RatPalace.com - Pet Rat Care and Discussion

Thu Feb 02, 2006 3:47 am

So I went home shopping for my secritary (who just so happens to be my rattie). I'll try and find a picture of each of the potential homes so you can see what I'm talking about. I did take my tape measure with me and got measurments for every wire that the cage has and the size and what nots. My tape measure was very busy this morning...lol. I'm looking at getting a companion for my rat as well. All the homes here are all powder coated. I need to know if any of these will NOT work for the rats and a reason would be nice so I can inform the hubby when we go to pick one up. Thanks for all the help.

Rose

First up is the home that is made for rats. It looks like the martin R-695 the dimentions a little bit different. The dimentions are 31"x15"x31", has two doors, 2 shelfs and a full lvl. The shelfs are 1/2"x 1/2" wire spacing and the ladders are 1/4"x 1/4" wire spacing. The cage spacing its self is 1/2" (wide) x 2"(long) (the outside part of the cage). It has a 3.5" high tray. I forgot to write down who made this one, sorry. This one runs $120. Cage calculator says it'll fit 4 rats.

Next up is a Super Pet Ferret Home. (You'll have to go to ferrets then click on cages and find the one that says My First Home, 2' x 2', Multi-Floor.)

http://www.superpetusa.com/index.html

The wire spacing on the outside of the home is 1" (wide) by 7" (long). There are no wires on the inside it's all plastic and tubes with a slide and plastic ladder. It's 41" high with a tray that's 3"deep with 2 doors and it's a roll a way. It runs $120. Cage calculator says it'll fit 6 rats.

Third on the list is another ferret cage known as the Ferritville 82 C3.

http://www.ferretstore.com/ma-35680.html

Everything you see in it comes with it. It's 32" x 20 x 58, has a 3" deep base, 3 doors, roll away. The shelves are expandable with no wire inside the cage. $150 Cage calculator says it'll fit 9 rats

The last one I found today is an unknown make and model. I couldn't find the sticker or any identifing object on the home. It's dimentions are 22.5 x 16 x 34, outside wire is 1" (wide) x 7" (long), has 3 shelves 1/4 (wide) x 2 (long), 3 ladders 1/2" (Wide) x 5" (long), has a 3" deep base, 2 doors. It's $125. Cage calculator says it'll fit 3 rats

Thu Feb 02, 2006 4:44 am

Did you try opening all of these different cage doors and seeing how comfortable it is to reach all the way to the back and pretend you are wiping shelves...some cages dimensions seem ok but they end up being difficult to clean.
Just a thought...

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~~Dawn~~

Thu Feb 02, 2006 5:10 am

They all seemed to be easy to clean. I have long arms so I could reach all the corners with out any problems and I didn't hit, scrape or touch any of the shelves or ladders getting to the corners. My youngest could even clean a couple of them (she went with me).

Mon Feb 06, 2006 3:56 am

The first one you listed sounds like the All Living Things cage from petsmart. I had it for a while because I thought it would be as nice as the R-695. I hated it. It's not powder coated, just painted, and the ratties chew the paint off and it just generally gets scraped off pretty easily. The metal base is AWFUL to get clean. The doors are pretty small. I just don't think it is very well made. When I got the 695 I was SO amazed at how different they really are. I do not reccomend this cage. Sorry, don't have any experience with the other ones.

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ERM & the Rotten Ratters
Deliah, Gidget, Mocha, & Pie

Mon Feb 06, 2006 6:03 am

Cage number 1: Cover the shelving wire as it's wide spaced, but sounds good and plenty big enough for 2 rats.

Cage number 2: The outside wire will possibly allow the escape of small, young and female rats, though should be fine for older boys. They may well chew the plastic shelves etc, and they will need wiping down at least daily because of pee puddles.

Cage number 3: looks huge! three doors, make sure they're large enough to easily reach inside. The small shelves aren't to my liking (I prefer larger shelves) but at least you can rearrange to your liking. I don't see how wide the spacing is of the exterior wire, but ferret cages are usually 1/2" so again - it's not suitable as-is for small rats who might well escape.

Cage number 4: again you need to cover any wire that is more than 1/4" in any direction to protect feet (but you can use something like cloth for softness, or perforated plastic sheeting (such as carpet runner) - check the sticky thread on litters and bumblefoot for more info. The outside wire again will be too wide for small rats - where possible, keep it to 1/2" if possible to be sure of no escapees.

I personally like a metal pan, but only if it's powdercoated. It makes sure of no chewer escapes, but if it's not powdercoated, then it will get stinky fast. I can't comment really on how easy any of them to use are, but I would say that a flip top lid is something I would add to my essential list, along with doors that are at least a foot square (or near as possible). There has to be at least one per level for really good access, and I always want to be sure that I can reach in to clip a hammock into the furthest corner from the door as that is something I currently struggle to do in my cage. wink

Check how the doors fasten too - some persistant rats (like my flatmate's girls) will work out how to open doors that don't fasten securely (and preferably need an opposable thumb to open).

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~