[Zepp94]

So I have recently gotten 2 "small" rats(adopted from petco and this is what the are labeled as). The newest one is just a little baby and can easily fit through and of the 1/2" spacing my cage has for them. And the older one who is close to the size of the "medium" rats the sell, but still can fit through the ceiling of the cage with ease. I know about the whole cover it in chicken wire to prevent that, but I was curious as to if anyone has any information or experience with "small" rats and the Critter Nation? I have 2 cats, one who is scared and 1 who watches them every day, so I'm not worried about them being in trouble at any point, but in the off chance that my cat does go with his "instincts" I'd rather not be left with 1 less rat. If the only option is chicken wire, thats fine, I can deal with it, just worries me that there will be sharp pieces they will try to chew at? Any input would be greatly appreciated! thank you so much!

 

[AznDonutBoy]

THe dimensions for the critter nation cage has the cage bars listed at 1/2in. However the actual space between them is less than that. The actual width between the bars is roughly 5/8ths the size of a dime. So shove a dime in your rats faces and see for yourself xD I cant see it being an issue tho. You can use chicken wire or hardware clot (same difference) just use your best judgement on which ones would be safe, some have sharp edges and some are rounded.

 

[artgecko]

You can get 1/2" hardware cloth (it's easier to cut than the 1/4"). When you cut it, just cut along the vertical lines so that there aren't any horizontal pieces sticking out. You will waste some cloth this way (by trimming edges) but it is possible to cut off the sharp parts. We did this with one cage and had to ziptie it to the cage. It works OK but is hard to clean. I was very glad when we could remove it. If you go this route, make sure you buy workgloves to wear while cutting the cloth, as it will cut you up lol.

 

[nanashi7]

Because of how the CN bars are I can barely fit my fingers through. I'm sure they'd be fine.

 

[Zepp94]

Thank you so much all for your responses, right now I have her separated from my other girls because my REd-Eyed white is doing her utmost job of saying she's the alpha of my mischief and I feel bad having her deprecated but it's the only way I've found in my current situation to keep her safe because if she's not getting "attacked"(for lack of a better word) she's slipping through my current bar spacing and I don't need her getting lost in my apartment.