ViciousCurse
Well-Known Member
Hey all, I keep doing this thing of coming back, leaving for a while, and then coming back. My health has been a little questionable lately, hence my brief returns. Without getting too much into personal detail, I have a chronic illness that affects my energy levels and I almost always feel some pain. Along with that, I have anxiety. My rats help manage my symptoms. However, I'm looking to downsize from a large mischief to a smaller one, with an appropriately sized cage. I only want to keep a small mischief of maybe 3-4 adult male rats. What is a recommended cage for 3-4 adult male rats? I was thinking a SCN.
I currently have a DCN with 7 boys. I'm not planning on rehoming any of my boys (a few of them are getting older and it crushes me whenever I see senior animals rehomed), but I won't put that many boys into a SCN either. I'm waiting for a few to pass before I make the move, just so there isn't a space issue. I'm positive my health will stay steady while I look for a new cage. In other words, I have some time before I need to make a decision.
Disclaimer:
Please let me say that I clean my rats cage twice a week. Every Wednesday is just a brief clean up, fixing fleece the boys have pulled up, putting their droppings in litterboxes, etc. Nothing is actually wiped down, it's just a bit of tidying up on my part, with my rats trying to "help" of course. Every Saturday is a complete cage clean out. Fleece gets washed and replaced, pans are wiped down, and litterboxes are dumped and get new litter, etc. Every two weeks, I'll do a deep clean by wiping down toys and huts, cage bars, their PVC tubes, and everything. My boys play in their playpen for an hour a day, sometimes only 30min. Depends how long it takes for them to decide enough is enough and they go sleep in some boxes instead.
I went on a bit of tangent, but I wanted to make sure everyone understands that I take care of my boys, it just leaves me tired afterwards. I'm looking for ways to better cope with and manage my health while keeping rats. It's a bit of sensitive subject for me since so many people tend to assume that because I have a health issue, my boys' care suffers. I'm not saying any of you will say or assume that, but it's also a little fear of mine.
I currently have a DCN with 7 boys. I'm not planning on rehoming any of my boys (a few of them are getting older and it crushes me whenever I see senior animals rehomed), but I won't put that many boys into a SCN either. I'm waiting for a few to pass before I make the move, just so there isn't a space issue. I'm positive my health will stay steady while I look for a new cage. In other words, I have some time before I need to make a decision.
Disclaimer:
Please let me say that I clean my rats cage twice a week. Every Wednesday is just a brief clean up, fixing fleece the boys have pulled up, putting their droppings in litterboxes, etc. Nothing is actually wiped down, it's just a bit of tidying up on my part, with my rats trying to "help" of course. Every Saturday is a complete cage clean out. Fleece gets washed and replaced, pans are wiped down, and litterboxes are dumped and get new litter, etc. Every two weeks, I'll do a deep clean by wiping down toys and huts, cage bars, their PVC tubes, and everything. My boys play in their playpen for an hour a day, sometimes only 30min. Depends how long it takes for them to decide enough is enough and they go sleep in some boxes instead.
I went on a bit of tangent, but I wanted to make sure everyone understands that I take care of my boys, it just leaves me tired afterwards. I'm looking for ways to better cope with and manage my health while keeping rats. It's a bit of sensitive subject for me since so many people tend to assume that because I have a health issue, my boys' care suffers. I'm not saying any of you will say or assume that, but it's also a little fear of mine.
