Vinyl duct???????

[t_osullivan_89]

Is vinyl duct okay to use for little tunnels for my rat babies? I'm trying to make their cage more interesting and want to make tunnels and such but first want to make sure it's okay to use. Should I wash it before using or should I not use it at all. I ask because it does have a strong smell to it so I'm kinda on the fence about it.

 

[2Rats]

I'm not really sure what vinyl duct is ....

 

[t_osullivan_89]

This is the stuff.

 

[Petunia]

I've used that outside of the cage for playtime, The smell does go away after awhile - i haven't noticed that washing them will help any with that. if you can put it near a window or outdoors in safe place where it wont get rained on, etc, the smell goes away in a day or two. it will always smell like vinyl but it wont' be as strong after a couple of days of being out of hte pkg.

There there's a wire going thru it that can have sharp ends, even when you twist them back and over on themselves (not sure i'm explaining that well) so you have to watch for that.

my rats have always chewed thru these pretty fast but they have also loved them. if you have older rats I would only lay it on the floor of the cage, not hang it, because once there have chewed holes in it, the vinyl is flimsy and they can easily fall thru even close to a smaller hole, not a full sized one.

do you ever get canisters of like, oatmeal or something like that? those make good tubes/tunnels for in the cage.

 

[t_osullivan_89]

Thanks so much. I let it soak in cold water and now I'm just going to let it air out for a couple days. My rats are still very young...only the one seems to be a big chewer so I'll watch for holes and such...as well as check for sharp edges. Their cage just seems a little boring and I can't seem to find the hard plastic stuff that I wanted. I have made them a few little tunnels out of old soda bottles that they seem to love. So figured I could do something more elaborate with this stuff. They don't really use the hammocks so I'm trying to give them more of what they seem to enjoy.

 

[Petunia]

oh yes young ones will have a ball with that!! it's when they get older that they tend to go in and decide to take a nap or make new exits LOL

 

[SQ]

Drainage pipe cut into 16 in to 18 in lengths are great for both in and outside of the cage. (Hardware stores will cut the long pipes for you)
The holes let in light and allow for air circulation
The short lengths make them easy to clean.

You can hang them inside of the cage
and you can use them outside the cage in your rat play area by connecting them using elbow and T connectors
from the hardware store (Canadian Tire is a good place to purchase connectors - no idea what country you are in as you did not include location in your profile)