Getting cage ready for mama and her babies. Wdyt?

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Synchro246

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I got a juvenile female and turns out she was pregnant. 10 kits, 11 days old today.
Around 3 weeks I'm thinking they'll be old enough to go in this cage. What do you think? Also how many rats can this cage comfortably house permanently. The litter is 3 girls and 7 boys. I'm keeping all 3 girls if possible.
I've got mama as well, of course. And one 2 year old rat in a different cage. I bought mama to go with my 2 year old but now I'm not sure if that will ever work.

Do you guys see any problems with the cage?
Also does anyone know what kind of cage this is? I got it for $50 from a yard sale
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what are the dimensions of the cage - height, length and width …. btw there are cage calculators on the internet you can use such as http://www.rattycorner.com/odds/calc.shtml
you need at least 2 cubic feet per rat (2.5 cubic feet/rat is better) and the smallest possible cage is 4 cubic feet … and a rat cage needs a base at least 30 inches by 18 inches with height and large levels

cage looks small to me and the set up looks dangerous imo shells are sharp, lots of things to get tangled in and places for hopping babies to fall from

baby boys need to be separated from mom and girls at 5 weeks, baby girls never need to be separated from mom.
No reason why mom and girls can not be gradually introed to your older girl but do not intro babies to her until they are at least 8 weeks old, 10 weeks is safer
 
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I'll take out the shells and tangleable items.
The cage is 4 ft by 3ft by 2ft. The calculator said for 2.5 cubic feet per rat it could house 9 if I use space wisely. I'm missing a couple of the level pieces though. I wish I knew who made it (closest I could find is ware manufacturing).

Should I take out or just lower all the levels and until the babies are what? 5- 6 weeks?

I know I have to seperate the boys at 5 weeks but I'm not at all sure how! I've got the cage ( 3ft by 2.5ft by 2ft) that 2yo female is in but it has 2cm bar spacing anyway.
Should I divide the big cage into two cages ?


Eta- I'm going to remeasure the cages when I get home. I think I may have measured from the floor not the base of the cage
Eta again. Got the size wrong
It's 3ft by 2.5 ft by 1.5 ft.
Calculator said 4 rats max at 2.5 and 2 cubic feet per rat
My other cage is 34"x24"x17" and calculator said 3 max
 
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You did a good job fixing it up. That cage might be ok for when the babies are small but once they are all grown up, you might want to look for a bigger one.
 
Lol I always thought this was a big cage! Now I know it's just the minimum.
Hopefully we'll be moving bu the end of the year and I can make a huge cabinet type or buy a critter nation (or similar)
 
Update: I was going to wait until the babies were 3 weeks old but at day 17 they went bonkers. Day 18 I redid the cage and moved them. Mama seems over joyed. There's one pic from right before I moved them where the babies dog piled momma in the corner
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So very sweet :)

Babies and young rats need a shallow water dish that can not be upset because their tongues are not strong enough to move the ball bearing in water bottles with their tongues - although it may look like they are drinking.
Actually all rats need at least 2 sources of water and at least one source needs to be a water dish that can not be upset.

use shallow dishes because soon the babies will be trying the food their mama eats

Make sure things are low in case they fall or bounce out of hammocks, off levels ets … and make sure there is nothing they can get tangled in or caught in or accidently hang themselves from etc …. babies have no idea what could be dangerous … I am unsure as to the purpose of all the colourful things you have hanging or attached to the cage ……

btw, the chew log has honey in it so some rats will think it is food and instead of just chewing it, they will eat it and may get an intestinal blockage and die ….. I have some of those logs in my pictures but I have since thrown them out because I decided that I did not want to take the risk. …….. Many people have used those logs for years without any problems …. but some rats have died
 
I'll take out the hanging toys.
It does look like they're drinking from the water bottles, I didn't know they might not be. I'll try to find a good shallow dish today. Oh actually i think I've got just the thing.

They have already been eating mommy's food for a few days now. So far they haven't chewed on the log but I'll keep my eye on that too.

As of last night they started climbing and today one climbed up to the top like mama does, so I'm going to take out hard stuff on the second level and put in a bunch of fleece so they don't fall on anything hard.

I was a little concerned about the litter pan (which mama already uses) can they get stuck behind or under it?
 
The cage is an all living things cage. It was sold for a short period of time at petsmart and is no longer manufactured by them. I tried to get replacement parts for the one I had (my little monsters chewed the bottom pan), but I was not able to order new parts. The best advice I could give to give more space would be to make shelves on your own. I had 5 females living happily in this cage at one point. I would not house more than that long term.

Enjoy your babies!!! :D
 
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