Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Sonya,

I read an old post of yours, that sounds like what I am planning. I'm trying to build cages that can accommodate a wheel for my breeder rats. Do you (or anyone who has a "non-rack" breeding set up) have any photos of your set up? I'm looking at 24" x 22" x 15" for 3 females. My plans will have a total of 8 of these cages; 5 for females, 1 for breeder males, and 2 for grow outs. I'll cycle a male through each cage for 3 weeks at a time. Any photos and/or ideas, suggestions, etc. are greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
-----
Tammy

"Give me the luxuries of life and I will gladly do without the necessities." ~~ Frank Lloyd Wright

Base size sounds good, though I'm partial to taller 2 or 3 level cages at least 24" tall. Gives them more room without taking more floor space. and room to climb.

If you plan on a decent wheel then you should go at a minimum 16" tall and use Wodent wheels, the medium or large size for females and the large one for males.

My current cages are 40x18x32 for the 5 males (I'm breeding for various colors and dumbo so I needed to keep more males) since it has 1" bar spacing, 30x18x24 for 4 females and 30x12x24 for 2 females. All 3 have a full extra floor, at least one 1/3 shelf and a wodent wheel. I have 2 smaller 24x14x14 cages that I use for nursery cages.

I'd recommend you use 1/2" mesh pvc coated wire as the galvanized wire will stink badly in a short time and you can't really get rid of the smell once it soaks up the urine.

Thanks for the input!! I'm also breeding for color, dumbo, etc. just to make it more interesting while I raise feeders That, and I have the cutest blaze faced Russian blue? Dumbo!!! I think I'll try to sqeeze in the additional inch in height. Do you have any pics of your set up?
-----
Tammy

"Give me the luxuries of life and I will gladly do without the necessities." ~~ Frank Lloyd Wright

I just don't frequent the sub forums as much. Old habits.
Basically....what he said. I use cages made locally by a rabbit breeder who made them for my rats. He uses 1/2by 2 welded wire (not counted ....cheaper) and an aluminum tray....no rusting. Make sure the door will fit a big wheel. A wodent wheel is ideal but the biggest Superpet wheel is good too....in 1/4 inch mesh. I will see if I can dig up some batteries for the digital camera and get some pictures.
-----
Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

Thanks!!! I wasn't offended I'm still playing with designs at this point. I'm trying to decide between stacked individual cages and a mulitple-cage "mega-cage". I'll post on the main forum when I've got it built. Any photos would be great.
-----
Tammy

"Give me the luxuries of life and I will gladly do without the necessities." ~~ Frank Lloyd Wright