Rats, Like most creatures, ( including humans ) need to have a place in which they can feel safe, secure and comfortable.
The homes most often chosen by their owners seem to be wire cages or fish tanks,
either of which are O.K. if the plus and minus points are taken into account. A
cage tends to be draughty and should be carefully located with this in mind. The
rats can also feel very exposed so we always give them a cosy nest box with plenty of bedding.
Fish tanks are draught free but need a mesh top cover to allow adequate ventilation and prevent condensation.
We prefer to cover any wire mesh shelves with washable plastic or replace them with solid floors, as rats can easily trap their feet in wire mesh causing sprains and even fractures. A rat which is trapped in any way will usually panic and make the situation a lot worse. For the same reason we don`t
use ladders, shallow ramps and small step-up shelves are much safer. The mesh
used in the construction of the cages is around 3/4 inch or 2.0 centimetres square for the same reasons.
I sometimes build my own rat houses from "Conti Board" or similar plastic faced material with mesh on the front only.
Whatever type of home we choose for our rats it needs to be furnished suitably,
the most important feature being a good nest box. The plastic "igloo" type seems
to be a firm favourite and is easy to keep clean, but we make sure that it has
ventilation holes. Cardboard boxes are also very popular, they are warm and can
be chewed and "improved" in various ways. Cardboard does however have a limited
life so we always
dispose of it when it becomes soiled.
To give our rats their absolute favourite sleeping accommodation we buy or make them hammocks,
the only problem being that they like them so much it can be hard to get them to come outside!
The rest of the furnishings are made up from all manner of things, chunks of wood,
plastic tubing, rope, or anything that is safe and non-toxic. Rats like to examine any
new objects that they find so we move things around quite often.
Food containers need to be heavy enough to avoid tipping, or better still, fixed
to the side of the house. We try to use shallow food bowls whenever possible,
especially for older or sick rats. The normal drip-feed water bottles are hard
to improve on and we use them exclusively.
We usually use paper/cardboard based litter or hemp on the cage floors
as they are completely dust free. Our favourite is Finacard which is made from
shredded corrugated cardboard and is also very economical, the rats love it and
like to move it around the cages. For bedding we use shredded paper which is very clean and warm,
hay or straw is fine but can carry mites and also have quite hard and spiky
pieces at times. In addition to having a comfortable house we like
give our rats plenty of time to run about and explore, one or two are allowed to
run around free but most of them need to be kept in a smaller area where they
are safe without needing constant supervision. I have built a "play pen" which
can be easily moved about and gives them lots of scope for exploration. The
shelves are easy to remove and the layout can be altered periodically.
Baby
Benjy
Rolo
Kenny
Pearl
