up the plexiglass in pairs. Stack them, and drill holes in each of the corners of the plexiglass.
5. This part might get difficult to describe, but you'll sandwich the cage between two pieces of plexiglass, so that little rat fingers are protected by the plexiglass. Insert bolts from the *inside* of the cage thru the holes you've drilled in the plexiglass (two bolts, opposite-corners from each other, should ensure you'll be able to match up two holes between the cage mesh--if you want to do all four, don't let me stop you) and loosely secure the bolts with wing nuts.
6. Line up the cages, and insert ferret tubes. I confess I haven't really thought of a good way to secure the ferret tubes (I have visions of the rats pushing them out in the middle of the night and logging onto Rat Palace and telling everyone how we mistreat them with baths).
7. Tighten up wing nuts after everything is lined up properly. Add rats.

_________________
Victor, Bandit, and Sparrow's Sweeties: Neiko & Roo. Sparrow's Boys: Oliver, Arthur, and Rabskuttle. The fRAT Boys: Jim, Jack, and George.
Good night, Witter, Kono, Rat, Olie, Metro, Calle, Mr. Ratburn, Arwen, Leather, Ohana, Zoe, Misto, and Kanga.

Wed May 28, 2003 6:10 pm

I just want to say I haven't *tried* my bridge yet. Just thought about it. . .

_________________
Victor, Bandit, and Sparrow's Sweeties: Neiko & Roo. Sparrow's Boys: Oliver, Arthur, and Rabskuttle. The fRAT Boys: Jim, Jack, and George.
Good night, Witter, Kono, Rat, Olie, Metro, Calle, Mr. Ratburn, Arwen, Leather, Ohana, Zoe, Misto, and Kanga.

Wed May 28, 2003 9:06 pm

If I remember right (all the tubes are in the attic at the mo), ferret tubes have those removable round brackets on the ends, and the brackets have two tabs with a hole in each. The brackets are somewhat more flexible than the tubes themselves, so couldn't the brackets be inserted very snugly in cut-to-fit cage holes, and secured with clips or something through the tab holes?

Like Victor, this is only something I've thought about a lot, never actually tried.

MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE.

_________________
Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Thu May 29, 2003 6:23 am

Someone on RFC posted this and I thought it would be helpful for those of you attempting to build your own cages. The site is in German, but the pics are fantastic!

http://www.rattenwelt.de/kaefig0.html

_________________
Christy
RP Admin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frodo, Zorro, Erzulie, Maeve, Clara, Molly & Emily

Sat May 31, 2003 1:55 am

Well, I was at my sister's house for the week, so I worked on it there.
I ended up using 3/4 particle board. It looks quite nice. I picked out my two babies from a breeder while I was there, also. The cage ended us being 4'x2'x1' with four shelves. So, my two rats have 8 sq. ft. feet to live their little rattie lives in.
Chances are... They'll be out 70% of their lives anyway.
Oh, for sealing, I used a water-based primer called "Kills". It is used to prevent moiture from entering wood. I also used caulk on all of the cracks. I'll have some pictures soon, not to mention a step-by-step guide.

_________________
-=Stanza=- [Riding shoulder is:]
Sugar [Magnolias], Peanut, Willow, and Scarlet [Begonias].
This stanza is my lament. This world is my imprisonment. I know I can never be...
I know I'll never be free.
The cut that never heals...

Thu Jun 05, 2003 4:05 pm

I am going to be attaching two cages together - one on top of the other - in order to create a 'loft extension' to my original wire cage. Has anybody got any experience of doing this or have any tips or advice you could pass on?

_________________
A-M and the 3 roan lads - Neo, Pip(squeak) & Wes

Gone but never forgotten: Riz & Shearer

Fri Jun 06, 2003 1:51 pm

I use that really thick green garden wire - I've attached a canova to a michalangelo and it works very well. I also use it to hold down any removable wire shelves or ladders - you'll also need a pair of wire cutters and pliers.