Wooden cage for rats?

Question

is it a bad idea to build a wooden cage for rats? I want to buy 2 rats and I drew up some plans for a wooden cage but I'm not sure if they will just chew through it. please if someone has experience with pet rats tell me what you think.

Answer 1

Absolutely NO wooden cage. They will chew through it, no matter how thick it is.

Metal wire cage works well, with a heavy duty plastic bottom. Something like this:

http://www.petco.com/shop/product.aspx?f...

Best of luck!

PS: another reason not to use a wooden cage: it would soak in the urine,  making it a stinky biohazard unit in no time. You want to use one that can be cleaned and disinfected easily.

Answer 2

They will chew through wood in no time, and that will teach them that all they need to do to get where they want to go is chew. If they want to get in your dresser, TV stand, shoe box, suitcase, bathroom door, they will be chew machines.

Rats need to chew anyway, it is their nature.

I love rats!

Answer 3

I'm almost positive that the rats will chew through the cage and sometimes the wood can be harmful to them. But if you do build a wooden cage it might be hard to see the rats 2. So I would just buy a rat cage at your local petstore

Answer 4

your kidding right? those rats will be out of of there before u can say stop

Answer 5

just go to a petstore and buy a metal cage for your rats. wood can cause all sorts of problems

Answer 6

It's not a good idea. Rats love chewing, especially on wood. If they chew it, its possible for them to swallow small slivers which can cause problems.

Answer 7

depends on how you are planning on building it... if you are just going to use the wood as the frame and have wire as the walls and plastic as the bottom i would think it would be fine. but if you are going to just put them in a wooden box thats a horrible idea.  

Answer 8

they will chew threw wood no matter how thick because i have gerbils and there exactly like rats buy they look cuter and they chew threw ever thing if it is thick it will take some to chew threw it but they will get threw

Answer 9

Its great that you are buying rats and that you drew plans for the cage. But rats love to chew through objects, for example wood. It would take a few days for the rats to chew through it, but people often prefer metal cages or wire cages for their pet rats. My rats love to chew through objects too because they like to keep their teeth from over growing and it's their habit. But if are going to make a wooden cage be careful not to spill water on it, the wood would rot. So it's up to you, good luck!

Answer 10

The rats WILL chew the cage but depending on how thick it is, they may or may not chew trough. Also, some wood may be harmful so you should be careful when building their own cage. I would play it safe and buy one.