RatPalace.com - Pet Rat Care and Discussion

Fri Aug 19, 2005 9:23 pm

spaceman5061, a 20 gallon is too small for 2 rats. According to this page, 20 US liquid gallons is 2.67 cubic foot. The general consensus is that you need to have 2 cubic foot per rat as a minimum for them to be comfortable.

So, in reality you're going to need to think of something to expand the space you have or you'll need to purchase something bigger. A 30 gallon long tank with some extra shelves would probably be the minimum if you went for straight aquarium for housing, but you'd still have the same problems with moving it to clean. You can, however, purchase cages with deeper pans to help keep litter in the cage.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Last edited by LittleWillow on Sat Aug 20, 2005 12:20 am; edited 1 time in total

Fri Aug 19, 2005 10:26 pm

i do its a 20 gallon long its dimensions are 12" by 12" by 30" thats 2 and 1/2 square feet

Fri Aug 19, 2005 10:37 pm

Aye, that's what I said in my post - that a 20 gallon tank is around 2.5 cubic foot. Are you keeping a lone rat then? If so, any particular reason why you're just keeping one? They really do need to be kept in pairs (at least) as they're very social. Which is why you'd need 4 cubic foot for a pair.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Fri Aug 19, 2005 11:48 pm

oh i thought you ment 1 cubic foot per rat
(to bad i couldn't use my 55 gal roflmao

. but it has fish in it that require alot of space

Fri Aug 19, 2005 11:50 pm

so does any one have a suggestion for a cage that can hold about 3 rats, they cant chuck beding out of(and the leavins in the beding), is easy to clean, and move from a 3rd floor bed room.

Sat Aug 20, 2005 12:28 am

If you're in the US, the Martins are probably your best bet - some of them have 3.5 inch deep pans. They may still chuck bits out of them, but shouldn't be too much. Also, you can check out Chinchilla and Ferret cages - they often have deeper pans. Check back over the thread for the cage calculators (so you can work out how many rats per cage) but it needs to be 6 cubic foot for three rats. 3' X 2' X 1' (h x l x w) would be a good all round proportion though. But the bigger the better.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sat Aug 20, 2005 12:36 am

i used to have a cage with a six inch deep pan and they still got stuff out

oh yeah i now only buy cages from martins

Sat Aug 20, 2005 8:27 pm

i have a book case that 30" by 18" by 48". do you think i could modify it so it'll make a ggod rat cage

Sat Aug 20, 2005 9:13 pm

Take a look at the sticky on cage modifications. Should give you some advice.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sat Aug 20, 2005 10:27 pm

I think that book cases end up being more trouble than they're worth to convert, though some love those kinds of cages. Have you considered buying a tank topper? I think with a tall enough topper, you'd end up with happy rats, a big enough cage, and would still have the benefit of a very high *pan*.

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Sat Aug 20, 2005 10:39 pm

Aye - but that bit of the discussion is in the cage cleaning sticky.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sat Aug 20, 2005 11:29 pm

I have a sortof solution to the rats kicking the litter on the floor. But let me explain a bit...
I used to have birds, and they would get the seed shells EVERYWHERE, so i bought this kind of net that goes around the bottom of the cage and collects all of the junk thought would have fallen on your newly vacuumed carpet

so...
If you went into the bird section of a pet store and got a big enought net for your ratty's cage, it helps bunches!! ... just a thought i should share my great idea!

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Momma to...

4 rats~ Hoodsie, Lucy, Acadecki, and Linyaari
2 cats~ Tubby Todd and Na'Bisco
2 leopard geckos~ Luka and Jaffa
1 hammy~ Bijou

Sat Aug 20, 2005 11:50 pm

Do you have a link for that, so we can see what you mean, Missy?

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sun Aug 21, 2005 3:53 pm

Interesting thread, took me a while to work it all out though haha.
I followed the U.K cage calculator link and it says just one of my cages is suitable for 3 rats, I was quite suprised I have had two cages both 27inch by 17 inch with 2 shelves in each cage joined together for my 3 rats, and even then I was worried it wasn't big enough haha. The reason I came to check this thread was, on of the cages has a plastic bottom to it, it was donated to me and was going to be a temporary cage till I could afford one big one, but now the girly rats have chewed a big escape hole in the bottom. So untill I can gather some cash together they will all have to live in the other one that has a metal tray. I hope they will be ok they have been used to so much space. Confused

Mon Aug 22, 2005 2:02 am

They should be good - I've been there with the escape hole. Seems to be more a girl thing though. I think the boys are just too lazy - well mine, anyway. wink

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Mon Aug 22, 2005 2:51 am

Yes I had Alfie for 2 months before I got the girls and he was no trouble used to let him run around room no probs, would put himself back in the cage afterwards as well. The girls were out for half an hour the other evening, chewed through DVD cable, broadband cable, re arranged magazines and I even caught one swinging from my bra I had left on a chair... sorry too much sharing there.
I was told it is because boy rats aren't as intelligent as girl rats. Hehehe. Surely that applies to all species. wink

Mon Aug 22, 2005 3:06 am

	Quote:
	was told it is because boy rats aren't as intelligent as girl rats. Hehehe. Surely that applies to all species.

No, my boys (for all their dumb moments) are far from stupid. I'll stick with just too lazy. wink

In any case, when the girls (or girl - it was all Whendi) chewed out, I'm pretty certain she was just on her way over to see the boys as she was most definitely in heat... and that, of course, led to us having a bit of a nervous few weeks while we made sure she hadn't managed to get friendly through the bars. Shocked

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Thu Aug 25, 2005 6:26 am

MissyDarling2645 wrote:

I have a sortof solution to the rats kicking the litter on the floor. But let me explain a bit...
I used to have birds, and they would get the seed shells EVERYWHERE, so i bought this kind of net that goes around the bottom of the cage and collects all of the junk thought would have fallen on your newly vacuumed carpet

so...
If you went into the bird section of a pet store and got a big enought net for your ratty's cage, it helps bunches!! ... just a thought i should share my great idea!

I thought about that for awhile, but with the way mine love to pull everything they can reach into the cage I changed my mind. Wouldn't they just pull it in and chewis up?

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33 rats
5 mice
4 hammies
4 Dogs
3 guinea pigs
3 rabbits
1 cat
R.I.P. Sebastian, Brently, & Bethoveen

Fri Aug 26, 2005 8:01 am

well, they wouldnt be able to pull it in because it has an elasctic in it that goes around the whole cage. Here is a link that shows what I am talking about http://www.grannyscybershoppe.com/grannyscybershoppe_038.htm
i hope the link works. Hope this helps... MISSY

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Momma to...

4 rats~ Hoodsie, Lucy, Acadecki, and Linyaari
2 cats~ Tubby Todd and Na'Bisco
2 leopard geckos~ Luka and Jaffa
1 hammy~ Bijou

Fri Aug 26, 2005 8:03 am

I meant pull in a little bit just through one bar spacing. After that, it's toast. Mr. Green

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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

Fri Aug 26, 2005 8:25 am

I suspect that mine (at least the girls) would probably have that in the cage somehow...

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Fri Aug 26, 2005 8:07 pm

Yeah that's the stuff I used to use with my birds and I know all of my little ones would have that messed up in no time. They are pretty good at reaching things

.

_________________
33 rats
5 mice
4 hammies
4 Dogs
3 guinea pigs
3 rabbits
1 cat
R.I.P. Sebastian, Brently, & Bethoveen

Sat Sep 03, 2005 7:17 am

I saw this cage on a local classified ad and I was wondering if anyone knows whether or not it would be suitable for two rats- I'd say around 3 months old. There's no measurement on the wire spacing so I'm a little concerned about that. Thanks

http://cgi.ebay.com/SUPERPET-FERRET-SMALL-ANIMAL-CAGE_W0QQitemZ7710047297QQcategoryZ46307QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

(The only picture I could find was on ebay but it's the same cage)

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Tiana

~~*Polar, Petey, and Kona the Burmese*~~

Sat Sep 03, 2005 7:25 am

Yeah, that'll fit 2 rats. Super Pet cages(like the one I have now), have large spacing, so it wouldn't be appropriate for small females. For large females or males it would be fine(which I learned when I got my cage!)

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Sat Sep 17, 2005 7:06 am

I was cleaning out my grampas basement and found a Huge!!! cage. the spaceing is 1"x 1". I will need to SUPER clean it, and i dont have the room to use it now, but i know these cages are expensive, so i am very reluctant to throw it away. Ill prolly just put it in my closet, or under my bed for later use. But again, wat about the spaceing? What if i get some baby ratties, or females? will it stil be too big?

Missy

_________________
Momma to...

4 rats~ Hoodsie, Lucy, Acadecki, and Linyaari
2 cats~ Tubby Todd and Na'Bisco
2 leopard geckos~ Luka and Jaffa
1 hammy~ Bijou