RatPalace.com - Pet Rat Care and Discussion

Sun Dec 25, 2005 2:16 am

Finally got the new cage this morning, then spent 6 hours cleaning it and setting it up, and I'm not quite done yet. I have some runs to make to Petsmart later on, probably on Monday, to get a couple of corner shelves and leaping ledges.

So, with no further BS on my part, here's Ratopia v2.0. It's a Martin's FNE-480 New Englander cage, 30" wide, 18" deep, and 54" tall. Cage calculator says it can hold 11 rats, but because of the sloped roof, I'd say more like 8. Regardless, I'm only going to use it for my three girls. If the pictures are huge when you first load the page, just refresh and it should fix it. Photobucket can be tempermental from time to time.

The whole thing, set up.

The top level of the cage. This can actually be separated and made into another cage for 2-3 rats, or used as a travel cage (as I'll be using it next week when the rats camp out with my mother, stepfather, and sister while I'm camping out in Florida with my dad and his cat. It will be slightly modified, with a silent spinner wheel and a litter tray in place of the corner litterbox and igloo setup, as well as an extra hammock for when it's used as the girls' travel home.

The second level. This is where most of the improvements will go, as it will get at least one corner shelf installed, along with a leaping ledge to get to the hammock.

The bottom level...aka the toilet. The Wodent Wheel is attached to the roof and sides with cable zip ties, and the tube will be moved to accomodate a corner shelf. I love how big the doors are--I was able to get the entire Wobust Wodent Wheel through, fully assembled, without having to take the cage apart to do so. The tray slides out, but there's no wire floor. Have I mentioned how much I love Martin's cages?

*EDIT* to add the ratpile! Seems like they've picked their new favorite spot! That's Squishy looking at the camera, Nibbler facing the camera, asleep below her, and Squee's butt.

The old R-690 will be loaned out to a local rat rescue until I graduate from college, at which point I'll have to decide based on my situation whether I take the New Englander or the Rat Tower with me. If I do take the Rat Tower, the rescue will get to keep the New Englander.

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-Ben
My rats: Squishy, Squee, and Nibbler
My dogs (at my mother's house): Lucy and Ricky
My cats (at my dad's house--in Florida!): Cleo (RIP) and Zima

Last edited by bcorby on Sun Dec 25, 2005 3:27 am; edited 1 time in total

Sun Dec 25, 2005 2:46 am

Very nice! Ratlover66 has the same cage and I've seen it in person at her house and i'd say 11 could easily live comfortably in there, even with the sloped roof. Mr. Green

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

Sun Dec 25, 2005 3:12 am

thanks for the pics..
I need ideas

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~~Dawn~~

Sun Dec 25, 2005 3:21 am

Dawn-

One great idea is to get a 2-3" diameter cardboard mailing tube, cut it into a 3-4" section, and use it to hold a tube sock open. I have one of those in my cage, and Nibbler (my hairless smart-a**) loved it so much that she moved it inside the igloo (in the old cage, when they were on the same level) from INSIDE THE SOCK. Nibbler and Squee love to run through it and curl up inside, but Squishy's kind of apathetic to it.

_________________
-Ben
My rats: Squishy, Squee, and Nibbler
My dogs (at my mother's house): Lucy and Ricky
My cats (at my dad's house--in Florida!): Cleo (RIP) and Zima

Sun Dec 25, 2005 3:30 am

hey what a great way to use up an old sock
thanks LOL!

ETA: I have a bunch of Pringles cans saved up....*running off to find an old sock!

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~~Dawn~~

Last edited by Dawn on Sun Dec 25, 2005 3:34 am; edited 1 time in total

Sun Dec 25, 2005 3:33 am

I'll take a close-up picture of the sock and post it up later for you, the trick is to use a sock long and wide enough so that they have some challenge in chewing through it, and so that it falls down in the middle and makes them have to dig their way out.

_________________
-Ben
My rats: Squishy, Squee, and Nibbler
My dogs (at my mother's house): Lucy and Ricky
My cats (at my dad's house--in Florida!): Cleo (RIP) and Zima

Sun Dec 25, 2005 11:13 pm

Wow, impressive! And its great that you will be able to donate one of your set ups to a rescue- hats off to you! Hat

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It's just past eight and I'm feeling young and reckless...

Thu Dec 29, 2005 8:08 pm

Wow! What a cage!

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Sat Dec 31, 2005 1:07 am

Nice cage, the rats must really be enjoying it!!

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EMILY-------------------------------------------------

Rest in peace, Violet and Isadora. <3

Sat Dec 31, 2005 12:37 pm

Like mentioned above, I have this cage and I absolutely love it. The barn top is my favorite part of the cage- I've used it many times for transporting the girls to Christy's house, as well as for my elderly rats that needed a spacious, single-level cage.

I hope you enjoy the cage as much as I do. Here are two different pics of my cage in different set-ups if it helps you think of ways to decorate.
http://www.love-jinx.com/Rats/Cages/cageside2.jpg
http://www.love-jinx.com/Rats/Cages/fullcage.jpg

My main complaint about the cage is that while the slide-out pans are fabulous, they don't slip into trash bags very well like the pans from my 695 and 690. Maybe I just need to find bigger trash-bags. Mr. Green

Congrats on choosing a fabulous cage! Your girls will love it (and you can definitely fit 11 in there Mr. Green

).

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Brittany
Bear, November, Citadel, Stella, Amor, and Bella

Sat Dec 31, 2005 6:20 pm

bcorby....Did you buy your cage used? You mentioned 6 hours of cleaning...

ratlover66....wow that is beautiful. What are you laying down....the pink material?
Do you just have a bunch of that, replace it and wash it? Do they keep it in place?

A question for both of you....How long does your weekly cleaning routine take?
I cant imagine....I have a much smaller cage and my cleaning is taking me alot longer than I ever thought..
or maybe I am just new and kind of slow??? Any tips and tricks to save time?

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~~Dawn~~

Sat Dec 31, 2005 7:40 pm

Tricks to sav time? Ugh. Clean toys every day >_>;

The thing about multi levelled cage sis that they like the climbing space, and we like them to be happy. But their pee nd poop dribbles down the floorgrates and coats EVERYTHING below it. Thats why I had to move my boys' foot dish to the top. Its so much more filthy now that thye are in a cage.
They were MUCH cleaner when in the aquairum ;___; I almost regret moving them =/

But I like the above cage. Ish so tewtums fruitums! And so many toys and things to do!

Sat Dec 31, 2005 8:05 pm

Celynny...I cant do everyday. I am able to get it done about every 3 days.
I am really slow though because I get unsure of what I am doing and where to place things.
Once Nicholas stops teething so bad it will get easier. The plastic coated wire wipes down really nice.
I still cant wait for summer when I can take it outside and hose it off every week, that will be awesome!

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~~Dawn~~

Mon Jan 02, 2006 12:10 am

	Dawn wrote:
	ratlover66....wow that is beautiful. What are you laying down....the pink material? Do you just have a bunch of that, replace it and wash it? Do they keep it in place?

It's pink fleece, which the rats seem to love. I poke holes in a few of the corners and zip tie them to the cage so it will stay in place. Depending on the amount I have, I'll occasionally wash it, but I buy it in bulk, so most of the time I just throw it away. I don't always have it on every level, it's mainly for their blankets. It's fairly inexpensive at most fabric stores.

	Dawn wrote:
	A question for both of you....How long does your weekly cleaning routine take?

Well, the slide-out pan in this cage makes it very easy to do a quick bedding change every few days, so the smell is kept to a minimum. I make sure that their blankies haven't been peed on and that they're not stashing food in their hiding spots, and doing that only takes about 30 minutes. Every 1-2 weeks I scrub the cage down with a dilution of Simple Solutions (inexpensive pet-safe cleaner that smells wonderful, can be found in most petstores) and change the bedding/wash the pan, and doing that can take anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half, but it does help with smell.

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Brittany
Bear, November, Citadel, Stella, Amor, and Bella

Fri Jan 06, 2006 9:37 pm

Sorry for taking so long to reply. I've been in Florida, and family obligations got in the way once I got back.

Dawn: Yes, I did get it used. Found it on Craigslist--a family with four ferrets was looking to part ways with their animals, and was willing to sell this cage first as they had another to keep the animals in. The family did clean it first, and they did a good job, but I like to clean and disinfect cages myself just so that I'm 100% certain it was done right. The 6 hours included drying time on the back balcony--the actual scrubbing, rinsing, etc. took closer to 2 hours. Once I busted out the zip ties, the cage took roughly an hour to assemble--including one false start where I noticed (after using about 30 zip ties, d'oh!) that my nice, square cage had all the shelves on the outside.

My cleaning routine involves wiping down the cage shelves with vinegar, then with diluted hydrogen peroxide, then water, then drying them. All told, it takes me roughly half an hour every couple of days to do so. I also spot-clean daily, pulling raisins out and the such, which takes roughly 10 minutes. Once a week, I change the bedding and disinfect the pan--since it's a slide-out pan and the dumpster is right outside my condo, that takes maybe 10 minutes. Once a month, I hit the bear, when I take the whole cage outside and scrub it down. That'll happen for the first time with the New Englander in a week or so, but it took me about 30 minutes with the R-690 (not including drying time).

While I was away, my girls chewed the heck out of the barn's PVC coating. Two of the corners are nearly bare of it and left galvanized--is there any way to repair this? I've heard that rats do so when under stress and/or in too small of a cage, so I think I'll be holding on to the 690 as a travel cage after all.

_________________
-Ben
My rats: Squishy, Squee, and Nibbler
My dogs (at my mother's house): Lucy and Ricky
My cats (at my dad's house--in Florida!): Cleo (RIP) and Zima