[Night]

Here's my cage. It's 6' long, a little over 2' wide, and a little over 5' tall. It houses my 12 rats It's two Ferret Nations that I (permanently) modified by ripping out the wire on one whole side of each FN, and then using zip ties to hold them together.

 

[Sara_C]

Re: My ratlets' cage

Their house is so beautiful! (As is yours, may i add!). I can't wait til i have enough space to have a ratty room like that.

Are towels easier to clean than regular bedding? Do you need a lot of spares?

 

[VayeraGirl93]

Re: My ratlets' cage

HOLY CRAP!!! that thing is SO awsome! my god--that must of cost u alot of money(even tho u combined the two together) way to make a huge cage!

by the way...how can u keep track of all of ur rats (12 is alot)? when do u play with all of them?

 

[Night]

Re: My ratlets' cage

How do I keep track of them? I don't really understand the question! They all know their names and will come when they hear them. Along with that, I generally know where I can find each of the rats, since they all have their favorite spots to be.

For playtime, I simply open the cage, put a ramp up, and the ratties come out and roam around the (rat-proofed) room

Sara - I find that towels and fleece are much easier to clean than regular bedding. Bedding gets kicked everywhere, and it's hard to spot clean. With the towels, I simply take them out every 2-3 days, shake out all the food crumbs/raisins, then pop them in the wash. It's definitely good to have spare towels, since that way if I don't feel like doing laundry or forget, I don't have to worry about it.

 

[Sara_C]

Re: My ratlets' cage

I think i might try towels instead of Carefresh when i've used the bags i've just got. I'm sick of having to pick bits of bedding out of their food to determine how much they've got left, as well as half of it ending up on the floor after their mad half hours. I think towels look a lot nicer too, and they must be cozier. Do they control odours well, though?

I'm definitley thinking i might find some nice towels/fleece for the bottom of their cage...do you think velcro (the stuff with the sticky backs) help to keep it in place?

 

[Night]

Re: My ratlets' cage

Some rat owners have used velcro with success, though they all admit that it gets a bit icky after a while But, I'm sure velcro isn't that expensive and can be replaced fairly often.

Towels control odor extremely well! In fact, if you're switching from Carefresh to towels, you should notice a huge difference. Personally, I can't stand the smell of Carefresh, especially if it's a little dirty. For the litter boxes I have in my cage, I use pelleted litter (such as Yesterday's News), since other litters are too light and will just be kicked out.

Towels can be a teensy bit of a hazard, though, since if they're chewed, they become stringy and rats can get their feet/nails caught in them. I've used towels for about 7 years now and have never had that problem. Just cut off any loose ends before you put the towels in the cage Fleece, on the other hand, doesn't have that problem. Fleece is also fairly inexpensive, too, and comes in a wide array of colors and prints. I use a mixture of both in my cage.

 

[Stephanie]

Re: My ratlets' cage

my boys would go nuts on the towels i wish i could use them but they "go" when the mood strikes them. messy little critters LoL i would have to do laundry every day

 

[JennieLove]

Re: My ratlets' cage

I see you've made it BIGGER! I bet your babies love that.

 

[Night]

Re: My ratlets' cage

Yes! I bought a second FN and combined the two The maximum number of rats that can be housed in a Ferret Nation is 12, and because I'm such a cage ho, I don't "do" max numbers. So now they have a monster cage, and the rats are beyond elated.

 

[JennieLove]

Re: My ratlets' cage

I finished making my boys cage bigger and I believe I can fit 9 rats in it...according to the rat calculator. They have SO much room now, lol they dont know what to do with it all. Ive been making hammocks and hanging tubes like crazy, so theres a total of 9 all together, only thing stoping me from making more is I've run outa yarn.

 

[Night]

Re: My ratlets' cage

If you have a sewing machine or can get your hands on one, you should try sewing some hammocks for your rats. It seriously becomes an addiction I'm constantly making my rats new hammocks, and they have tons of 'spares' that I have to keep in 2 huge storage totes. My double FN can house a whopping 24 rats, which is insane even to me.

 

[JennieLove]

Re: My ratlets' cage

I have been crocheting like CRAZY! Im posting pic of the cage and everything right now.

 

[reachthestars]

Re: My ratlets' cage

I will say that sewing does become VERY addictive, and it's so much cheaper than buying hammocks all the time!

 

[Rat_Fink]

Re: My ratlets' cage

OMG, that cage is SO fricken amazing. One day I shall have a cage as decent as that!

See i'm really hesistant to sew and buy really nice fleace like that for my ratties, because my girl Beatrix chew's material like crazy. Do any of your rats do that?

 

[Vixie]

Re: My ratlets' cage

I have that calendar!

And hopefully I am getting the add-on for my FN soon. =^_^=

 

[OnlyOno]

Re: My ratlets' cage

haha, it's a lovely cage, but i can't help but notice that so many rat owners have such ridiculous color schemes. rats can see shades of blue, green, and a hint of ultraviolets, and they can't see clearly for more than a few feet. on that note, i keep my rat cage color-coordinated with everything else i've got (black with lime greens and purples).

night, your cage looks fabulous seeing as your whole room is bright and multicolored too, but at first glance it was definitely a "holy crap" reaction, lol.

 

[Night]

Re: My ratlets' cage

Haha, I definitely tend to paint rooms extremely bright (sometimes obnoxious) colors. Honestly, I think my room lifts my mood - it's so bright, airy, and colorful. Although I realize that my rats can't quite appreciate their cage's colors as much as I do, that certainly doesn't stop them from being extremely happy with it

 

[smellycato]

Re: My ratlets' cage

is that a guest room or your bed room? wouldnt 12 rats get awfully noisey at night? i have 2 and they enjoy throwing their bucket against the side of the cage.

 

[Night]

Re: My ratlets' cage

It's my bedroom. They're rarely noisy at night. My only thing that ever gets annoying is when they quarrel with each other. Although no one's hurting each other, some of my rats are whiney and will start screaming the second another rat looks at them wrong

 

[Vixie]

Re: My ratlets' cage

I've been meaning to ask you, Night, how do you keep the towels on the corners of the tray in the cage.

My boys pulled them right up until I sewed on some velcro on the corners.