Any hammock making advice?

Fins us on Amazon
Advertise with us
Shop with us on Ebay
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.
Shelley

Shelley

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2007
Messages
1,151
Location
GTA, Ontario
I was wondering if any sewers out there have any tips for making hammocks for rats that like to chew. Lately all my hammocks have been destroyed so fast :( I used to use bungee cords to hold my home-made ones up, but now they have recided that chewing those to bits are fun.

I have shower curtains, but I need some help getting creative on how to hang them. They chew at the base of the hangers so when I come down the hammocks aren't even hanging anymore. So I need to get a bit creative with design.

Lately I've been buying packs of these face-cloth type things I just poke holes through with shower curtains, but my boys are too heavy for that and they break them with their weight. :lol:

Also.. where is the best place to buy fabric for hammocks? My local discount fabric land shut down a while back, so theres none closeby anymore . =(
 
http://www.dapper.com.au/hammocks.htm

Our lovely friends at the Dapper rat have made a chewers hammock that would be great for your rats. I think that it's possible to find pretty heavy duty canvas place mats that you could put some eyelets into then add a fleece hammie over top for comfort without fear that you will have ratties pretending to be raindrops falling from a hammie-cloud!

Also, you could cut the legs off of a pair of jeans, sew the openings shut and make a sturdy hammie that way. You could put some canvas inside the pant leg to make it more heavy duty.

Use metal shower rings to hand the hammie if you are afraid that they will chew the straps you secure the hammock to the cage with.

Hope this helps!
 
Thankyou! That does help. I'll have to go looking for an eyelet set, I used to have one but who knows where I lost it :roll: I'll also have to go fleece and canvas shopping - although I do have a pair of jeans that seriously needs to be thrown out (and yet I'm still wearing them right now.. even with the 20 holes :p I can just turn them into a hammock)
 
Clark buys cheap jeans at Value Village and cuts them up to make hammocks. Then if they chew it is no big deal.

A doubled flannel loop seems to deter my chewers for some reason. My rat sitter made some really nice doubled fleece hammocks and they are very durable.
 
I had the same problem when I first became a rattie mom...I would buy the hammocks from our local PetSmart for $8 bucks a hammock, only to have them chewed up! It got expensive, so during the time I was buying them, I cut off the lanyard clip/ring before tossing them out. I then started sewing my own hammocks! I got a machine last January and started buying up as much fleece, cotton flannel and lambs-wool type material as possible. I started out using one of the old hammocks as a pattern and then I bought some of the black heavy ribbon to attach my lanyard hooks to. Then I started getting more creative by making all different sizes and shapes and even those "cubes" with an entry hole in it so they'd have a nice hiddey place! So far, my girls that I have this time around do not chew the straps off, but they do chew in the center of the hammocks. So now when I make them I put an opening in there so they can crawl inside (they want to hid and get warm I'm sure.) I double my hammocks with the cotton flannel on the outside and the fleece on the inside. I try to buy the thickest fleece possible, since it is more durable. I have so many now that I just wash them up and hang them to dry and put a new one in their cage! Old jeans do make a great hammock! Just make sure you trim off any edges that may be stringy and repair any little holes since your rat could get their feet caught. That can happen with any material as you know, so when the hammocks get warn, you need to patch or replace. One suggestion about the chewers...make up small bean bag like squares and stuff treats inside so they will want to chew them up. Also, make available some chewing sticks for your rats. It may help deter them from chewing their hammocks! Good Luck!
 
I found a fairly cheap way of making hammocks for the non sewer ;)

Get yourself some polar fleece, make a few holes in the corner and loop some hooks through ;) works a charm :D
 
I had a few pairs of old sweat pants. I find this to be one of the best things to find cheap, nobody wants them. Especially the ones with elastisized ankles, who want s to wear those (no offence meant if you haoppen to be a fan). Anyhow, I choppped them up into square pieces and it was doubled and then just popped metal key rings into the corners. Works great, and very soft. But my rats do not like hammocks. They're wierd.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top