So tanks are a no no.

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HeartMyRatties

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Joined
Aug 23, 2009
Messages
174
Location
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So I understand tanks are a no-no, and have made modifications to mine to try and make it as well ventilated and as rat friendly as possible until I can provide them with a better suited home and I try to compensate for the tank with extra out of cage time and other factors such as putting the food and water in the 'loft' portion which is a wire cage fastened to the lid. They are eating out of a hopper style dish right now (Because Tai hides the food and then promptly pees on it - leaving me with several wasted pellets at every cleaning and Tai is becoming a little too round and I'm hoping the effort of eating from a hopper will deter her from overeating - not to mention it forces them all to spend more time up top getting fresh air while they eat). Kip has also been moved into his own home as he is now a 'man', but this home isn't entirely suitable either.

Anyway, here's what I'm getting at. I am considering building them a cage instead of buying them one as I would prefer to arrange it and the platforms differently than most pre-built cages allow. Not to mention it would be less expensive than buying a pre-built cage and would allow me more flexibility in terms of design.

For instance, I prefer large panel doors rather than the small doors you find on most pre-built cages and I like to switch things up on my ratties from time to time to keep their home exciting which I find more difficult with pre-built cages. I also just really like DIY projects.

So I've been looking up designs for ages - off and on again - switching back and forth between building a cage and buying one. And I think I have finally settled on building a cage/cages for them.

So far one 'style' keeps popping up and I'm actually really liking it, and what I'm wondering is how do you guys feel about this specific style of cage.

Basically it's a cabinet style cage made from a renovated bookshelf, cabinet or other 'cupboard' type furniture. With a wire mesh door in a wooden frame. I will be building mine from scratch, but the examples online are usually made from a pre-built cabinet. The dapper rat website was where I first saw this style as their rat home 'The Grotto' is built from a large cabinet/shelving unit.

I like this build because it offers a lot of customization - complete control over the size of the habitat, the number of levels and sections and a lot of creative wiggle room (It's also very easy to modify and enlarge if necessary). I will of course be modifying it, waterproofing the entire thing and switching from shavings to fleece bedding. I am considering putting a 'screen window' in the side panels of the 'cupboard' to increase the ventilation so that it's not just fresh air from the front door. I will also be taking measures to help 'rat proof' it so we don't have any escapees and no one gets hurt.

Do you feel it will provide proper ventilation? Do you feel that it's a suitable habitat for rats? How do you feel about DIY rat housing?

I'm still pondering this idea and any thoughts on the style of housing would be appreciated, as well as thoughts from anyone who has completed this sort of project themselves.
 
We researched building our own cage also. I was worried about the rats chewing on the wood and then of course it smelling after time. I ended up finding a great deal on a cage on Craig's List and going that route instead. I wanted something light enough that I could take it to the shower or outside to scrub it down also. (Here is a picture of it)

014.jpg
 
smalltowngirl said:
We researched building our own cage also. I was worried about the rats chewing on the wood and then of course it smelling after time. I ended up finding a great deal on a cage on Craig's List and going that route instead. I wanted something light enough that I could take it to the shower or outside to scrub it down also. (Here is a picture of it)

014.jpg
Click to expand...

Looks like that worked out pretty well for you! ;) I've been looking around, but haven't come across much, mostly cages with bar spacing that is way too far apart for my rats, they're still too young for 1inch spacing. I've been planning my DIY cages all day, I'm pretty sure this is the route I am going to take! :) (I'm so excited! lol)
 
attitude said:
For the time/cost to build your own,just try to find a FN or CN.
They are the best and easy to clean.
Click to expand...

Ah, I've looked into those!
I don't mind the time and effort, I actually enjoy it, so that's not an issue. :) As for the cost, it definitely will cost less to build one that suits my preferences than to buy one. So considering what I want, I really think building is a better option. :)
 
A lot of people that do the "Grotto" style cages (or bookshelves) love them initially but find them really hard to keep clean long term. I think you should build a cage and keep an eye out for a pre-loved Ferret Nation for when your kids are bigger and less likely to try and escape. FNs can come in pretty cheap if you are lucky.
 
We built a cage from a pantry. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=9451
It looked good and worked well for a little while with only two girls, but as I added another two, it became very difficult to keep clean and started getting wrecked faster even though I took precautions against it. I eneded up getting a FN anyways. (about three months or so after we built the cage mentioned above) I recommend just getting a FN or CN. I don't know how many rats you have, but perhaps you could get a single FN or CN, which would be cheaper to start, and get another level if needed at a later date?
 
Moon said:
A lot of people that do the "Grotto" style cages (or bookshelves) love them initially but find them really hard to keep clean long term. I think you should build a cage and keep an eye out for a pre-loved Ferret Nation for when your kids are bigger and less likely to try and escape. FNs can come in pretty cheap if you are lucky.
Click to expand...

I'm always watching Kijiji, so it's likely in time I'll collect a few cages etc as they appear. Sadly right now there is one cage in my area (a tank topper) that is being sold for a fair bit!

Kayla said:
We built a cage from a pantry. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=9451
It looked good and worked well for a little while with only two girls, but as I added another two, it became very difficult to keep clean and started getting wrecked faster even though I took precautions against it. I eneded up getting a FN anyways. (about three months or so after we built the cage mentioned above) I recommend just getting a FN or CN. I don't know how many rats you have, but perhaps you could get a single FN or CN, which would be cheaper to start, and get another level if needed at a later date?
Click to expand...

Thanks for responding! It's nice to hear the input of someone who's used a cage like the kind I'm considering!! I have three ratws right now, one of them is separated as he is an intact male - He should be getting a friend soon and I'm planning to stop at that point (however... I'm fairly certain that in time I'll be revising that decision!) I don't mind the cage being short term, it's much better than their current accommodations at the very least!! :)
 
I also made my own cage out of converted bookshelves, with the help of my father as I am not so handy. It was something I wanted to do for a long time, and I like it for about 3 months before the rats started doing real damage to the wood and it just soaked up the urine where they chewed it. It was a nightmare to keep clean long term, and not nearly as fun for the rats as I thought it would be. I also think I never would have realized this unless I went through the trouble of building it, so if it's the experience you want, I say go for it, but I love love love my CN, and would never go back to homemade.
 
Ditto what others said...

Although I'm craft and enjoy building stuff.... it's unfortunately not worth the effort, time and money you put into making one. Trying to keep them clean is really hard and should you have a case of mites or lice where IMO it's key that the cage gets properly cleaned to avoid a reinfestation it's just impossible.

The only way a cage like this works out in the long term is if your rats are completely, perfectly litterbox trained and are non chewers.... and that's extremely rare.

In rescue where we have lots of ratties come and go it wouldn't be very sanitary if we used cages like this as well as I really need to be able to clean them and bleach them between groups to avoid cross contamination.

Sorry to be a bummer also but IMO it is well worth it to spend money on a GOOD cage, IMO there is just no way around it. You'll be a lot happier in the end (and the ratties too since you won't be frustrated with them if they chew up or mess up your cage that you built them with love)
 
My dad and I spent several hours building this cage for my boys:

BigBoyCage2002-1.jpg


I loved it for the first 3 months... then the pee started to really get into the wood. I ended up having to throw it out and watch my dad cry. lol It cost me way more than a buying a retail cage.

BUT! It was fun building it, adding ideas and changing it up... I would never do it again but I believe some people have perfected it where it doesn't smell all that bad.
 
I had a homemade cage to....I loved it and used it for a long while...but now I have my FN's and wouldn't trade them for anything....except a CN :giggle:
 
I made a homemade cage before as well - Made it out of wire mesh, and covered the floor with fleece and laminate tiles from the dollar store or hardware store. I made my own pan out of corrigated plastic (sign board). Worked well for quite some time, but eventually the galvanized wire began to stink and my original cage dimensions became too small when I found myself with new additions.

I'd consider building my own cage again, but only if I could find some way to get the wire coated for protection. My favorite cages are now Martin's and my Ferret Nation - I have a few other lying around, and had two bird cages I made into one large rat cage, but the coating came off and the wire started to rust.

Creating my own cage was definitely a lot of fun though, and I really enjoyed making it. =)
 
If you do want to try building your own wire cage, martin's cage online will sell you panels of any size you like. It can get costly though.
 

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