Recommended floorspace for 3 females

[Raspberry]

Hi everyone,

I am looking for some advice regarding a cage I recently purchased. Unfortunately the cage dimensions listed on the website I purchased it from were incorrect (they have since been corrected). The cage is 76cm wide x 46cm deep x 97 cm high (30x18x38 inches). There are 3 shelves in the cage and 3 female rats living in it. One of my rats is a little old lady so the shelves are necessary for her to access the whole cage safely.

I am really concerned that the floorspace (76x46cm) is too small. I have looked for alternative cages but unfortunately in Australia there are limited options and good cages are very expensive (i.e. north of $300AUD before shipping costs). Cages such as the critter nation are not available here.

The girls do daily free roam time outside of the cage.

What are your thoughts about the cage size/floorspace?

 

[shaunavalon]

Hi there,

The cage is of a suitable size. I would not worry too much.

This cage seems fine though - each rat needs about 2 cubic feet of space, or 56500cm/3. This is a minimum, so having more is fine.

You cage is +/-350000cm/3 - twice the minimum for your rats. It is a nice size for 3 rats - my cages for my adults are about the same size and there are 3 in each - they seem perfectly happy.

I have expanded my cages recently, as I got more rats recently, so I have had to more than double the size of each cage to support the new rats.

The cage you have can comfortably support your 3 rats.

 

[Raspberry]

Hi there,

The cage is of a suitable size. I would not worry too much.

This cage seems fine though - each rat needs about 2 cubic feet of space, or 56500cm/3. This is a minimum, so having more is fine.

You cage is +/-350000cm/3 - twice the minimum for your rats. It is a nice size for 3 rats - my cages for my adults are about the same size and there are 3 in each - they seem perfectly happy.

I have expanded my cages recently, as I got more rats recently, so I have had to more than double the size of each cage to support the new rats.

The cage you have can comfortably support your 3 rats.

Thank you! Mine seem happy enough too. I think my biggest concern is that my old girl is developing HED and I hope she will have enough space at the bottom of the cage to be comfortable as it progresses.