what to do about a cage?

i discussed this with a few of you over chat once about my cage situation. a while ago i was moving and my cage got destroyed. my cousins ferret had recently past so he let me use his ferret nation for a while, but he's getting another ferret so im gunna have to give it back within a month. so that said, i've had a complicated living situation that past while my apartment building had some major issues that needed to be dealt with blah blah blah so i've pretty much been staying in a hotel the past couple of weeks so i REALLY don't have the money for a new critter nation or fancy cage. i've constantly been combing through kijiji and usedottawa and recently there's been a few of the living world rat cages for cheap... that being said ive herd alot of people say they wouldnt put more than two girls in the cage and people only use it for rescue situations or temporary housing. im asking that because a friend of mine has a 1 year old rat that she regretfully needs to give away and im thinking of taking her on..

so would that cage be big enough for just my two girls? if my rat numbers are only kept at two
AND in the next week or two if i seriously decide to take the girl what is the recommended sizing or cage and what do you guys use for small numbers? i need to find the best for my buck UNTIL i get my barrings together and can get another new critter nation.


ps. im not even sure about getting this girl yet and if i do, keep im mind that i do have a vet and food fund that could support 4 rats even though i dont have money for a cage. i figure vet and food are a little more important than living quarters.

i appreciate all opinions!

A modified rabbit cage is SO much better than a RR IMO. The rabbit cages from Hagen (with 2 doors on the top) have fairly small bar spacing (3/4") and can hold even small adult girls.

My Rats last cage was a Parrot cage I got from a second hand shop when I modified it was plenty big enough for a temporary use. ope you find something suitable.

Sunday is in a rabbit cage with a shelf that I put in there and a hammock..facecloth hammock..it works! you can get rabbit cages for like 40$ new!

If you don't mind doing a bit of modifying like putting in shelves, try looking up bird cages. They tend to be SO big and SO much cheaper. Especially if you look through a flea market.

Also, it depends how long you need to keep them in there. Maybe it's better to get a cheap, not-so-great cage for a month or two, if it means being able to save up for a great one in the long run.

Bottom line, it's only temporary right? If you are in a bind anything will do, even over crowding if you must. But I agree with the others, I think you would be much happier with a nice big bunny cage.

Do the best you can right now....I personally woudn't take on any more right now. Pick up a cheap cage ...like a rabbit cage. Modify it and add toys and hammocks...with lots of out time with you your girls will be happy...and that it what matters the most.

As they said, you do what you can temp.

A rat cage needs to be at least 4 cubic feet (1 to 2 rats), at least 6 cubic feet (3 rats) etc
with a base of at least 30 inches by 18 inches and height for levels.

A 40 inch long rabbit cage with 2 added shelves makes a good rat cage for several adult rats.

for example:



or

I had a rat resort for my first cage and to answer your question yes 2 girls woudl fit in there but ti is maxed out at 2. And its a pain in the arse to clean that cage haha but if youc ant find anytihng else it wil work. Not the best but it will do. When I had mine I midified it and got rid fo those tiny blue shelves. let me find a photo for you.





I also had a rabbti cage and a parrot cage that I really loved ( not the rabbit cage, but the parrot one was fab) really anytihng that a cage calculator says can hold your rats will do, even if its completely empty, jsut gotta get creative with cookie sheets backing racks etc to create shelves : )



for a week i even had the rr on top of the rabbti cage haha

thanks guys those are great ideas and for posting all those pictures they really helped! especially ones with the rats in them, so you can see the space and size etc. i've been constantly looking around on websites and whatnot and could not find ANYTHING, including parrot cages, accept the living world one, on for 35. bucks and another one for 50. i emailed them and they havent replied... but im sure i can find a rabbit cage around this small town... hmm. i feel bad moving them so much. from their original martins to a temp to a ferret nation and now to whatever i can find lol. gahhh so frustrating!

ps, that red bird cage looks awesome cinderwolf! and all the other cages aswell

i came across this cage today
http://www.usedottawa.com/classified-ad ... t_19110329

im not too fond of the al wire thing but i know i can cover the levels. do you thing this would be better than the living world one?

i just found this one
http://www.usedottawa.com/classified-ad/Cage_19028200

Thanks, I really liked the red cage unfortunately i didnt paint it right so the paint peeled off and instead of paying 150 to sand blast and powder coat, I just got a dcn lol But i did get that one free off the side of the road lol I still have it.

The first one looks bigger then the second one ( the bar spacing is one inch by a half inch I beleive) but the 'chew proot coated' i easily shewed off by rats.

The second one I cnat tellt he size but it looks rather dirty

The first cage is too small (a RR is a bit bigger I think) and the second cage is a good size but it is galvanized and a pain to clean/decorate. Galvanized cages tend to absorb urine and it's very hard to get it out. The small doors mean you'll be making all sorts of weird stretches to clean it and it's too big to drag into the tub.

yeah... after i posted though i found some other cages, much better quality and bigger. i emailed 8 people this morning -_- now i just have to wait

I have a Rat Resort for my rats, and I find it a little small but my bucks are HUGE! Putting in a hamock and a house in, or maybe an old Klenex box gives them lots of places to snuggle up into tho. Luckily my two boys are very lazy and don't do much running around.
All in all it's an ok cage, a pain to clean however!

so this is what i found
http://www.superpetusa.com/product-list ... -large.htm
some person was selling it and i managed to get them to dock the price almost in half yaay for me

That's a nice big one.

Aww, I'm jealous! My rats would love to have a cage that size.. Even if all they do is sleep all day.