Our Best Tips for Setting up a Safe Rat Cage
DO use SOLID baskets/bins
DO add lots of pumice or wood perches for chewing and climbing
DO use SOLID baskets/bins
Bins are a safe and comfortable places for rats to sleep or hangout. You can fill them with bedding or litter to make them nice and cosy. If they have small handles, cut them larger as shown in the picture to make sure a rat can fit through them.
DO clutter your cage
DO add lots of pumice or wood perches for chewing and climbing
DO use SOLID baskets/bins
Rats love lots of stuff! They are very active and climb all over the place so need lots of things to climb on a catch them if they fall. MAKE SURE to leave enough space in between items so a rats body can fit through them without getting stuck.
DO add lots of pumice or wood perches for chewing and climbing
DO add lots of pumice or wood perches for chewing and climbing
DO add lots of pumice or wood perches for chewing and climbing
Rats love to chew and climb and these perches are perfect to have all around the cage. MAKE SURE any wood is RAT SAFE as there are many woods that are toxic to rats. A quick google search of rat safe wood will show you what you can and can't use. Always make sure to search if an item is safe as some items labelled for rats at pet stores are actually not rat safe.
DO NOT use bins/baskets with holes
DO NOT use ropes or fabric that will fray
DO add lots of pumice or wood perches for chewing and climbing
NEVER use bins with small holes as rats can get their hands, feet or tails caught and injured.
DO NOT use hammocks
DO NOT use ropes or fabric that will fray
DO NOT use ropes or fabric that will fray
Although Hammocks are nice and cosy and look cute, we have heard WAY too many cases of rats getting injured and even fatal accidents related to rats chewing holes in hammocks and getting stuck or strangled. We WILL NOT be accepting any cages that have hammocks as the risk is not worth it when there are tons of alternatives that the rats love just as much. The only exception is rats with malocclusion (like the rats in this picture) who cannot physically chew.
DO NOT use ropes or fabric that will fray
DO NOT use ropes or fabric that will fray
DO NOT use ropes or fabric that will fray
Anything that is in your cage, rats will chew. As soon as you see this happening, those items MUST BE REMOVED. We have stopped using ropes for this reason and clutter the cages with baskets and hides to ensure the rats safety at all times. Potentially dangerous items are just not worth the risk!
DO use dig boxes or buckets
Rats love to dig and buckets or large bins with lots of bedding is perfect for that. You may even have old sand buckets already hanging around so give them a good clean and add them in for the rats to enjoy!
DO use sputnicks
Rats LOVE these little UFO like toys and many of ours spend all day in them! They are the perfect alternative to hammocks and you can add some bedding to them to make them even more cosy. Rats wont miss hammocks when they have these around instead!
DO use solid tunnels
DO use dig boxes with houses DO NOT use fabrics in houses
You can DIY some solid tunnels to add more variety to the rats cage allowing them to climb in or on the tunnels as they move around the cage. Fabric tunnels are difficult to clean and also provide risk of chewing similar to hammocks and should be avoided.
DO use dig boxes with houses DO NOT use fabrics in houses
DO use dig boxes with houses DO NOT use fabrics in houses
Rats love having lots of options of places to hide or sleep. Rather than using materials for beds (fleece, towels, blankets etc), put rat safe bedding in boxes with their houses for a comfortable and safe nap spot.
DO use Aspen or Hemp bedding. DO NOT use paper or bedding with dyes!
We recommend Aspen or hemp bedding for the bottom of the cage and in dig boxes. Hemp tends to control odour better, especially if you have males or a large group of rats, but Aspen is OK too. These are the two that we use. Left one is from Walmart and right you can get on Amazon.
NEVER use paper bedding as the smell gets too bad too fast and it the increased ammonia smell can harm the rats respiratory systems leading to respiratory infections.
NEVER use products with dyes as even thought they may be marketed for small animals, they are TOXIC TO RATS!
DO use carabiners to attach items.
For attaching things inside the cage, we recommend these small carabiners because they’re big enough that they won’t get their feet or tails caught, but small enough that they can’t get their head through them. We do not recommend using shower, curtain clips, either plastic or metal, because the metal ones are sharp And can cut the rats easily, and the plastic ones are the perfect size for heads and our bodies to get stuck in.
Here are more pictures of great items to have in your cage!
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Dosing information for common rat medications from veterinarians (not created by us)
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