getting new fosters who are used to free range living

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

Petunia

Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2009
Messages
6,126
Location
USA
hello everyone, long time, no post LOL

I am still fostering rats for MRR and I have a few of my own- old guys that are brothers.

I 'm getting 2 little girls that are about 9 mos old and have been living in a college dorm room. their cage is a tiny Kaytee Rat cage, just 12 by 14 by 24 but the owner had the sense to see that her girls were very unhappy in a such a small space, so she lets them free range a lot of the time.

I am not going to be able to let these girls do that at my place since I have the 3 intact males and I really can't rat proof any full rooms any more. (my old rat room has been renovated, new ceiling, new carpet, and freshly painted walls, so it's now my bedroom!!)

I will be putting the girls in a Martins 680 on a table and their play space will be the rest of that table (a 36inch square card table) with another card table of the same size pushed up against it.
Is that going to be enough room?

I worry they are going to be bored and upset. I have lots of toys for them to explore and climb on but it won't be anything as interesting as having an entire dorm room to explore!

any tips on how to make the transition easier for them welcomed.
My boys are in a different room, but I'm sure they'll all be able to smell each other, and I'm hoping that will give them all something to think about .. Which seems to be beneficial for rats.
it seems like when I had my last fosters, my boys were much more alert and interesting in coming out of their cage.
 
Do you have a spare cage you could make up with hidey-house, hammocks, shredded paper, whatever? You could put it on the table next to their cage and they could use it only during their outings so it would be a looked-forward-to change. maybe a box filled with crumpled or shredded paper beside or on top of the cages too? ladders on the outside of the cage?
 
Good ideas Fidget!
funny thing, I currently use the Martins cage that the girls will be going into, as a play cage for my old boys.

I have an old one level gpig cage that I'll be setting up for my boys, to replace the Martins they're used to playing in.

Now I see why I end up with so many spare cages LOL I will have the cage that the girls are living in now, I can set that up as a play place too.
I think I may get a 5 foot long table to use for them instead of the card table, it's only 34 inches square as it turns out (I was looking at getting a second one) They sell 5 and 6 foot tables that fold in half, I have one for my sewing, I could get another one of those

and I get fosters to try to save money HAahaha (cuz I don't have vet bills for the fosters) I always end up buying stuff anyway

hmm, I should be sewing some hammocks to pay for all this stuff
lol
 
omg, the stuff I'm not using, but have before and may again, as different ages & abilities & numbers require different cage set-ups, is ridiculous! In my bedroom meds, syringes, bottles, hammocks, large & cut-up fleece pieces & towels in 6 drawers, hidey-houses & wheels & shelves & ladders & bedding in my closet, small cages & runaround balls on top of tall cabinets, Oxbow, cereals & grains in the deep freeze... in the living room a play cage connected by a long tube to their bedroom cage, collapsible cages under the futon... in the kitchen a cupboard shelf of larger/smaller/deeper/shallower dishes... in hall closet is wood pieces of various sizes for future corralling/blocking needs... I have 1 boy rat! & 2 temporary baby fosters who are sharing his cage.... They have half my apartment!
 
These are the BEST freaking thing ever. I just pop a couple of holes in 4-5 places along the length and hang them from the roof or sides of the cage. One of my rat’s favorite places to hang and really easy to clean just by soaking in the tub for 30 minutes or so in soapy water. You could easily stretch these from one place to another where you want your little ones to be mobile.
IMG_5797.JPG
 
I went to that page to buy it but it says "However, it contributed to her death :( I haden't realized during Christmas we were busy and she decided to chew it because she was bored. The material did not digest and created a blockage."
Mine eats everything, so I can just stick to PVC pipes. I'd connect my critter nation to a smaller cage except I guess I'd have to ruin it, cut a hole in the bars and figure out how to make it secure and non-injurious.
 
Last edited:
hmm rats chew EVERYTHING and rarely do they ingest non food items, so that report is a bit suspect in my mind. I think PVC pipe is great but I had trouble with that one time, it fell off a ledge (my fault, I should have secured it) and bruised one of my rats feet.

I've had plenty of those ware tunnels and they do get chewed but not one single rat ate the bits they chewed

if you have a rat eating things that are not food, a condition called pica, they need to see a vet. there's a pain med they give some rats after surgery that can cause pica and yes, those rats can ingest non food things and die, so you need to monitor them carefully. But rats just don't eat things that aren't edible normally.
 
Oh. It was a rabbit I think.
Maybe they're more likely than rats to swallow what they chew.
I've heard of rats that swallow paper.
She chews things for sure.
Actually gave her strips of kleenex to use as bedding and instead she drenched it in saliva and left it as a balled up wad of slime. But when she gets a bit of food which is that long/flat shape, she drags THAT to her hammock.
I'll secure the pvc pipe (that's leaning against the upper shelf) to the side of the cage before putting the girls in it. Someone said use zip ties. They don't chew through those do they?
 
lol oh yes they will chew thru zip ties, so you use a lot of them and check them often
I use a lot of chenille sticks, they don't seem to care for chewing on those as much

I don't really know how to secure PVC pipe, after that incident I only used it outside of the cage during free range time :/
 
No offense to rabbit lovers...(which I guess really means “I don’t really care if it offends you or not”)...but rabbits are pretty dumb. They are known to eat a lot of non food items. Rats have a little more sense than that. I had the tunnels for over 2 years and never had problems with ingestion.
 
the new girls are here and they are thrilled to have a big cage! their previous cage was 12 by 14 by 24. :/
They are sweet, very polite, and pretty "chill" for girls! they love to do all the usual girly things, run around, climb, build nests, chew hammocks and any thing else that's fabric or paper. One is a bit shy, but the other one isn't at all shy. they are going to make some lucky adopter very happy.

I'll get photos soon. or try to, lol, they move pretty fast.
 
thanks
so far my old men are very happy to have them in the house, they obviously can smell them and are quite interested.
They'll never be able to meet because none of them have been speutered, but I think they enjoy having the scent experience any way.
 
Sheldon, the girls are here and they LOVE the one green tunnel that I have. I should get more! They also love to shred and nest in paper, luckily I have a large supply of that already lol
 

Latest posts

Back
Top