What are all the supplies I need for my rat cage?

Question

I have two baby rats coming next week and I just bought the cage. What are all the supplies I should have in the cage? I have a good idea of what I mostly need but I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything. They are both baby girls and the cage is 2 level.

Answer 1

What are the dimensions of your cage? Levels mean nothing if the cage isn't big enough.

30"L x 18" W x 30"H is what I would recommend for 2 rats, a little smaller, but not by much, for 2 females.

- Food bowl (ceramic)

- water bottle (glass, preferably)

- quality rat food (lab blocks, don't use the seed mixes!)

- toys (bird toys are great)

- sleeping place (hammock, hiding hut/igloo)

- quality bedding (Carefresh, Aspen, Yesterday's News)

- exercise wheel (Silent Spinner, Wodent Wheel) **My girls loved their wheel, my boys have no interest in them**

Of course, a carrier is useful, and so is a quality local vet that handles rats.

Exercise balls are pointless. Rats are too smart for those, and often chew right out of them. Plus, the constant arch that their back is forced to be in, is very uncomfortable for them. At least a wheel in the cage is optional for them to use. They're not stuck in it without a choice.

Answer 2

First of all, never use pine or cedar bedding. It is toxic to them. Use carefresh, yesterday's news, or eco-bedding.

Paper towel or toilet paper tubes make excellent toys-especially for younger ratties. A hard plastic ball with a bell goes over well with my boys-so does pretty much anything they can make a lot of noise with in the middle of the night. I find bird toys are good, rope ladders, mirrors, and such.  

Answer 3

Water. And maybe like a tube or spin whell or something!!

Answer 4

How big is the cage?  Rats need at least 2.5 cubic feet per rat.

Most rats love hamocks and hanging tubes to sleep in.  You can cut the sleeve off of one of your old sweatshirts and hang it in the cage for them.  They love cardbord boxes to play in, so you can just stick some boxes in there.  You can hang rope in there where they can hang and explore.  

EDIT-

Most rats don't really use wheels, so it will just be a waste of money buying them.  Rats are too intellegent for wheels!  :)

You can go to this website for great ideas for decorating [[go to Home Squeek Home]]

http://www.goosemoose.com/component/opti...

Hope i helped-

morganluverX10

Answer 5

A small food bowl. a tube. a waterbottle that needs to be changed everyday! a wheel. Maybe a ball to put him in so they can run around the house without getting lost. (1 for each) They cant share them. they like hammocks too. Also beddin bcuz they like to bury themselves in it. NO PINE OR CEDAR. Hang ropes in it.

answer mine plz

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 6

Well, I have a robo dwarf hamster so I'll just tell you everything I needed for him since they are from the same family.

~food bowl

~litter pan(optional)

~water canteen

~bedding(toilet tissue etc.)

~hay bedding

~bed place

~tubes, and other toys

~something to gnaw on

that's basically everything I needed so I think that you will do well with this.

Good luck

glad to help

Answer 7

Dear Stephanie,

Water bottle

Wheel

Bedding

A few toys

Hope this helped!

Kellie

Answer 8

What you should have for your new rat:

Food (I am not sure if you needed any information on food but it may help anyways): Buy some food and bowl especially for rats at your nearest pet store and a couple of little treats so they will feel happy. Fresh vegetables and fruit are also very healthy treats for your rats. Make sure you clean out the rat’s food bowl every week!

There are a few types of foods you can feed your rat. The most popular type is lab blocks. Many people like to feed these as the rat’s staple diet as they will not pick out what they like unlike rat mixes. There are many different brands of blocks. A good quality one would have to be Harlan Tekland and is used by many people and contains high quality ingredients. Rat blocks are not a very easy thing to find if you live somewhere other than America so rat mixes should be given. A lot of people think rat mixes are not nutritionally complete and balanced and that rats have a hard time digesting what’s in it as some mixes contain corn or alfalfa. Some people agree that rat mixes are good and that rats will get bored of having rat blocks and that you will have a hard time trying to get you rats to eat it. Some people also think that it is not a good idea to give rats rat blocks as they are tested on lab rats. Either one is good, I recommend rat blocks but if they are not available where you live there are other options like rat mixes or even make your own homemade rat diet. I recommend Sue bee’s ray diet or Debbie Ducommun rat diet.

Make sure that you supply fresh vegetables and fruit daily or every 2-3 days. This should make up 20% of their diet. Some fruits/vegetables you can feed your rat are: Blue berries, apple, carrot, tomato, broccoli, Bok choy, lettuce (not ice burg as it has not nutritional value), strawberries, melon (honeydew, watermelon), cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cucumber, zucchini, banana, sweet potato (must be cooked), potato.

Please do not feed your rat green bananas, carbonated drinks (rats can not burp!), raw bulk tofu, raw sweet potato, orange juice (forbidden for male rats only), raw beans, green potato skin and eyes, wild insects (contain diseases), onion, hot spices and citrus fruits.

You may also like to feed other snacks like tofu, unsalted cracker, milk, a small amount of cheese, table scraps, cooked lean meats, muesli, oats, dried fruit, whole grain bread, sunflower seeds, porridge, cooked beans, no added sugar cereals or baby food.

Water: All you need to do is buy a water bottle from your nearest pet shop and refill everyday with clean fresh water and wash with warm soapy water once a week. Rat bowls are not the best as rats will tend to tip it over, kick sawdust into and urinate in it. Also if you want to, in the summer time you can put a little bowl of water in the rat’s cage for them to cool down.

Bedding: You can buy sawdust/wood shavings as your bedding from a pet shop but just remember to see if it’s OK to use for rats. But I suggest that you use cat litter which is recommended by my vet as it absorbs the rat`s urine and helps chest problems. Some other beddings you may like to use are Carefresh, Aspen or Yesterday`s News. Just remember never use pine or cedar as bedding.

Toys: Toys for you rat are great for when you are not around to play with them and can amuse them in the meantime. You can either make your rats some toys or you can buy some from a pet shop. The toys I would recommend to keep your rat happy would be; A large rat house from a pet shop, a hammock, chew toys so they can gnaw there teeth to help the teeth not to grow too long, a wheel, tubes and a ladder but its up to you what you do!

Below I have included a list of toys you make like to buy or even make for your rat.

Toys (general):

Hammocks - hammocks are great and one of the best toys a rat could have! They love to snuggle up in it and keep warm. (How to make a hammock, thurther on)

Toilet rolls

Paper bags: Rats love to shred and tear these apart.

Nest box - Tissue boxes are good for the rat to sleep in. If you want, add some old clothes/socks and even some tissue or paper towel to make it more comfortable.

Ladders

Toilet rolls

Tubes

Rope

Cat toys

Here is a list of chew toys. Make sure you provide some sort of chew toy in your rat’s cage, so they can gnaw their teeth down, otherwise they may become overgrown.

Chew Toys:

Dog Biscuits - make sure they are low in protein and please try and get high quality brands.

Nuts In Shell (Pecans, macadamia, walnuts, hazelnuts)

Wood - make sure the wood is treated, not painted and non - toxic

Chew Blocks - you can buy these at a pet store. Some have many interesting colours or flavours!

Cooked Bones - Not only is it extra nutrition but it also exercises the rats teeth! Make sure you do not feed "splintery" bones such poultry or fish. Fish bones can be too small and very sharp and might get lodged down the rat’s throat and cause death. Beef and chicken are good.

Cardboard Boxes

Wine Corks

Pop Sticks

Baby Teething Rusks

Here is a few websites that will give you more information and ideas.

http://www.dapper.com.au/toys.htm#chewto...

http://exoticpets.about.com/od/careofrat...

http://hubpages.com/hub/Games_and_Toys_f...

http://www.rmca.org/Articles/toys.htm

http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/information/...

I hope this helps! Good luck with your new pet rat. They are truly great pets.

Answer 9

Those two baby rats may seem sooo tiny when you get them, but expect them to grow.  I had a lab rat baby as a pet and started him out in a cage about the size of a 10 gallon aquarium.  He soon outgrew that cage and ultimately was in a cage about 4 times as big.

Consult with a pet store on what items they recommend.  When mine was a baby he loved one of those hamster balls to run around in, but you will soon learn anything for a mouse or hamster is much too small.  Look for items for a guinea pig.  Besides water and food, rats love to chew so make sure to supply them with something to chew on.  They also require a clean cage, so change it frequently.