My rats like to sleep on the floor sometimes. My Lynn loves to curl up on the floor of the cage. Crostino loves to as well. My oldest rat, Pastoolio, likes to watch me day and night when I work and do school work at my laptop. He'll either sleep on the floor watching me or sleep in the hammock closest to my eye level and laptop. =P

 

Maybe put some treats in there for them if you haven't already. It could be that they haven't gotten the chance to explore what it is. Cute boys!

 

Some rats just have to learn what a hammock is. I agree with Kelsbels about adding treats to the hammocks can get their butts in them and they will be like oh hey this is comfy.

I also like to lower the hammock so it is almost on the floor, from my experience it gets alot of rats using them and then u can raise them back up to normal height.

 

Yep! They've explored it many times, they actually bring treats into the hammock to nom on them but they will not sleep in there. lol

 

It took a while before my girls slept in their hammock. Then eventually one did and now both sleep in it every day. They didn't seem to take to it until they got fully grown, though. I don't know why.

 

I had my girls for almost two months before they even touched the hammocks unless there was a cookie in it. In an effort to teach them about the hammocks, I took out the hiding spots and only left an enclosed type hammock. Now they like it. I've found they prefer the enclosed hammock. They still do not use the open, flat hammocks but now they really like the enclosed one. But, they sleep and snuggle everywhere; the floor, a tissue box, the hammock, the litter box, a basket, pvc pipe...anywhere!

 

Some of my rats like sleeping on the floor too. Try maybe making your hammocks flatter so they're not as droopy? Like, get them to stretch out more so they don't sink in as much when they step in. Maybe they don't like that. My rats seem to like their hammocks a little tighter and they sleep in them a lot, it's probably harder to climb into them and find a comfy position if it's too floppy. That might fix the problem! Could also tempt them by shredding newspaper and putting it in the hammocks as bedding.

Your babies are super cute, especially that little masked one!

 

My two ladies sleep everywhere. I have even caught them napping in the food bowl. They sleep in the hammocks and on the floor. As long as they are happy, I'm happy!

 

Yeah, mine only like hammocks to destroy them, so I've given up making nice ones. Nowadays I just take fabric, cut its edges and tie them to the sides of the cage. They don't last an hour but I only put them so they can be happy destroying the fabric and using it as nesting material

 

My boys are serious ground dwellers. They tore apart a fabric cube I got for them so that when they climb in, they are basically lying on the floor with just a thin piece of fleece under them. My one is obsessed with his sputnik though, and the other one just loves his hidey places. I kept a large hammock in there for months when I first got them and tried all the tricks, treats, low hanging, tightening, loosening, moved around, even lying it on the floor to see if they wanted the fuzziness at all! Nope. They ignored it. They are just the rough and tough type that would prefer a layer of fleece over a comfy bed. =)

 

Proof hehe Just snuck up on the cage to take this.

 

Hello! When I adopted my ratties, I bought them from PetSmart (I know, big mistake..) and of course they didn't have any toys or hammocks in the cage they had for them. All they had in the cage for them was an igloo, an exercise wheel, and a water bottle. So my girls had never seen hammocks before. At first they never used them, and I was honestly kind of worried they never would. However, after about a week or so they decided to give it a try and they both really liked it and slept together in the hammock for awhile. Then one of my girls died a few days ago, and now my other rattie doesn't use the hammock as much anymore (I'm assuming it's probably a sort of memory thing, and she misses her sister so the hammock reminds her of Lily? Not quite sure..) but anywho, my rattie enjoys sleeping on the ground a lot (both before and after Lily's death). Plus some people on here have mentioned their rats enjoy sleeping and spending time on the ground as well, so I think it's just a matter of preference for them.

You could also be exactly right that the person who had them before you adopted them might not have had any hammocks or anything of that sort, so they're just not familiar with it. Best of luck though!! By the way, your ratties are adorable!!

P.S. May I ask what kind of material you use to line their shelves in the cage? It looks super comfy, and the colors are awesome! Nice job on the cage accessories and making it look great!

 

Your boys ARE TOO CUTE!! I can't get over how cute rats are... And how some people don't like them or enjoy them?! But anyways, my rats love both. But I do often find them sleeping on the floor. It did take my rats a while to sleep in the hammocks. I think you should give then a bit more time. About a month. They might just not know what to do with them yet. Or they are getting used to them. Figuring them out. At least that is what happened with my boy. but he does also love the floor haha