Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I forgot - the cage is supported by 2, 7 foot long pieces of 2x1 inch rectangular steel - cleaned up and painted white to match.

Looks good. But dangit now you got me thinking I could build a large cage out of that wire shelving Do the rats feet do ok with the wire floors? Or is it just another one of those myths that solid floors are better?
Roxanne

They do fine. No problems whatsoever that I am aware of. It really is a good way to do rats. Not the only but the advantages mean a lot to me - not feeding dozens of male rats - what would that add up over the course of a year ?

I'm sure the rats do fine on the wire, but it does seem as though it would be uncomfortable. I work in a lab with rats, and we are required to have bedding for them. Less stress.

nonsense. They are laying down lounging around a lot of the time anyway. They breed like crazy so...that tells me thay are happy. Also, look whose making those regulations - anyone with any sense ? I doubt it, probably some government official who has never kept rats anyway.

>>nonsense. They are laying down lounging around a lot of the time anyway. They breed like crazy so...that tells me thay are happy. Also, look whose making those regulations - anyone with any sense ? I doubt it, probably some government official who has never kept rats anyway.

In all honesty if you read any info on caging rats you will find that kept on a wire floored cages causes damage over time. They develop something similar to our carpel tunnel from standing on the wire due to the constant pressure on there meta-tarsel bone structure. Rats will breed anywhere thats there nature but kept on a wire floored cage for long periods of time will eventually take its toll.
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"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

I think its a really cool idea, but I have to agree, over time I bet it takes its toll on their feet and joints. maybe you could put in a small section of solid floor and see if they prefer this. If they do, one might assume they dont like the bars.

Ben

Yeah, I'd like to see an experiment. Keep a few cages of rats from the same bloodlines on bedding and a few on wire. Count the babies and measure their weights etc. I'm sure its been done but I don't have the room to do it myself.

One of the positives of keeping them on wire is cleanliness. They are never in contact with feces or urine like they are when kept on bedding - and the food isn't either. This is especially bad if the cages aren't cleaned enough. The other reason I'm in favor of it is odor control - utilizing this system, there is hardly any odor at all coming from the breeders - all that smells is washed away once or twice a day. You never said how long it takes for being on wire to hurt them ? I change out my rats every 6-8 months and I have never had any problems that I could see. They become feeders at that point anyway. What about all the other animals that are kept over wire, like rabbits ? Rats are such amazing animals, they can adapt to just about anything. It really isn't a consideration, and they ARE laying down a lot of the time, depending on what time of day it is. No sense creating a problem where there isn't one.
Paul