BUILDING/REMODELING/CONNECTING/CABINET-STYLE/GERIATRIC

Thu Apr 29, 2004 12:20 am

According to the cage calculator, if the space is used correctly, that size cage can house 12 rats. I'd say it'd be PALATIAL for two

About the wood, my 10 girls live in four connected cages, one of which has a hutch as part of it and though they do chew it a little, it's not a real problem since I give them other things to chew (toys, Greenies, hammocks, etc). Be sure to post pictures once you're done so that we can all be green with envy.
Sarah

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Sarah
Gus, Electra and Lillie (cats)
Artemisia Serendipity Timoune Paikea Eowyn (RIP) Nimue Chrysanthemum Mozart, Elizabeth
Ruby Sunrise, Angelina, Madeleine, Claudia, and the Angels

Thu Apr 29, 2004 12:06 pm

I believe melamite works well for cabinet cage shelves. Be sure to put a little "lip" on the edges tho, or the pee will run out

Wire is fine if it's the right size, 1/2 or smaller is fine (like martin's cages). If you're worried about their feet, put plastic canvas (for needlepoint) over the wire. That way pee will still go through, but it works just the same as a solid floor. I would suggest linolium on the walls and such. Get the sheet kind (not the tiles) and make sure it's attached well around the edges. Get lots of igloos, huts, hammocks and boxes for them to hide in

And mlescully's right, that cage will hold approx. 12 ratties

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Rats~Janine, Madeleine, Cooper, Basil, Dolly, Kitty, Ilori, Theo, Elliot, Vladimir, Freya, Devi, Yoshimi, Nigel, Rosshalde, Faust, Tolkien, Caleb, Mira, Ivy, Nemo, Willow, Nikolas, Lucian & Linus
Mice~Molly, James & Will
Beardie~Cleo

Tue May 04, 2004 7:00 pm

Although I've built a large cage for our ickle rodents, I'm not happy with it, and am going to redo large parts of it...

I'm not sure about some of the materials I'm intending to use, and their suitability for this type of enclosure... These include:

- Glazing Acrylic - lifespan and toxicity if they can eat it...
- Aluminium - not good for humans - for rodents??
- MDF - being eaten
- brass - lifespan?

As this enclosure is going to be in our lounge, I'd like to have something aestheically pleasing, but far more importantly, fun for the rats!

Suggestions and comments on the above?

Many thanks

OJ

Tue May 04, 2004 11:17 pm

By your post I take it you're in the UK, so glazing acrylic would be something like polyurethane? Aluminium is aluminum? MDF = ?? ... some sort of wood like the compressed plywood we have here? Maybe with a coating?

For what purposes would you be using the metals, and in what form? That's an important consideration. Where would you be using the glaze? The can eat even dried glaze, of course, but you'd have to got to a manufacturer's website and research the properties of the dried compound vs the wet. I would hesitate to use the metals in any form, however. Even uncoated galvanized steel, which is a too-common cage material, is susceptible to corrosion and can be dangerous to animal health. I'd use only a powder-coated or vinyl-coated wire for cage purposes.

If you will post more details about your cage and its construction, perhaps we could be of more help. Also, somewhere in this cage forum is a long, merged post on cage contruction that will probably be helpful to you, I'm sure you can find it in a minute doing a forum search.

_________________
Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Wed May 05, 2004 3:55 pm

Acrylic is different to polyurethane, and is used in lab rat enclosures as it's so easy to keep clean. I know the rat health in those places isn't paramount, but if they use it, it seemed reasonable..

The MDF is used to build the base, sides and structure, and to be covered with metal 'pet mesh' (my mistake, not aluminium - yup same as aluminium!)

The basic structure is simple enough - would anyone be able to host an 80kb image showing the details of the cage??

I'm not sure what to make the shelves out of to ensure they don't get eaten...

Wed May 05, 2004 7:31 pm

I am partial to the storage cube cages. I built a cage big enough for 6 rats for about $40.00. I used the underbed storage container with wheels for the bottom and the flip top lid for the top. Unfortunatly all I can find in my town is the storage cubes with large holes so only my big boys and my one trained little boy can stay in that cage. I have 13 other little boys that will need a much much bigger cage soon so I am despiratly looking for the kids storage cubes with the smaller holes. Right now I have 7 five week old boys in a cage made for two adults and the same situation for 7 girls...well, theirs is big enough for 3 adults, and the 6 boys and 6 girls are only two weeks and with their momma so I have a little time to get them a cage done. I wonder how much it would cost to have one of you ship me a few boxes of those kids storage cubes? hmmm.

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www.freewebs.com/perfect_pets_rat_rescue

Sun May 30, 2004 10:26 am

Victor..fabulous idea! I hope you don't mind that I'm basically borrowing it, plexiglass and all. I'd been looking for a way to connect my old cage to one or more new cages, and when I got two brand new prevue cages for $10 the other day..well, it was time. =)

I did make one small change. Since I had a considerable amount of space to span with the tubes (I have space for one on one side of my computer stand, and space for the other two on the opposite side), and three cages to connect, I bought a Super Thru-way ferret tunnel. It's -much- cheaper than it would be to buy five or six sections of the tunnel, and a few elbows, etc, it's flexible, you can cut it to fit, etc. It looks like clear dryer duct, and stretches out to be 20' long. Since the tunnel is fairly thin, I'm going to drill holes in the outside pieces of plexiglass and attach the tube to it with pieces of thin wire poked through that, then through the plexiglass, and twisted to keep it secure. Then, the outside pieces plexiglass will just be permanently attached to ends of the tunnels. You loosen the wing nuts and remove the tunnel, plexiglass and all, to clean it, clean the cage, etc. I'm also going to have extra plexiglass squares without holes for the tunnel, in case I need to cover up the opening again fairly quickly.

Hope that made sense. I know what I'm picturing, but I don't know if I wrote it out correctly! Anyway, another huge thank you for the idea, and I'll be sure to post pictures if it works out.

Oh, one last thing. Since the tunnel I bought is so flexible, I'm going to have to make a little shelf on the wall between the cages and behind my computer stand for the tunnel to sit on. This shouldn't be too bad, though. Just a few brackets and some wood, painted the same color as the wall!

Sun Jun 27, 2004 10:01 pm

Don't know if this will help you any, but I converted a bookcase into a rat cage. Have a look on my webpage, might help a little.

http://www.geocities.com/nanaki_xvii

_________________
Nanaki and the gang,
Pepper, Bailey, Willow and Truffles
Satan and Squeak
Ruby, Patience and Honey

My Angels
Monkey, Cookie, Nibbler, Mocha, Tia, Candy, Monty

http://www.geocities.com/nanaki_xvii

Thu Jul 01, 2004 6:52 am

Ps..i made my huge cage for approx $30 (cdn)

http://www.cavycages.com/

Thu Jul 01, 2004 7:34 am

Cool!

Wouldn't rats chew the coroform though and the links between the squares of wire?

Thu Jul 01, 2004 7:54 am

i don't know what it's called but u can buy it in stores like Staples Business supplies. It's a hard plastic edging that u would use if u made a book. Darn, i can't describe it well. Whatever it's called tho..it slips right over the edge of the coroform. I think they're relatively cheap so if the rat chews them, u can replace them. Maybe someone else will understand what i mean. It's just a long looking stick that u would slip the pages of a book in to hold them all together

Lisa

Sat Jul 03, 2004 7:55 am

I bought a bookcase made of mellamine (not sure of the spelling but it is white and waterproof) and added hardware cloth on wood frames as doors. Got the bookcase at Walmart for about $30. One suggestion is to brace each shelf and top and bottom with wood 1x1's cut to the width of the bookcase. Make sure you screw through the mellamine into the wood. The first one I tried collapsed before I finished. I was able to use it later to build a second add on cage. I used the grotto as an example too.

Tue Aug 31, 2004 1:28 pm

I used the grotto design as well to base mine on. the flooring on each level is linoleum. My kiddos don't chew, so it's worked well. In the boys' section, i put aspen or carefresh shavings on the very bottom level and they've trained themselves to use only that area to eliminate in. The top three levels is for the boys and the bottom two are for the girls, though only Isis is in there now until Orla is out of quarantine
Boys section:

girls section:

entire cage

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Sat Sep 11, 2004 10:25 pm

Hi gang - newbie here.

I'm in the process of converting a cabinet. It's got a laminate-type coating and is particleboard underneath. I've been told that I need to be concerned about the potential toxicity of this material. I was thinking of lining the entire inside and all the shelves with mac-tack, which is your basic stick-on cabinet liner. I doubt they'll be able to chew any of the original cabinetry and they'll have lots of other wood to chew.

What do you all think? Do I need to be even more careful and sand that puppy down?

All your ideas have been super inspiring. Mr. Green

Fri Oct 29, 2004 9:49 pm

Hi. I'm new here. I appreciate all the info I've gotten from this forum. Thanks everyone.

I registered so I could post about making a cage. I made one, and it is a really good cage, so I thought I'd share how. I don't know how to post pictures though.

I made it out of the wire shelving you can get at Home Improvement stores, and zip-ties. It is 20" x 32" x 72". Then I used the shelving cut to 32" as the shelves inside the cage. They are either 16 or 18" deep, and there are 5 shelves and the bottom floor. Anyway this cage is very sturdy, so sturdy I was able to make the front panels competely open (I cut them in half, so I can open the top half, the bottom half, or both), which makes cleaning so easy.

It cost about $100 for the shelving, and another $30 for the plexiglass I used to line the shelves (since the rats couldn't walk on them) - though using Coroplast that would have only been about $10. Anyway, it's a great cage. I'll post pictures if anyone cares, and if anyone can tell me how.

And to introduce my rat boys, we have 5 - Wally and Templeton, who are about 8 months old, and three little boys still in quarantine I recently got from a feeder bin (I know, but I couldn't leave them to be snake food), named (by my kids - well, I named Scooby) Scooby, Blackie, and Silvery.

Anyway, hi, that's us, and I really enjoy your forum.

Lara

Mon Nov 08, 2004 12:06 am

My boys really need a new cage but we're on a really tight budget right now so I'm hoping to build a cage in a while. I was hoping to make one with the wire shelving (I've seen a few people with this type) So my question is where would I buy the levels for the cage? I want the level to stretch across the whole width of the cage and just have an opening for the ramp so do they sell ones like that? If not, I have some sort of thin sheet of wood laying around (I'm not sure if it's plywood... don't think it is) (it's really hard and smooth on one side and the other is kind of etched looking) Would this be ok? It's cheap and easily cut into the shape I want so it would be great if I could use it. Thanks for your input!

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* Viia *

Bongo & ET: I'll miss you dearly, my precious little men Angel rat

Wed Nov 10, 2004 1:36 am

Mine is wire shelving - I used the 1/2" spacing, 20" wide, 72" long shelves; the sides are 1 shelf, 20" deep; the front and back is made up of 2 shelves, overlapped 8", so they are 32" total width; the height is 72". The shelves are held together with zip ties. The front is the two 20 shelves, each cut in half about halfway up, so the entire front opens up, or only the top or bottom half. (Makes cleaning very easy).

I then made the inner shelves (5 of them, plus the bottom layer) out of more of this same shelving - but only 16 or 18" wide, and the 1" spacing. I cut them to the width of the cage, 32", and zip tied them in (alternating them, so the rats don't have a potential 6' fall). Then I got some plexiglas like material cut to cover them.

The whole thing cost like $120 or $130. It's very sturdy, very roomy, and very easy to clean. I'd post a pic, to make it easier to understand, but I don't have a site to link pics to. I could email you pics if you are interested, just email me at larahaywar@aol.com. Make sure to title your email to me, if you do write, something like "rat cage", so I don't delete it unread. :-)

A big advantage of using the wire shelving is that it has those built in lips, and when they are ziptied together it makes them extremely stable, since they basically reinforce the corners.

Good luck.

_________________
Lara

2 dogs, Sniffy the beagle and Frankie the aussie
1 cat, Elizabeth the Empress
5 rats, Wally, Templeton, Silvery, Blackie, Scooby

Wed Nov 10, 2004 1:57 am

i built my own rat cage. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be and it ended up being very inexspensive and my 2 rats love it. I also used a under the bed storage container. It took me a while to figure out what I should use for the walls and then it dawned on me that I already had what i needed... I had one of those small animal playpens that I used for my bunny to keep her in a small area to teach her to use the litter box. She got big enough that she could jump over, so it pretty much was useless to me. When I got my rats i discovered that they could escape from the smaller cage that i had setup for them. So I took the panels from the playpen and used cable ties to
attach them to the top of my other cage so they couldn't climb out. Then it occured to me that if i spent 12 more dollars on another playpen I could use the panels to build a whole new cage. It is very sturdy w/ no sharp edges and couldnt be easier to build shelves! If you break it down as far as how much I spent ... it was 24 dollars for 2 playpen sets, about 6 dollars on the storage bin and a dollar for 200 cable ties. So for
$31 dollars I got a cage that is 28 in long 14 in wide and 19 in high. and thats w/ enough panel left over for 2 large shelves, a ramp, and one panel left over that i bent into a basket shape and hangs from the top. Big enough to house 2 baby rats! I'm sure I'll be spending another 12 dollars and be building up another level in the very near future!

Mon Nov 29, 2004 10:20 am

hi! i'm brand-new to this forum but DEFINITELY not to ratties. i've had rats nearly steadily for the last 16 years. however, i've never made a diy cage before, and while i'm VERY good at judging cage size in pre-fab cages, i'm no good at deciding on this cage. i've got a little brown hooded girl named madeline who's still pretty young, but will still probably not be too large when she gets bigger, as she's both female, and from a line of generally small females. i can produce pictures on demand. as any rat mama, i've got a billion. Mr. Green

anyhow...

i just realised that i have this POTENTIALLY AWESOME shelf in my garage. it's got 9 individual cubbyholes that are 9'' tall, 7'' wide and 11'' deep.

now, here are my questions in order of importance:
question one:
my plan is to put hardware cloth across the front and back of the top two/top two/bottom three cubbyholes on the right and leave the two on the left open for rat-related items, like food, dry treats, out-of-cage/backup toys, and bedding. then i would take the divider shelves entirely out of the bottom row, leaving a 9''x22.5x11/2227sq.in. space, and take the middle divider shelf out of the middle row, leaving a 9x14.75x11/1460.25sq.in. space, and then leave the middle shelf in in the top to make two little cubbyholes of 693sq.in. each. then, the obvious ramping and whatnot to make all levels accessible. this makes 4306.5 square inches altogether. however, considering how it's divided up, would this be a comfortable amount of space?
according to http://www.kristinewickstrom.homestead.com/files/PanelApplet.html (the cage calculator), if i clear out all three cubbies on the bottom for her to have as one big level on the bottom, it says that that is enough room for 0.65 rats to live in. 2 cubbyholes is 0.42 rats, and one cubbyhole is .2 rats. everything all added up, that's just over one rat worth of space, and she's a female from a line of small females, so she probably will take up a little less room than the average size the cage calculator is working off of.

SO...assuming that i'm still good to go after question one...
question two:
this has been out in my garage, is painted with god only knows what kind of paint, and has been used to store things like insect poison in granule form. i don't entirely trust the paint to be rat-safe, even once all the nastiness has been taken off. so what i think would probably work best is to sand the whole thing down, repaint it whatever colour i want it, and then re-sand the paint out of the areas that madeline will actually be living in. so this is actually a two-part question.
one: do you think that will be good enough? a double sanding ought to get rid of everything questionable, especially once it's been cleaned well.
two: i DO plan to make removable litter pans for the floor, but i know wood soaks up odors like nobody's business. what is something rat-safe that i can seal the wood with?

also, just for information's sake: if it ends up being big enough, i plan on cutting out large "windows" in both sides of the bottom level, the right side of the middle level, and the right side and tops of the top level, and then covering those in hardware cloth so she's got plenty of open air and sunlight getting to her! can't have her in a big gloomy dark cage, no matter how neat it is. plus, i plan on eventually connecting those holes to the most awesome rat run in the universe! yay.

thank you to -everyone- who could help me answer these questions, especially if it leads to miss madeline having the super ratty palace i hope will be big enough for her. wink

Tue Feb 22, 2005 7:22 am

I am keen on building a cage for my rats and have a few ideas but I'm not sure what to use for the wire walls of the cage. I have heard hardware cloth suggested but I worry it is too fine and scratchy for climbing comfortably. Any ideas for an alternative material? Can you get the nice stuff they make commercial cages out of?

Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:52 am

eaker, I found such stuff in a little mom and pop hardware store near where my mom lives. They call it "rabbit fencing," its mesh is 1"x1/2", it's exactly what Martin's uses for their cages. I took it in and had it powder-coated and now the extension I built looks very much like the rest of the cage(a Martin's Chinchilla High-rise). It's also much sturdier than hardware cloth, and I've no worries about it collapsing. I'd suggest you try to find it. I don't think I'd bother much with hardware cloth, especially if you intend it as a stand-alone cage, and whatever you get, I suggest you have it powder-coated, as I've heard that galvanized surfaces start to smell and that if they chew on the galvanized it can lead to zinc poisoning. Good luck

_________________
Sarah
Gus, Electra and Lillie (cats)
Artemisia Serendipity Timoune Paikea Eowyn (RIP) Nimue Chrysanthemum Mozart, Elizabeth
Ruby Sunrise, Angelina, Madeleine, Claudia, and the Angels

Sun Mar 27, 2005 12:49 pm

I'm building a new wire part for the cage. It is quite large measuring 90 cm x 60cm x 45cm. The only wire I can use is a 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch wire mesh. It is plastic coated. The wire does tend to be quite flimsy. It holds itself, but if you lean on it it dents. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for making it more stable. I was thinking of making two wire parts instead, each half of the cage, then cut a couple of holes in the middle section so my rats can run to the other side. Any other ideas?

Thu Apr 07, 2005 11:40 pm

pocket is getting on in years and is starting to stubble a bit around the cage. i could move her into a good sized tank rather easily but she would be alone which she hasn't done since she was ababy and didn't do well then. she started to go through depressoin until i brough home her sister lyiint from a friend that couldn't keep her any longer. so really i'd rather not take her from the others but i don't want her to get hurt either in that tower of theirs. is there a way that i could just make the cage safer for her?

this is what the cage looks like right now:

i'm 5'3 1/2" and i'm the one standing beside it.

and here's a closer look at what i've recently done to help pocket out by not making her jump so high. in the orange bottomed cage there's a little hamster home (came with the first cage) underneath the hole so she doesn't have to jump as far down or up too but it keeps getting pushed around and knocked over.

pocket still has the desire to climb striaght up but perfers to walk if she had the choice. where all the cages are so different in heights and distance to the next hole store bought ramps are rather useless. so if anyone knows how i could make one it would really help me out if you could share. other then ramps and stragically placed houses i don't know what to do. i really would rather not take her out of the cage away from the others until her final couple days as i'd rather her not try to commit suicide again.

after i put in the plastic canvas she seems to be eating better and hopefully gaining some of her weight better. i'm looking into weight building diets right now to try for her and nazumi.

any advice you could give on how to make the cage safer and more user frienmdly for her would be much appricated by the both of us.

_________________
mommy to:

1 human son: Corvis
1 feline son: Sesshoumaru
1 lost feline daughter: Snowball

Sat Apr 09, 2005 11:29 pm

a while ago i made a rat cage that is basically a wood frame with mesh wire stapled on. well, now it is starting to stinky (only 3 1/2 months old) i oviously need to build another rat cage but avoiding wood. but the problem is how do i build a cage without a wood frame? how will the mesh wire hold together with nothing to staple it too... and i doesnt bind and stay like that! maybe put it together with cage clips... but wouldnt i need a cage clip for every half and inch or so?

Sat Apr 09, 2005 11:33 pm

That's the trouble with wood. Sad

My guys have wooden chinchilla platforms and they get icky very fast.

You could used covered wood on a new one perhaps? Maybe with a laminate covering? Maybe there are some rat-friendly varnishes you could use?

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sun Apr 10, 2005 7:54 am

I'm making a wooden rat cage (just worked on it for like 5 hours) and I'm putting some plastic board over it, and it's not nailed down so I can take it out to wipe it clean. I'm also going to have newspaper/bedding over that and all of my other levels to avoid the wood getting stinky fast.

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God is like soap...Aren't you glad you have Him? Don't you wish everybody did?

Thu Apr 14, 2005 7:32 pm

any good ideas for latching and hinging doors on homemade cages?

Thu Apr 14, 2005 10:37 pm

Hmmm... C clips? at a push, strong wire twists? What's the frame made of? If its solid you could probably use proper hinges. Fastening it, I would again say it depends on how the cage is made. My cage has springs attached to hooks that keep it firmly shut, but I don't know if you could get something to do that.... maybe take a look around the hardware section of a store and see what they have, and what looks appropriate for the job!

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Thu Apr 28, 2005 1:17 am

	Christy wrote:
	Someone on RFC posted this and I thought it would be helpful for those of you attempting to build your own cages. The site is in German, but the pics are fantastic! http://www.rattenwelt.de/kaefig0.html

I went and had the page translated, heres the link

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.rattenwelt.de/kaefig0.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://www.rattenwelt.de/kaefig0.html%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG

If this one doesn't work or load right try this one

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rattenwelt.de%2Fkaefig0.html&btnG=Google+Search

_________________
Loving Arms Rattery (LOVE)

Home of the sweetest rats on earth!!!

http://www.freewebs.com/loving_arms_rattery/

Sun May 22, 2005 9:56 pm

There are small animal playpens currently at my Wal-Mart store for $10 each, and I had the idea of using them to build a cage, by using 2 of them. (Of course if I didn't build the cage and just used my aquarium still, the rats would have a nice large play area with them.) Can that be done? I would think it would be fine.. the panels are a good size.

EDIT: I built it! Seems like a nice size. I was so surprised how high it got to be.. 26"! I'm hoping to possibly make it larger, if I redo it at a later date. For now the boys really love all the climbing space. ^_^

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Happy New Year from Myself, Dumbledore, and Harry!

Wed May 25, 2005 7:47 am

I was wondering if anyone has had any luck combining two Martin's cages of the same size. My girls currently have an R-670, which is getting too cramped for the big girls, so instead of buying a whole new cage, we've decided to buy them ANOTHER R-670 and combine it with our current one. Now, I want them to end up as a single cage, so just cutting room for a tunnel wont' work.

These are the three options we have for combining the cage...

1) Stack the second cage on top of the first cage. This will give them a lot of room to climb (which they love to do) but will make it easier to fall (though I'll take precautions, of course), and will also not be as good for them as they age.

2) Attach the cages side by side. This will give them lots of room to spread out sideways, but won't add any height for climbing. On the bright side, they'd have enough room for their igloo to go back in their cage (it sits outside at the moment during the day for hoarding purposes because I decided they didn't have adequate floor space). The ceiling in our room is also short, and doing it this way would keep us from having to find a shorter table to put their cage on.

3) Attach the cages front to back. This gives spread out room like #2, but would make their cage floor a lot roomier instead of just wider. This would also give me a nice open space in the center with the way I would attach it.

I should point out that #2 and #3 would require me to mutilate their plastic trays. Has anyone done that? I'm a little nervous since the plastic is so thick, but we have lots of tools here, and I'm sure it could be done. Though I'm not really sure what we'd reconnect them with (though duct tape comes to mind!).

So, any opinions on which of these would produce the happiest ratties?

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Wed May 25, 2005 5:48 pm

I would like some suggestions on building a corner cage for my girls. I already have a bit of a plan worked up, but it seems to not be big enough for my 7 girls. I will see about getting a picture into the computer of my drawling, but no garuntees.

I also would like to know what the experiances have been with wooden cages. What do you use, or what do have in them to keep the smell factor at bay???

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Wed May 25, 2005 6:07 pm

Well never had a wooden cage myself but I did read somewhere that wood would soak up rat urine and would be contenuasly stink ( spelling?).

Wed May 25, 2005 6:45 pm

well.. I have read that useing killz primer is good to seal it and to also use calk... I'm still reading past posts..... I'm still in the beggining stages and am looking for some pointers!

*EDIT*

Here's the Basement and Level #1....

I do have the shelves and open part mixed up in the picture for level #1. I will have the shelves on the right hand corner.

And here's Level #2....

One more thing... I'm also considering wheather or not I want the cage to be all open, or if I want the back 2 sides to be a solid peice of wood board. I think that the pricing of this total build will depend on what I use. Still.. any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

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Sun Jul 24, 2005 9:30 pm

Hi, I'm Savannah, I'm new here. I have two female rats, a Champagne Hooded(Chancey), and a Black Variegiated(Gypsy). I'm getting two more female rats in late August. My current cage is only big enough to house two rats. I'd like to Custom Build a cage. does anyone have any instructions or ideas? My mom thought of a cool idea, she called it a 'Rat Condo'. She said we could buy all kinds of bird cages and line em up and stack them and connect them with pvc pipes. i thought it was a pretty cool idea. any other idea suggestions? Thanks

Sun Jul 24, 2005 11:40 pm

Welcome to RP.

Have you read through this thread and viewed the cage gallery? There's loads of ideas! Custom built cages are nice but can require a lot of work and time. Bird cages would work as long as you add in some type of shelving (baskets, wood, wire, etc). My girls love PVC so I'd definately recommend some of that! wink

_________________
--;[Dannie/]
Ratties: Kina, Cessi, Nerissa and Dare

Sun Jul 24, 2005 11:48 pm

alfeoandbeppe, welcome to RP.

Like Dannie said, there's lots of ideas here in this thread, and also check out this post for the cube cage that she's just built. wink

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:28 pm

Hi all I have a 3 shelve cabinet that I want to make into a rat cage. I was wondering, it does have a solid back but would I need to put wire down so they can't chew out? or could I just put it in the front of the "unit" Thanks!

Tue Sep 20, 2005 5:08 am

I make a grotto for my rats and they love it! My only suggestion would be to use waterproof paint and to cover all levels with some of the kitchen-type flooring that comes in the big rolls. The flooring gets chewed eventually but it sure takes hours out of weekly cleaning time because it is removable and easier to clean than painted wood. Make sure to get the 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch wire instead of 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch because it is a lot easier to make it stay in the shape you want since it is a bit thinner. Plus, another good thing, the rats will no longer be able to put thier hand out and pull your favorite sweater in for a chewing session...lol...we've all been there! Accidents happen. Good luck with the cages!

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Loving Arms Rattery (LOVE)

Home of the sweetest rats on earth!!!

http://www.freewebs.com/loving_arms_rattery/

Thu Sep 29, 2005 12:41 am

Yeah so i just finished my cage and its really cool, but the problem is my 2 ratties find that the braces holding in my removable panels are very tasty and like to take little nibbles at them. what could i do to prevent this? thanks

Thu Sep 29, 2005 2:42 am

Prevent them nibbling by finding braces made out of metal...

I've discovered that once a ratty has it in his (or her) head that it wants to chew something into oblivion that it will ALWAYS suceed....

Thu Sep 29, 2005 8:56 am

would nailing sheet metal over it work? cus its all custom made and all, impossible to get metal stuff like that. also since the floors are made of wood, which are shelac'd what would be a good thing to put over that? i heard of those thin kitchen tiles but i was thinking something like a piece of carpet? whats you're thoughts on this?

Thu Sep 29, 2005 9:57 am

For floor covering ideas, see http://www.ratpalace.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3871

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Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Wed Oct 12, 2005 12:07 am

I bought a cage with 1 inch wire spacing on Saturday (the same one I talked about in the wire spacing sticky.) So I went to Home Depot and got this plastic screening called "Pet Screen" and I attached it to the outside of the cage with plastic ties and wire.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v346/killinjoke/cagetop.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v346/killinjoke/cageright.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v346/killinjoke/cageopen.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v346/killinjoke/cageleft.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v346/killinjoke/cagefront.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v346/killinjoke/cageback.jpg

I admit, after 4 hours straight of work, it looks nice (it looks better in person), but I never want to do that again LOL

Making the doors openable was the biggest pain.

Mon Oct 24, 2005 3:33 pm

This weekend, I spent a few hours putting this plan together, based on both the "Grotto" from The Dapper Rat and my girls current cage.

I'm very proud of it Mr. Green

because I never took technical design in school, and I think it looks quite professional (please excuse me being vain Embarassed

but I really am proud of it, lol)

The link to the RASCALS page or the direct link to the .pdf file - last link needs Adobe Acrobat Reader.

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Tails and her RAM byting Rats
Linux & Apple Mac
Angel rat

Maxie & Pepper

Mon Oct 24, 2005 9:15 pm

It does look really nice! And your site is really well organized.

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Rosie

* * *

I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Tue Oct 25, 2005 12:01 pm

*gets all puffy proud* Thanks Ellie's_girl!!! Mr. Green

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Tails and her RAM byting Rats
Linux & Apple Mac
Angel rat

Maxie & Pepper

Wed Oct 26, 2005 2:28 am

My mom said that if I build a grotto style cage my self, she will pay for it, and if I build it in time, Raoul wont have to live in a 10 gallon aquarium.

Does anyone have any advice for building a small grotto style cage?

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Rosie

* * *

I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Wed Oct 26, 2005 12:17 pm

Hmm...how about modernising my plans to have only the one door and not both levels? Then you could just add a whole bunch of platforms, tunnels, hammocks, and ladders. And you'd still have the storage space. I havent looked through all the posts in this thread, but I'm sure there's also a small design somewhere around here

Good luck, and when you're done, you better post pics

PS: If you use my designs, and something isnt clear, just ask and I'll be happy to help

Also, there is a pic of my cage in the gallery called The Rookery Nook Mr. Green

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Tails and her RAM byting Rats
Linux & Apple Mac
Angel rat

Maxie & Pepper

Sun Oct 30, 2005 7:40 am

Hi!
I've been looking around at all the home made cages people have, and it's inspired me to design my own. I have a wee case of MGMR hehe and plan on adding a few females to my menagerie next year, and hopefully breed a few good litters.
Anyway, here's a link to my concepts, let me know what you think!
http://www.freewebs.com/ratpatch/cageconcepts.htm

They look a bit funny unless you view them full sized.
Happy viewing!

Sun Oct 30, 2005 7:57 am

I have been put on a very strict budget for the cage, so what I did was move all of the books on my bookshelf to the 2 long shelves above my bed, and instead of going and making the entire cage, I will jsut get the melamite levels. It will wind up having 3 floors (including the base one), but no storage space.
I was wondering if I could attach a 2" high 2.5' long (the book shelf is about 2.5' long), so that I could put littler on the base level.

My major problem is that I jsut can not figure out how the door/hinges would attach.

Also, if you cut out part of the shelf so the rat can get on it, wouldn't it unbalence the shelf if you cut out part of the corner?

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Rosie

* * *

I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:18 am

Anyone: If you have the money, here's a link to a thread in the mouse forum on having polycarb (plastic) stuff custom-made:

Something from there could always be incorporated into a self-built cage. I've always thought a cage combined of both wire and plastic would be the best of both worlds. If I ever have an extra thousand bucks lying around (LOL) I will build the most awesome wire-&-plastic cage in the universe.

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Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:21 am

	Ellie's_girl wrote:
	Also, if you cut out part of the shelf so the rat can get on it, wouldn't it unbalence the shelf if you cut out part of the corner?

Well, what I did was use one of those plastic corner brackets (they hold 4 screws) and I attached that just at the edge where the little access hole was cut...erm...a little hard to explain, does it make sense??

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Tails and her RAM byting Rats
Linux & Apple Mac
Angel rat

Maxie & Pepper

Thu Nov 10, 2005 2:42 am

Sorry about starting something in the middle of your conversation, but I was wondering if I could use this bookshelf that we just cleared.

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Thu Nov 10, 2005 4:32 am

Yeah, I am sure that it would be fine Sarah. The one I used is a little smaller, but it should work the same.

Tails, I know what you mean. I cut it kinda in the center, but not so far back that it colapses.

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Rosie

* * *

I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Thu Nov 10, 2005 11:29 am

Oooh! I just love all this big-cage building!! All the spoiled ratties!! Mr. Green

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Tails and her RAM byting Rats
Linux & Apple Mac
Angel rat

Maxie & Pepper

Sat Nov 12, 2005 10:09 pm

Hi guyz,
I have a really big cage that my past rats have loved however it's a bit of a nightmare to clean as it's so big! I was thinking before I get my new ratties that perhaps it would be better if I had a pull out tray at the bottom to empty and clean. I have added the link to show u which cage I have, if anyone has any ideas of how I could improve it to make cleanin easier then please post- thanks alot!

http://www.animalinstinct.co.uk/item1467.htm

Mon Nov 14, 2005 5:20 am

Hi Cherrie - I bet they love that!

Can you get it out into the garden, or into the shower? With the bigger cages, it's definitely helpful to be able to spray it with water when cleaning it, but scrubbing all those bars always takes some time. I generally leave on the cleaning stuff for a few minutes to help get everything clean, and spray it a LOT. Toothbrushes are good for awkward spots.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Fri Dec 16, 2005 11:28 pm

So, here's a question for you:

I currently have an R-690 for my three girls. Given the choice, would you:

1. Get a customized R-670 from Martin's to attach to the top and make an "R-694 Mini-Ruud," or...

2. Say "screw it" and get an R-695, giving the 690 to a local rescue organization.

Any thoughts?

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-Ben
My rats: Squishy, Squee, and Nibbler
My dogs (at my mother's house): Lucy and Ricky
My cats (at my dad's house--in Florida!): Cleo (RIP) and Zima

Fri Dec 23, 2005 8:35 am

Are you planning on getting more ratties in the near future? If not, I would go with #2. If you are, it would depend how many. More than 2, I would make a "Mini Ruud". 1 or 2, I would give it to a rescue.

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Rosie

* * *

I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Fri Dec 23, 2005 10:12 am

I've actually decided on "none of the above," as a local ad showed up with a family that has ferrets but can't keep them anymore for financial reasons, and is willing to part ways with their Martin's FNE-480 New Englander--which will fit rats just fine with its 1"x1" mesh.

I may not be able to donate the current cage after all, however. My sister, after tonight's Petco episode, has decided that she wants rats of her own, and it going to work on our parents. I support her 100% if she wants a couple and will take care of them (and if she doesn't, she knows I will, and she will not get off easy if I end up taking care of them), so the cage may go to her after all.

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-Ben
My rats: Squishy, Squee, and Nibbler
My dogs (at my mother's house): Lucy and Ricky
My cats (at my dad's house--in Florida!): Cleo (RIP) and Zima

Sat Jan 14, 2006 1:53 am

I just wanted to mention that if you can't find a reasonable sized cage for your rats and you suck at building things (like me) you might want to check out some bird cages. I recently bought a large birdcage at a used pet store and the rats love it...but I'm still working on it. It doesn't have a second level but right now I have a hammock hanging up there. The rats love climbing all over the cage

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~*Allie*~
Puppy: Pepper (my big suck) Kitty: Kitterz
Birdie:Mehico aka.Cheeky
Ratties: RIP Penny...i miss you pretty girl <333
Peaches n' Cream..2 bRATS
Jibroney!! --new rescue rat

Mon Feb 06, 2006 4:15 am

I was wondering if anybody had any ideas of how to add more shelves to my cabinent . . .

As you can see we already have one shelf with two ramps for the ratties to get from the bottom to the top. But we did that when we first got the cabinent and it was a pure and utter pain.

Soooo. So I was wondering if you guys had any ideas of how to add shelves to the walls without any use of major hardware. (ie power tools and such).

Mon Feb 06, 2006 11:37 am

You could hammer a strip of wood into the inner side of the walls, then nail the shelf to the piece of wood strip...does this make sense? lol

_________________
Tails and her RAM byting Rats
Linux & Apple Mac
Angel rat

Maxie & Pepper