| How we live |
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| Self-built Cage The self-built is about 120cm (47 inches) wide, 60cm (23 inches) deep and 140cm (55 inches) high and fit for 12 rats. At the bottom, there is an added space (120cm wide x 60cm high) where we store food and all the other stuff. We built this one ourselves, it cost about �400 and lots of hours and nerves... Originally, we kept our girls on the left side, the boys on the right side, but the boys got so unnerved (hormones...) that they moved into their own cage. After that, the girl had the cage to themselves. Currently, Merlin and Jareth live in the lower half. Once we get round to closing the holes in the middle, Socks and Zora will be moving into the top half. |
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| The Tommy 82 T3 (by Marchioro) This cage is originally designed for bunnies and is about 80cm (31 inches) wide, 50cm (19 inches) deep and 150cm (59 inches) high. We bought it over the internet from www.zooplus.de. It's name is Tommy 82 T3, by Marchioro. It is fit for 6 rats. Attention! The bars are very far apart (2,5 cm, about 1 inch), so this cage is NOT fit for small does or younger rats. My fully grown bucks never attempted to get through, but I'm sure if they really wanted to, they could. We paid �129 for this cage, which is a reasonable price. Expect all suitable rat cages to be around this much. Currently, Zora and Socks are living here, but the three boys will be moving in sometime the next days. |
| The Chinchilla Cage This was our first cage which we bought for Socks and Yuki, but with the babies it soon got too small. It is fit for 2 to 3 rats, tops. The cage is about 80cm (31 inches) high, 75cm (29 inches) wide and 55cm (21 inches) deep. Normally, this is a chinchilla cage, due the height. But I'd say this is by far too small for chinchillas. Rats enjoy climbing up to big heights, so a rat cage should be at least 80 cm high. Originally, this cage only had the two planks that are visible on the left and right. We added one large plank (at the top) and two smaller ones so they have more room to run around. We paid about �100, which I now think was a bit much, but it's a normal price rate for a cage of this size. |
| We also have two hospital cages that are originally designed for hamsters. They are very small, limiting the movement of the rat(s) in question. Rats cannot be kept in them for large amounts of time. Usually, time in sickbay is over within a week, which is an okay time. Keeping a rat in a hamster cage (which are too small for most hamsters) is torture! Bigger cages are more expensive, yes, but if you cannot afford the right cage, you cannot afford the vet (just for startes, since getting the rats, we paid about 2000 Euros at the vet for the rats only). |
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