Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi - I used to post at the AOL boards in the Rats As Pets forum... probably over 8 years ago. Anyway, someone recently told me of a migration to this website and so thought I would come by and say hi, and at the same time present a problem.

Currently I only have one rat - he is a downunder named Oliver. His buddy passed away a few months ago. Oliver is now about three years old I think. When he passes I'm going to build a cage and adopt 3-4 female rats.

I hated my Martins Cage because it was really hard to clean. I am not a huge fan of wires because they always seem to get peed on and get sticky and icky, but I know they are best as they supply good air circulation. Plus, I only weigh around 100lbs and live in a small apartment so scooting the cage to the bathtub would be difficult. The "Grotto" style cage by Robyn looks really nice and I've seen other people do it, but I need a more portable, and easier to clean method. Does anyone have any ideas or has anyone here ever built their own cage?

I'm not really a great engineer of sorts so I was just hoping someone had a suggestion. Maybe I'll draft up some brilliant plan, but I could always use a pointer or two.

Hi,
I know exactly what you mean about wire cages. I used to have a cage that had 3 floors for the rats and they peed on the wire, I gave up and went to a one level cage.
I did see a wire cage top that fit over the top of a tank, the rats could get up to the wire by a ladder but the bedding and mess stayed in the tank. I was going to order one but now I can't find it!
I'll keep looking and let you know if you are interested.
Robin
Harm None.

Its martinscages.com, they have the over the tank wire cages.
Robin
Harm None.

Hey, Cara! I'm pretty sure I remember you from the old AOL board!

Martin's made me a custom cage for my boys that were missing some feet. For obvious reasons, I needed a single level cage, but it ended up being my favorite cage ever. The base was 18x30 and it was 14 or so inches tall. The top flipped open and there was also a large door on the front. It was SO easy to clean and access everything inside. I don't remember exactly what I paid because it was a while ago, but their prices are always reasonable. They were really good to work with.
HTH
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~Rachel~

A wire cage is pretty much your best option, and Martin's seems to make the best rat sized wire cages. Superpet now sells a nice wire cage for $99 at PetSmart, it's 30x18x30 with 1/2" wire bars.

I like Martins cages, the R680 and R685 are big enough for 3-4 rats but not too big to clean, and take in the shower for a good scrubbing once in a while. Just make sure to get 30x18 minimum pan size, powdercoated, and the flip top lid which makes it easier to clean.

A lot of rat people really like the "Ferret Nation" cages from Midwest, but they have 1" bars so only work well for males or large adult females.

Hey Cara I DO remember you.. gosh has it been EIGHT YEARS??
holy cow I'm gettin' old.

Anyway I don't have any cage suggestions.. the ones I read were good.
I do happen to know from a recent experience with a nameless dept. on a college campus that Rubbermaid boxes are NOT the way to go with rats.
I'm no bigger than you, I have no problems with my Martin's R680s, I can get them apart & into the bathtub for cleaning by myself.
I went looking through my old saved links, found one for a do it yourself cage.. it said at the end that after 2 years of lugging the home-made thing to the tub, they ended up buying a Martin's LOL!!
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PHRatz