Coroplast and Aquarium Sealant?

I am getting a 3 tier CN for $50! I will be using it as 2 cages and a storage area for supplies as I have boys and girls. The cage needs new scatter pans...so here are my options after researching...Buy 2 new pans for anywhere from $25 to $50 each before shipping and handling or buy an 8foot by 4foot sheet or Coroplast for $25 and a tube of aquarium sealant for $8 (which I already have since I have recently repaired an aquarium) and make 2 pans myself... a sheet of Coroplast that size will make 2 pans the size of the cage with 4 inch sides around it...Clearly I would be allowing these to fully cure before putting them in the cage with my rats! As well as I will not be putting my rats in the CN until I myself have fully cleaned and disinfected it as I know the previous tenants were sick. Anyone else have any MYO scatter pan ideas??

If you can manage it, the metal pans from chinchilla.ca are worth it because they are chew proof. I have given up on scatter-free, though. Rats will always figure out how to make a mess of the area around the cage! If you have carpet under the cage, you might want to put down a rectangle of vinyl flooring remnant under the cage.

I use fleece in my DCN and litter just in the litter pans. If you did that, you wouldn't have to put sides on the Coroplast. 'Cuz they're probably going to chew it. LOL

Honestly I haven't figured it out yet myself haha my girls like to pee in the very corners and sides of the the cage which makes for interesting cleaning...I have not tried scatter guards or pans yet..I have tried a cement mixing tube but guess what? it doesn't stop them from peeing out of the cage, they just climb onto the side of the tube and pee out that way...I honestly am over the CN and considering down grading to something with a pan like a martins maybe....I hope you find a solution to your problem so you don't end up fed up like me

RatPack said:

Honestly I haven't figured it out yet myself haha my girls like to pee in the very corners and sides of the the cage which makes for interesting cleaning...I have not tried scatter guards or pans yet..I have tried a cement mixing tube but guess what? it doesn't stop them from peeing out of the cage, they just climb onto the side of the tube and pee out that way...I honestly am over the CN and considering down grading to something with a pan like a martins maybe....I hope you find a solution to your problem so you don't end up fed up like me

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If you litter-train them, then they are less likely to pee out the sides. Or you could get the Bass pans for the CN which are high-sided.

I have been trying to 6 months now and I honestly think they like sitting back and laughing at me scrubbing their pee out of the little nooks haha they use their litter box but only when it is convenient for them..the boys are same way with their but atleast they keep all their mess inside the cage...I have looked into the bass pans and I just don't have the extra money at the moment to get them cause I would need 2 since my bottom pan cracked the last time I was cleaning so right now I am stuck using the mixing tub which honestly I hate and it makes it difficult to place wheels and water bottles...

Yes, the litter training seems to help loads...I put nice big rocks from outside in the litter pan...I find it makes them feel more "at home"

I finally managed to get the cage home My girls are "cleaning" it in the pic...I have it already cleaned...but I'll let them wear themselves out! The total size of the cages are 3feet long, 2 feet wide, and 2 feet high...so...I now have 6 feet (tall) worth of cages...my rattie's won't know what to do with themselves once I get them all moved in!

Love your cage and your little helpers!

Godmother said:

Love your cage and your little helpers!

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Thanks The helpers are pretty cute lol Should have heard the youngest (the one with brown shirt) telling me which rats were going where! Lol we have 7 (3 boys and 4 girls) she would have had them breeding all over the place! lol Got the girls moved into their new cage and aside from the fact that I haven't gotten any hammocks or shelves in place for them yet, they do love all the new space!
As for the cage, it needs a little work (new scatter pans, hence the orig. post) but I got it for $50! I priced them and it would have cost me upwards of $500 (single mom with 3 young girls...not happening. lol) so when my friend msged and said he had to put his 2 rats down due to severe cancer and asked if I wanted to buy it for $50, I jumped on it! I actually ended up with no way to move it (just from about a block away)...good thing I have kids...crazy carpet with the cage on it and away we went! lol

I am pretty sure replacement pans are very cheap. You can contact midwest and ask them about the cost.

I thought I posted but I guess I didn't - the Ferret Nation has wider bar spacing than the Critter Nation, so most girls can get through the bars (in OR out!). You will probably need to buy some hardware mesh for it.

I researched and the min price would be $25 per pan before taxes/shipping and because I am in Canada that will bring the shipping costs up. I have one pan for now and for the other cage I just used an old terry cloth robe and then set the base of their old cage inside for them for now. As for getting out...it doesn't look like they have interest, if they are able to get out. The bars are just under an inch apart. I have seen them sit with their noses out of the bars but that is it, so far. lol
In the girls' cage I found an old zip up pink hoodie that had fleece lining. I zipped it up and attached the hood, waist, and both sleeves to the bars of the cage and that is their "hammock" lol They love it! For the boys I found a blue pull over hoodie with 1/2 length sleeves and attached the hood and the waist to the bars and left the arms hang as they are shorter than the one I used for the girls' cage. I have 7 VERY happy ratties...Wait maybe that is the Carnival food I treated them to today...lol They deserved a switch up. Got the Hamster a "flying saucer" as he seemed to be uncomfortable in his wheel...we will see

Seriously though, they CAN get out, and it's a short climb to pregnancy!
For example, my ferret got out through 1" bar spacing, and he was waaaay bigger than a rat.
In Ontario is Flowertown Chinchilla's. Try them for a pan.

Flowertown is still within the price of $25 to $50 a piece before taxes/shipping...so I will try my coroplast idea and see how it works. Currently I have the old bottom from the boys old cage in theirs and they seem almost scared to move outside of it...even to get their water...they lean over the side...this may be an idea for a pan too...just look for an old cage that someone is throwing out. lol Some may be able to get out but I don't see showing any signs of interest but every situation/rat is different
Have just realized that the girls clearly like their "hoodie hammock"...they were only out long enough to eat and they went back to bed. They have holes chewed so they can get in between the liner and shell of the hoodie...I guess they are making it to suit them! Glad the boys aren't as picky!

I ordered 2 metal base bans from flower town chinchilla and it cost me 80$ (possibly a bit more). I really love them cause I'm now using bedding. But I wanted to go from a double CN to a quad (two doubles attached) and I wasn't going to pay another 80$ for bases. I was actually thinking of switching back to fleece. I'm going to try the coroplast. It's cheap and if they chew it atleast I tried I don't know about the aquarium sealer though. I can't help you there.

If you do try the coroplast please post about it. I think if the rats you have aren't huge chewers it'll work and it might save a few people a whole lot of money

Check out the 3rd post in this post
http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32377

Where in Canada are you?
Looks like your cage need levels too.

That is a ferret nation, not a critter nation and as Joanne said, the bar spacing is much larger.

If you have both boys and girls, hopefully you have the girls spayed (also good for health reasons) or the boys neutered.

Having intact rats of both sexes in the same household is an accident waiting to happen. Rats are very smart and are very motivated when girls are in heat (every 3 to 4 days) ..... and people are not perfect 100% of the time.
I have heard of boys in a cage in the basement rec room getting to the girls in a third floor bedroom.
The average size litter is 12 to 14 babies and they can have as many as 26 babies in a litter.

Large rats can not get through the FN bar spacing .... but you wouldn't want to risk it with the girls.
If a rat can get it's head through something, it can get it's body through as well.
There is a thread on this forum about how to cover the outside of an FN with wire to make it escape proof.

good luck

I recently made pans out of coroplast for my cage - I got tired of using fleece





I made the sides 6 inches tall and I also made ones for the smaller levels. My boys really love it! I think they enjoy being able to dig in the bedding. Way easier to clean each week and I have basically no mess on the floor around the cage now, even with the bedding.

I do use a litter box in there as well with a different litter from the rest of the bedding. I've found their litter training has slipped a little since switching to bedding, but they still use the box most of the time.

It was really easy to make the pans and I'm really enjoying them. I've also had minimal chewing on the sides, though none of my boys are particularly destructive.

I didn't use aquarium sealant, I just used duct tape to seal all the cut edges and it's working wonderfully so far. Each week, I dump all the bedding and wipe out the pan with a baby wipe and refill with bedding.

That is awesome...I never thought of the Duct tape! The only reason I even considered the aquarium sealant is cause I had just replaced a back on one of my aquariums and I know some do put rats in aquariums (I totally disagree with this, but have used one for a few days as a hospital cage). When I first got the CN I did not get the levels with it so in my initial posts they were not in there but they are now as I picked them up from the person whom sold the cage to me after I picked up the cage.
I am saddened that my old man will soon be leaving us Gerry is now 33 mths and his age is starting to show. He gets fed out of the cage each meal and just about every time that I am in the "Pet Room" he is running free. He loves watching the 5 fish tanks with me

I really should have tried making pans out of coroplast before buying the metal pans.....I would have saved alot of money!