My Rattie Adventure

Shop with us on Ebay
Fins us on Amazon
Advertise with us
The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Looks like your making good progress. Your new rats are going to be thrilled with the home you're setting up for them!

Tiny suggestion - I saw a few comments back you got "a glass water bottle". If you haven't already, get a second. Water bottles can leak or get stopped up, (or playful rats can accidentally knock them off) so it's good to have more than one In the cage so they don't get thirsty if you aren't home.
 
Thanks temblabamomo for the advice! I had been debating on getting a second one just in case. However when I went to petsmart they only had the one glass bottle and I ended up having to use my "emergency" credit card cuz my paycheck had gotten lost between stores. But I need to go back out to petsmart this Sunday anyways to get the oxbow food and so I'll pick up another water bottle too! :)
 
I think you are going to love the cage! I went through a few handmade ones before moving to the CN. Those were dreadful haha. You must be getting so excited! We want pictures once the decorating is done.
 
Again, water bottles are about $2 cheaper on drsfosterandsmith.com and you definately need 2 in the cage as stated. I have found the small ones have a tendency not to work well and stop up for some reason. I was going to suggest the mallet - definitely a must have for putting together the DCN/CN. Must warn you that with babies and fleece (especially boys) the cage will smell more - babies pee more and for some reason fleece/pee smells awful! So be prepared to change it frequently. Fleece is nice and cleaner, but I have pretty much gone back to paper liter. Also, when cleaning you will need to lift the top layer off the bottom layer every so other and look for pee between the two. I had the worst urine smell coming from my DCN once and couldn't figure out where it was coming from for the longest time .. that's where I found it...
 
Thanks guys!!
Most likely the ratties I get will be spayed/neutered. So hopefully that will help with the smell a bit... But I think fleece overall will be so much easier to clean then having to deal with litter which is usually messy.... Would rather do lots of wash than deal with litter again...
 
I use fleece in my cage. When washing your 'rat laundry', as well as the unscented soap, do NOT use fabric softener, even the unscented stuff. It puts a film on the material that is actually fairly water repellant. So the pee will sit on top of the material instead and not get absorbed easily.
I have two complete changes of fleece for my DCN. That way I can have one set in the cage and one set getting washed (and repaired!). You can extend the life of your fleece by patching the chewed holes unless they have demolished something.
Doesn't it feel like Christmas? LOL
 
Yup I read about the fabric softener on here somewhere. And I have precut two sets that will get sewed this evening [emoji4]
I was just gonna put old towels underneath the fleece?

Lol not really like Christmas cuz I'm spending like a bazillion dollars. Instead of getting presents.... BUT.... If I ignore the fact that I've spent like 2 paychecks worth of money so far.... Then yes kinda like Christmas [emoji13]
 
I actually ordered them straight from uhaul on their website. You have to wash them a couple of times when you get them. I just ordered 4 so I would have some on deck.
 
Okay so cage decoration is finally complete other than adding some wood in there but I'm gonna disinfect that tomorrow before I add it. 2 litter pans, 1 small ceramic food bowl (I intend on getting a bigger one)2 glass water bottles with plastic duckies inside to show water level [emoji213]
Using Exquisicat Essentials (no scent) for the litter.
3 lava rocks, 1 wheel, a handful of cat toys, 3 shelter things, 1 small tug-of-war puppy toy, 1 handmade tug-of-war rope, 1 bird perch branch, 1 cube hammock, 1 three story hammock, and 2 jean pants tubes. And my favorite part is a bucket full of fabric scraps and toilet paper rolls.

Also got 4 cheap toilet paper rolls, a cat stick with toy on string thing, a carrier, a box of Cheerios, and the beginnings of a first aid kit: 2 droppers, tube of Neosporin, a small bottle of rubbing alcohol, a bottle of Dawn Dish Soap (no dyes, hypoallergenic; only will be using diluted solution if bathes are needed). Will add bottle of peroxide and bottle of saline solution tomorrow (need to stop by pharmacy). Decided not to get infant Motrin or any other medicines until they are needed because they expire and Walmart is right around the corner. Will be getting Oxbow food as soon as I know how old the rats I'm getting are so I can decide on whether to get adult or young rat food.

Cage from front:
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1408936203.925005.jpg

Side bottom level:
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1408936220.558389.jpg

Bucket of fun:
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1408936250.425305.jpg

Anything else you guys suggest getting? Especially for my first aid kit? Feel like I'm lacking....
 

Attachments

  • ImageUploadedByTapatalk1408936191.692042.jpg
    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1408936191.692042.jpg
    9.7 KB · Views: 139
Your kids are going to be so amazed at their new home!

As far as a first aid kit goes, the only thing I usually use on their skin is clean running water. I have never used peroxide or Neosporin, etc. if there is damage to the skin, I don't want to introduce any chemicals, and I don't want them licking off any medication. Perhaps some gauze to help control any bleeding, steristrips to reapproximate any big gaping wounds, some Metacam for pain control, some small scissors or clippers to cut back any hair from wounds...
But all this you will probably never need to use, and if you have a regular first aid kit, you're probably fine. The rest of stuff I use is medication, like the Metacam and Baytril. Doxy is good too, but has a short shelf life when compounded so I can't keep it on hand. Anyway, I'm sure you will be fine. :)
 

Latest posts

Back
Top