The Perfect Rat Cage Setup

Finding the best rat cage for your ratties pals is an important task. Since they will spend a lot of time in it, a bad choice can have a big impact on their lives and happiness. To makes them happy and satisfied, spend some extra time to search for that perfect rat heaven!

Give them lots of space

Rats maybe small animal, but they need a lot of space, aim for at least 5000cm² per rats and, since rats live in group of at least 2 members we suggest a multi-leveled cage, at least 1m tall and a bottom of 50cm*50cm. But if you can, the bigger the better!

Rats loves to climb, a tall cage is mandatory, put platform all long to increase floor space. They are also extremely intelligent and they need lots of exploration and enriching toys.

 

Always go for steel bar cage

These little rats need good air flow, an aquarium trap heat and moisture which can irritates the rat’s respiratory system. Same thing with wooden enclosure, their urine will react with the wood and make it stink and toxic fumes will damage your rats lungs. Plus, rats are rodent, they will chew right through the wood!

Metal cage with coated horizontal wire is the best choice for keeping your rats happy but avoid cages with wire mesh flooring as it can hurts their fragile little paw. If you have one, cover it with something softer like a mat.

 

Be carefull about bar spacing

You will be surprised about your rat ability to squish between small hole. Try to keep the bar's space under 1cm, although 2cm should be small enough for most adult rats. If you have a cage with bigger wire space, you can put a wire mesh around it, grab some at your nearest hardware store!

 

Put your cage away from draught

Your little pals are fragile and too much direct air flow can cause numerous respiratory problems. You should put your cage away from strong smells and direct sunlight. Idealy, it should be in a bright room that gets tons of natural light and where they can have quiet times but still can observe what's happening around him.

Don't forget, rats are most active at night, so if you are a light sleeper, don't put them in your bedroom. Unless you want to be woken up by your buddies jumping around and playing in their cage!

 

Toys! Toys! Toys!

Rats need stimulations, otherwise they become bored and stressed, which can cause aggression and depression. To keep them untertained, put some tunnels, ladders, hideout, branches to climb on, puts some hammock and every crazy thing you can think of! To switch it a little bit, you can change the location of toys every time you clean the cage, so they get a "new" cage every week!

 

The essentials accessory

Food Bowl:

Choose a bowl that can be attached to the cage's side, otherwise they will knock it over.

Water Bottle:

A water bowl will get filthy fast and they will knock it over anyway. Choose a good water bottle that does not drip, otherwise, you will get a wet bedding and an empty bottle!

Hiding Spot:

Rats can spend up to 15 hours sleeping, they love to sleep pile up over one another. Choose a hideout large enough for all your rats to go in. Try give them some tissus and toilet paper and you will see them make their bed!

Hammock:

Rats are not too different from us, they also love a good nap in hammock. Just hang it right from the roof and watch them cozy up in it. Don't forget to wash it from time to time!

Tubes:

Luckly for you, there are all sorts of tubes, rats loves to hide in it. Put some so they have to take it to go from platform to platform

Chew Toys:

Rats teeth never stop growing, they can grow up to 1cm a month. So it's really important to give them something to chew so they can trim their teeth. You can put in their cage some safe clean wood to chew on, or hard treat and stone such as hard shelled nuts or mineral stone. Some people even give them bones, as rats are omnivorus.

Sometime you will hear your rats grinding his teeth, that what we call "bruxing" that a completly natural ways for him to help keep his teeth at the correct length. They also do it when they are stressed or happy, for the former he will also boggle his eyes out, which mean that he is really happy and relax!

 

Keep it clean, guys!

The least favorite part of having rats. Like it or not you’re going to spend a lot of time cleaning your little friends mess. To help you with the hassle, choose a cage with removable platforms and easy to dismand.

First, take out all object, remove food and toys, as well as hammock and bedding. Everything should be cleaned, so put all tissus in the washing machine, try to avoid strong smelly detergent. Then wash everything else under hot water with to some white vinegar, gently scrub between the cage's wire, be careful to not scrap of the coating! Wait for it to dry, then build the cage back again, you should do this routine idealy once a week. You can put off the cleaning routine by doing some little cleaning every day. Change the bedding regulary and clean the platform with warm water and vinegar.

 

Some perfect cage for your rat.

Great for 2 or 3 rats and easy to clean!

Just detache base for an easy cleaning.

The high walled bottom will keep your floor clean of waste.

You have to take off the wired floor out or put a soft mat on it.

The huge palace heaven!

It's the perfect cage! It's huge, it's tall, it has lot of floor space. You can easly put 7 rats in it.

You can store your bedding and food under it and you can split the cage in two part.

If you don't need a cage that huge, there is also the single story, just click here!

 

 

Great starter cage for 2 or 3 rats

Ideal first cage. It already have multi-levels, it's easy to clean and it have a deep base to prevent mess!

Even if they have the perfect cage, they still need to roam around outside of it.

Even the most perfect cage can't replace a good exploring session of your room. Rats are curious and full of energy, you need to let them out of their cage for at least 1 hour a day. Take this time to teach them tricks!