How to Setup a Rat Cage
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- Опубліковано 26 кві 2021
- A quick video on setting up a rat cage - enjoy!
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#ratcage #petrats #howtosetuparatcage #fancyrats - Домашні улюбленці та дикі тварини
Honestly, you are the QUEEN of the Ratube community.
not really. emiology is.. this isnt even a good rat cage
Haha! Didn't take the ratties long to come explore the new set up!
I usually don't clean or setup the cage with them in the cage so they were very intrigued lol!
watching her videos is like therapy
You always are a life saver!! I have 3 rats 2 girls (socks and pocket) and 2 boy, hiccup. Pocket and hiccup are siblings and socks is about 2 years old :( yesterday's video abt mammary tumors helped me out and I'm not worried anymore bcc my girl socks has a tumor. She got one removed and grew another one. Also u are so underrated!!
You've inspired me, I'm going to install one of my Sputnik on a side and see what my girls make of it.
Hello Shadow. I was here from your trick videos around 2018-2019 times! I changed my username, you've had new rats come and old rats go but my love for your channel never stopped! You are such an inspiration and I watch from the sidelines a lot. ❤️❤️
Such an awesome channel. And cage. And rats. And I love your hair!
Thank you!
I have a double critter nation for my 6 girls. I recently took out the middle pan and added more climbing material. I love your videos!
I used to have mine setup that way and will probably return to it fairly soon - I like the open layout a lot, it feels a lot more spacious to me and easier to setup (although I've also enjoyed having this middle layer for the last month).
I never thought to put the sputnik/spacepod on the side of my rat cage, great idea and video 🤍🐾
when they went in the dig box T-T theyre so cute............
They love sleeping in it so much! I think the babies were curious and wanted to watch but they are still a bit skitty and so like to watch from a hide - my other girls also all were curious in what I was doing hehe, usually I don't clean or rearange the cage with them inside it so it was a new experience for them for sure!
thank you so much for making this video! i really needed this. i’m getting two rats and i want to be prepared before hand
How are you so, just good at this... I LOVE IT!!!
Thank you for doing the video!
No problem, it was a lot of fun!
I bought a few foraging toys based on popular recommendation, and so far my rats have only been able to figure one of them out. Haha. The other ones just sit in there full of treats for days. I’m sure they’ll figure it out eventually! Haha
Maybe show them. My girls are slow too but give then a treat near the toy when they come for a second get one out for them if possibble or throwing it in when they watch gets them interested also. If there are easier treats they will of course just go for these instead :D
I agree with showing them, and will also say that you can add extra incentive by putting super yummy treats (meal worms, nuts, sunflower seeds, banana chips, etc.) in the foraging toys at first. Another option is that when the rats finish all their other food except for the foraging toys and then wait another 12 hours so they have a chance to really try the foraging toys - I recently did this because my new rats were ignoring the foraging toys (plus I knew they had some stashes of food) and this completely changed things - now they finish the foraging toys first most of the time (before the bowls even), so it just took a bit of extra motivation to try them and then they figured them out no problem.
Your hair is beautiful
This is so motivational I just started my channel two days ago it’s for my puppy rocky he is a German shepherd/lab mix...I have so many questions.
Awesome cage set up 🥰🐀🐁🐾 xx
Thank you!
man I would love to get a rack like that. We've had a hard time finding something similar.
I have THREE water sources for them in The Rat Taj Mahal.
They get filtered Alkaline water! Only the best.
Heh I love the cage name! I'm the same for water, my rats get bottled water while I mainly drink tap (which is fine to drink where I live, but for my rats I have to go extra for some reason lol)
Love this vid super entertaining !!!!!!!!!
Thank you, glad you liked it!
So sweet!
Thank you!
I just lost my beloved rat-son Stanley and I'm completely destroyed and so are his 2 sisters. I would greatly appreciate it if you could do a video on any ways that you've helped your other rat-kids through their grief.
Awwwww
You have such a great channel 😁 keep it up
Thank you!
Hello, love your channel. 😊
Can I ask where you got that spice shelf and that metal shelf as well?
I have 1 critter nation for my 2 girls and a just added a dig box with my old bedding (new bedding but I switched over to fleece instead of loos bedding) so I used the extra into a dig box and I think they really like it
That's awesome - yup, dig boxes are a great way to add enrichment and great for fleece cages or cages with pelleted bedding (or basically anything rats can't dig in).
I have the same cleaning schedule as you! It seems to work great for my rats. How long does your big monthly clean take you? My friends always joke that it takes me all day because I spend so many hours decorating it haha
Is your pelleted bedding yesterday's news or something else? Is thre any reason you prefer pelleted bedding over kiln dried aspen? I'm getting rats soon, and want to gather as much info as possible. Thank you very much btw. Your videos are extremely informative.
Same question I have
And also what type of pelleted bedding?
You’re so helpful thx 💖😩
הי
@@ShadowTheRat
Pls I needed this
❤️
I am going to redo my cage and try to get some spacepods. My rats do not like hammocks. I made a video on how to make a double layer hammock. They sniffed it and put a paw in it and then it has probably been a few months since I made it and they have not set foot on it.
Thanks il try set up my rats cage kind of like that
I have 4 critter nations tied together, but I have to clean it twice a week o.o (then again...I use fleece xD Bio active soil below though)
Yup, fleece is definitely more work - I've tried it twice and its never worked out for me, but I've found a good schedule with my current bedding and using fleece for hammocks and such so it works out pretty well. If I used fleece I would definitely have to fill the cage less though since removing everything each time was a big problem I had when I tried using it.
Hi there, I was wondering how you connected the two cages next to each other? did you just remove the side panel and use some sort of metal bands or clips to attach them?
I'm trying to figure out the best litter, bedding, and digging material
Do you think it’s okay to clean (deep clean) monthly if I have 2 rats and a single CN? I use yesterday’s news as well. I am just not sure how often I should clean and what I should do when. These are my first rats 😅
At 2:36 in the video I saw you hanging the foraging toy at the top of the cage, I have a DCN myself and could tell that there's something ON the cage that makes the arch, what is that? I wanna get one for my cage to give myself more hanging room! I also have a ferret nation for my ferrets I wanna use it for! 💕
Do you put anything else in your digbox besides crinkled paper? I find my babies don't like to use it unless I put snacks in it, and I don't know how to fix it :(
off topic, but you have such lovely hair!
Thank you! As for the dig box no, I don't typically put other things in it. How deep is your box? My rats usually only sleep on top of the small dig box but in the 20 gallon they actually burrow down, so I think the size of the dig box may matter a fair bit. Temperature also matters a lot it seems - my rats only burrow down typically when its cold, but some rats (like my late girl Peaches) are extra into burrowing and those rats would sleep in the dig box often regardless of temperature.
Otherwise I do like to put a large PVC pipe on top of my large dig box and this did encourage my younger girls to start using it, so you could try partially burrying a tube since it may get them excited to dig down.
My rats are unfortunately those that get URI’s (Upper Respiratory Infections) a lot and which kind of peddling is better? I have both Back 2 Nature paper pelleted bedding and fleece. Which one is better for them? I’m tired of them constantly getting them and looking for ways to prevent it as much as possible. Haven’t had rats in a long time and I have 8 rats.
Can you do a vid aboutvitamis for rats the tyoe of vitamins that you mix with the water or in the food
I can, but it would be me mainly recommending you provide a complete diet either through lab blocks or a complete mix, since adding extra vitamins to food or water can change the taste of them and make them less palatable to rats. In addition by adding vitamins to water especially you have no idea how long they are viable (when do they start to become less effective - a day? Two days?) and also you have no idea how much the rats are consuming (same applies to antibiotics, where putting them in water makes them completely ineffective because you have no idea how much each rat is getting).
In general there isn't a reason to really use any extra vitamins for rats - just feed them a complete diet either through pellets or a complete mix.
What is the top metal bedding pan thing and where can I get one?
Those are stainless steel 3 inch deep pans from the website bass equipment - you can find them here: www.bassequipment.com/SCResult/Critter-Nation-Replacement-Pans-245
I also did a review on the whole cage set here: ua-cam.com/video/B7bUb6yDfos/v-deo.html
I love your videos. I love you girls too you'll have a great day
Where did you buy the foraging toys?
I mainly get them online off places like amazon or chewy - I have a whole list of foraging toy reviews here and each has a link to the toy listed: ua-cam.com/play/PLGThSDBAdLEJCz3MLbBroobmYqsWtFOMB.html
And here is the review video on the foraging toy shown in this video: ua-cam.com/video/nAlWUSLNOqk/v-deo.html
i thought about a dig box for my rats but im not sure what to fill it with. what do you think about soil? have you tried it ?
Soil works well, but needs to be kept moist and is much messier. That's the main reason I don't use it - its just too messy for me currently. So instead I use crinkled paper in my dig box, since it doesn't need upkeep like soil (I just have to change it every few months), its cleaner (doesn't get everywhere), and it holds burrow shape well. I have given my rats soil and grass on occasion, but I stick to that outside the cage where I can clean it up right away.
Anyways I think soil works well for a lot of people so you can always try it - Eco Earth is a pretty common one used for rats, since its made for reptiles and other pets and so doesn't have any added nutrients (and added nutrients can be dangerous if your rats try to eat them).
Do they chew the tape at all? I tend to duct tape wire to the water bottles so I can hang them up and they always chew the crap out of it
Its pretty rare for them to chew it, but on occasion I do find a ripped bit. I think the fact that I use gorilla tape (a stronger/sticker duct tape) might influence that as well, since its not as thin as the regular stuff and so less easy to chew.
In your case you may try switching to pipe-cleaners to hang the bottles since they can't chew those up.
If you mind me asking, where do you get your crinkle paper?
I buy generic crinkled paper in bulk - its so much cheaper than the branded eco bedding and its exactly the same stuff (about $3.40 per pound in the bulk box vs $8.10 per pound in eco bedding). This is the one I get: amzn.to/3sWh9w3
@@ShadowTheRat Thank you!!
I’m switching the bedding to yesterday news and I don’t know what to use for the litter now, do you have any suggestions?
I don’t personally litter train, so take my trouts on it with a grain of salt, however I have seen people use aspen or kiln dried pine for litter when using pelleted bedding and it seems successful so that could be one option. Another option could be using those glass beads and small stones that rats so enjoy peeing on - I’ve seen people use these for litter and wash them out every day or two, and it’s an interesting option if you want a more reusable litter.
Where did you get the green and blue hide aways?
Its called the rodny space igloo and is available on amazon! Each color piece comes from a different one, and I have 5 different colored ones that I mix and max.
OK thank you 😊
That bedding you use what is it called I've been looking for it every were
My bedding is unscented yesterdays news for the base pans (the pelleted stuff), and generic crinkled paper for the dig box.
@@ShadowTheRat thanks
I have 2 female rats & upgraded their cage to a Midwest double critter nation (I got a good deal in Facebook marketplace). I’m curious if it’s possible to give your rats too much space... should I only give them one tier of the 2 cages to start, or should the full 2 stories be alright?
Either way it will be an adjustment - you can't give them too much space though, so personally I would go to full right away. I've had new rats come from 5 gallon tanks straight to my triple CN and they do great - they adjust super quickly, and while some rats adjust faster than others I haven't see a big difference in how long this adjustment time takes if I section off a unit first vs go for the entire cage from the start.
What bedding to u use
I use yesterdays news unscented pelleted bedding for my main bedding and crinkled paper for my dig box.
Uhm hello. I have a question for u; where I can buy this cage?
This is a triple critter nation, which is 3 critter nation units combined. The critter nation cages can be combined to form huge cages, and there is no limit to size because you can always add another unit. Anyways you can find critter nations online on amazon, or used on many sites like craigslist pets or facebook marketplace. Chewy also sometimes sells them, and some PetSmarts have an equivalent cage under their living world brand.
If you live outside the US, I can recommend some equivalent cages to this one based on the country you live in.
I cannot find water bottles that don't leak, so I started using bowls, and there is some days where they climb under the fleece and spill the bowls and don't have water for an hour or so before I notice :(
What are some good water bottles that don't leak?
My favorite 2 are the oasis water bottles (the tiny one see here is one of those - they come in 4 and 8 ounce bottles and I've had many of mine for years without any leaking or blockage. They are my favorites and my rats favorites (the nozzle is super easy to depress and so great for teaching rats to drink from a bottle as well) and the only downside is that they don't come in larger sizes.
I also like choco no drip water bottles and of the 9 I've used they all worked perfectly and also didn't drip. They are a bit harder for rats to depress so they need to figure out to push hard at first, but in general if they've drunk from a bottle before then this switch is super easy. Plus they mount outside the cage and so are easy to change out and pop back onto the cage without even opening it. They come in 12 ounce bottle but fit things like 2 liter soda bottles so they are easy to make larger.
Finally as for water bowls I highly suggest a bird water bowl with a hood that mounts to the cage bars like I have here because it prevents the bowl from being dirtied super quickly, is much harder for the rats to put stuff in or spill (mine even climb on it without it tipping - although I have put a ledge above it to discourage this just in case lol), and just generally works better than free-standing bowls in my experience. I use the all living things one from Petsmart but there is a similar version on amazon as well.
@@ShadowTheRat Thank you so much! I have the all living things water bottle from amazon and it was leaky, I will look into bird bowls!
@@2blackdumbos61 Oh man, I had the worst luck with glass water bottles - I tried the living world one twice, the kayte one twice, and another I can't remember the brand of and all of them either leaked like crazy or didn't let out water. No idea why I had so much bad luck with them but now i avoid them since its hard to imagine that all 5 being bad was a coincidence (although other people do seem to have more luck with them).
Are multi-story cages good for pet rats or not? Like with floors :)
Yep multi-story cages are great for rats! Just make sure it has a large base, and that you block any fall chances by using hammocks and other fall breakers. I have a great example of my full cage in its open state showing multiple fall breakers here: ua-cam.com/video/DStuBc42cPo/v-deo.html
@@ShadowTheRat Thank you! Very helpful❤️
big cages are great but floors are just a waste of space and rather boring as are ladders. rope ledges etc are much better and tie hangers from ikea make good climbing nets
My cage isn’t as impressive as yours. It’s a bit small for my three girls but I’m giving them the best life I can right now. I’m trying to convince my mom to get me a wheel (I can’t work right now because I’m stuck in bed after my surgery). I mostly use cardboard because I can get it for free. I hope as I get older I can get my rats better life’s.
Not sure if you saw my prior responds but one idea could be to make some foraging toys for them from stuff like cardboard tubes and boxes and such. You can also free-range your rats on your bed instead of on the floor, which works even better with a smaller cage since you can set it down on the bed and let them go back to potty/eat/drink.
@@ShadowTheRat I did thanks i’ve been making them as many toys as I can they get between one and three a day. Right now I’m trying to figure out how to get a wheel. Also where do you buy that crinkly paper you put in the rats toys? I can’t find any.
Esther are you studying to become a veterinarian?
Well... i mean atleast you tried..
Donut: Henlo let me assist you and show how to use every item after you put it in
She's a very helpful little floof 🥺
@@ShadowTheRat absolutely ^-^