My great cage!

Thu Nov 17, 2005 2:00 am

I love the rats cage (except during cleaning, lol). It is so big! The cage calculator says that it will fit 11 rats. I have 4 in it right now, and after q-tine and intros there will be 7.

So you go;

One up close

A little farther away

And another slightly farther away.

My q-tine boys are in a little cabinet cage. It can fit 3 rats, so it will be okay for a while. The batteries in my camera are dead, so I will have to take them later.

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Rosie

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I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Thu Nov 17, 2005 2:09 am

Oh, I love it, Rosie! It's so colorful and nice. I was planning on making a cage, so perhaps you can show me how you made this! Oh, how much did it cost to make? (yes, I'm on a tight budget)

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Thu Nov 17, 2005 3:10 am

It looks great!! Nice work!! Thumbs Up

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EMILY-------------------------------------------------

Rest in peace, Violet and Isadora. <3

Thu Nov 17, 2005 5:37 am

Thanks!

It costed around $100, but you can size it down depending on how big you want it.

The base is a Washingmachine base (not sure what it is really called), but it was around $20. Each level costed $11, and then you would need one extra one for the top, and one for the shelves. You can size it down though.

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Rosie

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I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Thu Nov 17, 2005 6:42 am

Okay, well I already have a good base. Where did you get the playpens?

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Fri Nov 18, 2005 4:04 am

you can get those at any pet store or even walmart. : 0)

Fri Nov 18, 2005 4:28 am

I got them at Walmart. They are like $10 or $11 dollars there. At Petsmart they are about $12. Not much of a difference, but it does start to add up

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Rosie

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I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Mon Nov 28, 2005 3:33 am

Would you be able to take some close up pictures of the connection points...
I dont get how it is sturdy and not just tipping over. Rainbow Smiley

Mon Nov 28, 2005 4:40 am

I attached everything together with cable ties, so it is more sturdy. The levels also help stabilize it, because they attach 3 sides of the cage together.

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Rosie

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I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Mon Nov 28, 2005 9:12 am

What are the pieces, exactly??

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Lise...

& Molly, Nora, and Tevy

Mon Nov 28, 2005 6:46 pm

Mysress....I dont know either???
I go to the pet section at Walmart all the time....what is this item called?
How many panels are in a package and what did it cost?
Were the shelve pieces included or did you get them from some other type of item.
I know you are probably busy.....but I really like what you have done.
I would really love to see close ups if you get any spare time this week. Thanks.

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~~Dawn~~

Tue Nov 29, 2005 1:49 am

The walls are made out of "Small Animal Play Pens" Here is a pic of them http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441777796&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302026398&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023695&bmUID=1133213970824

Each level is one package of Play Pens, the top is one, and the shelves are another one. I got them at Walmart, because they were a little cheaper, but you can also get them at Petsmart.

Thanks, I will take some close ups Today or Tomarow

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Rosie

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I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Tue Nov 29, 2005 2:42 am

OH......I get it!!! The shelves are made of the same stuff!
O.k......I can see now. I dont have a rat yet so I am just learning, but how do they walk on that? Dont their feet get sore and stuck between the wires?

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~~Dawn~~

Tue Nov 29, 2005 4:18 am

They are usually fine, but if you want you can line the floors with lino.

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Tue Nov 29, 2005 4:38 am

Wire floors were thought to cause bumblefoot (painful sores on the bottom of there foot) but now it is generally accepted that bumblefoot is caused by unsanitary conditions (i.e. shelves with puddles of pee), and is also a hereditary issue, that is linked with other problems (heart problems especially, I think).

They have been living in it for a while, and have never gotten there feet stuck, even when they were little, and they walk on it all the time, so I do not think they are uncomfortable.

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Rosie

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I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Sat Dec 03, 2005 4:42 am

GRRRR!!!... Rant

I'm soo upset.I read this post, saw the pics and absolutely loved the idea...andever since I've been searching everywhere for those things and I can't find them. I'm in BC Canada and I guess you can only get them in the US. My grandparents absolutely forbid me from using a credit card online. . .so ordering them that way is kind of a no go. I'm SOO dissapointed!!...those animal play pens would be PERFECT!!...If anyone lives in Prince George BC..or really nearby...who has found these. . or something really close...it would be HUGELY appreciated if you could let me know where to find them. I really hope I just missed them somewhere. Thanks in advance. Denikka

Mon Dec 05, 2005 12:06 am

I have been trying so hard to find something for a base.....I want to downsize this cage....but it seems like as I am adding this all up....I should just buy a new cage from Martin's.
Ellie'sgirl....what do you have on yours for the top? Is it another washimg machine base?
Those are kind of expensive....or do you have a secret place to purchase them?

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~~Dawn~~

Mon Dec 05, 2005 12:09 am

You can also use those under the bed storage totes from Walmart. For the top she just has more squares.

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Mon Dec 05, 2005 12:20 am

It seems like the only way to make these work is if you make it square....
You need 3 levels to house 2 rats....so 4 packages of panels plus a base and that is already over $50 dollars....
A rectangle shape just wont work....most storage bins are only 24 long....you would need 27.
then if you buy some longer inderbed stoarge....you would have a ton of leftover space.
Which just wouldnt look that great....and give the cat a place to sit and try to get in there.
Ugghhh....getting frustrated! I think this may be very cost effective for such a large size cage....but not so much for a smaller cage. At least that isnt working out for me so far.

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~~Dawn~~

Mon Dec 05, 2005 12:36 am

If you use a Rubbermade, you could make it rectangular, so it would 1 panel across and 2 deep, then make it tall to make up for the space.

Would that work?

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Rosie

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I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Mon Dec 05, 2005 12:50 am

Nope....I have checked and double checked all the dimensions on both Rubbermaid and Sterlite products....
Not only that.....their bins are designed to angle down....so it may appear it would drop in but it wont be secure because the simension shrink towards the bottom of the bins....still......no 27+ inch bins.

Mon Dec 05, 2005 6:25 pm

Ellis's_girl.................ROFLMAO!!!
Am I stupid or what......cant I figure out that if I find a bin that is about 14 x 24 all I have to do is overlap the wire panels the long way to shorten it a little??? DUH!!! Last night I had this revelation! ROFLMAO! Oh Man!!! Sometimes I am so stupid!
I do want to ask if your rats have ever tried to squeeze through the wires on these panels.....they concern me because they feel a little wobbly and loose.

Tue Dec 06, 2005 1:37 am

When Shadow was very very little he would try to squeeze through them, but other than that no one trys to escape

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Rosie

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I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Tue Dec 06, 2005 3:25 am

Well.......I have started on my cage. No turning back now...LOL!
My finished dimensions will be 20x14x36....
I found a bin for $6.00 and 4 boxes of panel for $40.
So for $46.00 I have the basic cage...with no accessories.

The closest Martins I saw was the R-690 24x14x36 for $71.00...

So I guess I am feeling pretty good about it right now financially. Crossed Fingers

Thank you so much Ellie's_girl for your thread.
As soon as I finish mine I will post some pics too. Rainbow Smiley

Tue Dec 06, 2005 3:44 am

AhHah now I am on to you! Great idea and yes cost effective, but time consumeing something I dont have much of...ya know. One question though? How do you make doors on that thing and how do you secure them? Shaz

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Tue Dec 06, 2005 5:36 am

I am going to have 1 side door and 1 door on the top. I used the cable ties to secure it on the hinged side....and for me I will use little padlocks to lock them..LOL!
I would be mortified to find that my children wanted to play with the rats without my supervision.
So if only Mommy has the keys....then we will be in good shape.

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~~Dawn~~

Tue Dec 06, 2005 5:39 am

Wow! Where did you get that cage? Did you make it? WooHoo!

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2 rats ~Pheona~Clover~
4 Bunnies~Twinkletoes~Honeybee~Honeybunny~Marlo
2 Mice~Bovine~Roo~
2 Ducks~Hara~Bazil~

www.freewebs.com/ratsitter

Tue Dec 06, 2005 6:14 am

yay!!. . .finally found them small animal playpens at Petcetera!!. . .I'm soo happy. . .lol..as soon as I get paid I'm gonna be getting a bunch of 'em and start on a wonderful cage of my own. WooHoo!

I love this idea SOO much. . .there are so many positives to it. Easy to clean, if at any point you have no more rats (yea right Rolling Eyes

) it would be easy to store, easy to break down and move. . . eee!!. . I'm so excited...Thank you soo much Ellie's_girl. . .I owe ya one

Tue Dec 06, 2005 7:51 am

Denikka.....I cant wait to see how you arrange yours too...

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~~Dawn~~

Wed Dec 07, 2005 5:43 am

Thanks

Shaz, the pannels are hooked together, and I unhooked the wires fro one side and bent them so I could latch them on.

It is kinda annoying to clean when it is big, but when it is smaller, it would be easier.

I can't wait to see how everyones turns out!

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Rosie

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I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Wed Dec 07, 2005 6:05 am

Here is what I got....I am nervous about the cable ties...some of them were slipping.
Is there a better brand??? I like the side door...

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I tried to get a view from the top....there is a basket on each shelf
but I have no idea what I am going to do for ladders???
Ideas??? I dont think I am liking the
door on the top...I might close it off and open the side on another level.
I guess I wont know for a while until I experiment.
Trying to get in from the top just wasnt very easy like I thought it was gonna be.
There is no way they will be able to reach that little hammock!
(great thrift shop buy for $1.25...it is a casserole dish holder...LOL)

Wed Dec 07, 2005 6:30 am

How much did the cage cost to build all togther?

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2 rats ~Pheona~Clover~
4 Bunnies~Twinkletoes~Honeybee~Honeybunny~Marlo
2 Mice~Bovine~Roo~
2 Ducks~Hara~Bazil~

www.freewebs.com/ratsitter

Wed Dec 07, 2005 7:29 am

I have spent $46 dollars so far.

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~~Dawn~~

Wed Dec 07, 2005 7:32 am

Wow thats really cheap for such a big cage! Where did you get those squares of wire?

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2 rats ~Pheona~Clover~
4 Bunnies~Twinkletoes~Honeybee~Honeybunny~Marlo
2 Mice~Bovine~Roo~
2 Ducks~Hara~Bazil~

www.freewebs.com/ratsitter

Wed Dec 07, 2005 7:42 am

For ladders you could buy some wood ones from a pet store.

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2 rats ~Pheona~Clover~
4 Bunnies~Twinkletoes~Honeybee~Honeybunny~Marlo
2 Mice~Bovine~Roo~
2 Ducks~Hara~Bazil~

www.freewebs.com/ratsitter

Sun Dec 11, 2005 12:53 am

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

Maxie & Pepper

Sun Dec 11, 2005 2:27 am

46$$? ? ? wow...you're lucky. I just spent 104$$$ on my cage. Then again I got 8 boxes of playpens and I'm making 2 cages. One's 13.5 inches by 27 inches and it has 2 levels...and the other is 13.5 inches by 40.5 inches and it's gonna have 4 levels...maybe more if I can get some more playpens. Mr. Green

...I sure hope my babies like it Mr. Green

I think they will. I'll try to get some pics up at some point Mr. Green

Sun Dec 11, 2005 2:41 am

Denikka....I cant wait to see yours too....the coold thing about these playpens is they are very easy to modify if you want to make any changes. I also wanted to make a cag 27 inches long but for the LIFE of me I could not find a storage box that was long anough and wide enough....so I just decided to overlap on the sides....which now that it is done I like it b etter because it really strengthened it...remember I have 5 kids so I want it to be SOLID!

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~~Dawn~~

Sun Dec 11, 2005 5:04 am

super store walmarts sell those small animal playpens for about 10.00...I still absolutely love how you did your cages. I am thinking for ladders use plastic coated wire shelves? Shaz

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Sun Dec 11, 2005 7:04 am

It looks really nice!

I can't wait to see yours Denikka.

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Rosie

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I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Mon Dec 12, 2005 9:00 am

Dawn
5 kids???...lol..wow....I dunno how you super parents do it..lol. I'm lucky. It's just me and my grandparents here 90% of the time, so my cage doesn't have to indestructable. What I'm figuring on doing is getting some cardboard boxes and fitting them to the base of my cage(well..a lil bit bigger), then putting down linolium as a base. I'll let everyone know that this is only gonna be temperary. Eventually I wanna get something like plexiglass as a base and then work with that. EE!!. .I'm having so much fun making these!!. . .Zip ties are my new best friends. . .must. . .resist..urge..to..make...bigger...cage!!. . .(bigger cage equals unstoppable case of GGMR!!). . .must. . .resist!! lol..pics up when it's done. . .I ran out of zip ties. . : ( . .lol.

Wed Dec 14, 2005 4:55 am

Yes, big cages do have there problems. *Thinks of new rat that is coming soon*

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Rosie

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I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Wed Dec 14, 2005 4:58 am

Denikka....I think it would cost you less to find a storage bin to use for the bottom then it would to buy linoleum?
I was at Menards today and they carried some different brands then were at WalMart.

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~~Dawn~~

Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:45 am

lol..generally Dawn it would...but my grandparents just did the bathroom a while back and they still have the extra lying around. That's what I'm gonna use. Although finding a storage bin would be nice...and something I'll still look for...I think it'll kinda be next to impossible. with something 13.5 inches wide and 40.5 inches long...I just don't think that they even make storage bins that big. Not to mention I want leeway to be able to modify my cage and make it wider (hopefully to 27 inches) sometime in the near future and having a set storage bin space just wouldn't work so well. Well..it might. . .but I don't have the extra money right now. I haven't gotten paid yet and I spent everything except my vet money on the new cage. At some point I wanna make a plexiglass type box so that I can make it to my own specifications...but that's something I still need to look into. As soon as I find my camera I'll have some pics up. yay for ellie's_girl's great idea!!

Wed Dec 14, 2005 6:52 pm

I understadn Denikka....trust me I searched all over town for the right bin...just keep in mind to go to a MEnards store
because they had more options...if I would have went there first. I could have made my cage around 24 inches long rather than
a total of 20 which would have really increased the cubic space. Who knows maybe I will redo it when the babies grow larger.
But since mine is done it would be easier to just add another level. I dunno...sorry for the blurb!

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~~Dawn~~

Thu Dec 15, 2005 12:16 am

I don't think we have a Menards store in Prince George. Hmmm...something to look into..but I've never seen one. Thanks for the advice.I'll keep my eyes open.

Mon Feb 13, 2006 9:04 pm

Wow, I know this is old, but I was laying in bed last night worrying. My rat Happy has just had babies, and until I find homes for them, they are stuck in an aqurium. I dont have a lot of money right now, we are saving to by a new car- so Ive been fretting about what to do about a cage. Suddenly in my mind came this thread- and it occoured to me...if Dawn made that cage with 46 dollars by buying 4 packages plus ties and a rubbermade bin- I could make one half that size for even less- as I dont even really need it for that long! For a few baby rats, half that space for a short time, filled with home made (cheap) toys would be MUCH better than living in a glass box with no room to hang toys. I am 100 percent doing this, I will buy a tub, two packages of playpens, twisty ties, and see what I can do! Im so happy I thought of this!

Oh! My one question to anyone who has used these playpens-

Does it come put together in a circle? Meaning am I going to have to rip it apart to get the panels seperated? Was this hard to do? I plan on using the zip ties (like you see in woodshops, the clear plastic ones you slide though tthe hole and pull tight) but I need to know if I need some tools to get the pen apart in the first place.

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Mon Feb 13, 2006 11:20 pm

Yes they come connected....it was not hard to seperate them.
I used a hand sized wire cutter, dont get me wrong it did take some muscle...but it was not something you cant handle. My biggest challenge was finding a nice flat bottom storage bin.

In the case of Ellies_girl....I dont think she took as many apart as I did because her cage was different dimensions and HUGE!!! LOL!

I cant wait to see pictures....wish I was your neighbor and I could come help you build it.
I love doing stuff like this! LOL!

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~~Dawn~~

Mon Feb 13, 2006 11:53 pm

Im pretty excited about it, I get all revved up about doing projects like this- and then I tend to get discouraged easily if it doesnt work out..: / but Ive already got all the hints I need. If its too big, I can over lap peices like you did. If the bar spacing is too big and the bitty babies can get out, Ill do two layers to the outside of the cage- one with the bars horizontal and one veritcle to make a grid! I plan on making mind half as big as yours..because I dont plan on using it long at all. (Babies=finding homes! @.@ ) BUT Im not going to waste the pannels! When Im finished, Im going to make my current cage bigger with them! Ive already decided. No wasted money here. And we NEED storage bins, so once Im finished using it as a base/litter pan, Ill clean it out and use it for storage! Happy ratties, and I didnt waste a penny. Im happy I thought about this! Its so funny, it just came to me last night! Lol! Like a vision! hehe.

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Mon Feb 13, 2006 11:59 pm

Vrroooom Vroom!! LOL!

I think you should overlap some like I did because it really reinforced it.
It is a very sturdy cage.
I have never had a baby rat...but the wire spacing is really close together, like less thatn 1/2 inch...I can not imagine them getting out.

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~~Dawn~~

Tue Feb 14, 2006 12:03 am

Oh good, I have nothing to worry about then. I was being a blond anyway! The cage I have right now has spacing that is perfect for babies. If I made this whole new cage, and they could get out of it- I would just trade cages! Put my adults in the new one I just made, and the babies in my martins cage. But I dont think I have to worry about moving my adults out of their house at all.

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.