Cage furniture

Choices of cage furniture are almost as varied as your imagination and ideally you should aim to have enough furniture to be able to vary what the rats have available to them with each cage clean. Try to use many different kinds of material with a variety of texture, smell and chewability. here are some ideas:

A removable level

I use a Wilkinsons deep cat litter tray and melt small holes in the four corners with a heated skewer. Then I secure 4 dog leash type belt clips (Wilkinsons) to the corners with cable ties or garden wire. This creates a shelf/bed that can be easily hung accross a cage at any height to make an extra level. It can be filled will bedding.

A dog rope with clips

This sturdy rope is wide enough for even larger bucks to balance and climb on. It is made out of two dog ropes threaded through each other, with a Wilkinsons dog leash type belt clip attached to each frayed end. You can do this by tying the keyring hoop on the clip into the frayed ends or but attaching it to a small clump of threads using a cable tie. The rope can then be easily stretched accross any cage, and just as easily removed for washing.

Various jingle balls

These balls are cheap and fun, and rats do seem to enjoy them. They come in all kinds of sizes and designs.

Flying saucer silent spinner

I really like the design of this flying saucer and have found it useful in introducing adult rats to the idea of a wheel. The young rats here who have used a wheel since birth do seem to prefer the traditional silent spinner, but adult rats seem to enjoy the flying saucer as it requires less effort to make it spin. I just use it on the card litter on the base of our duetto cages, and apart from small clean ups to get rid of accumulated car squares, it seems to work well. It's easy to wash and is quite robust.

Rope ladder

I can't remember where I got this which is a shame as I would dearly love some more. It's quite big and with the addition of two large paper clips threaded onto two key rings and tied into the frayed ends of the ladder, easily fits accross the width of a duetto. I tend to use this in a horizontal orientation about 30 to 40 cm off the cage floor, where it provides great balancing and climbing opportunities. Have had it for ages and it has managed not to get too chewed.

Wicker ball

Great to roll, chew and climb on; this is a large wicker ball that can be scrubbed and dried out quite easily. Quite robust so lasts a while. A nice alternative to wood or plastic

Plastic colander

With the addition of a couple of clups I put these at ground level at a slightly tipped angle and fill with cross shredded paper. Add the rats dry mix and then add rats. Great digging fun.

Corner litter tray

We put these routinely into the two ground floor back corners of our duettos and just use normal card in them. All our rats use them. The clips work well for keeping them in place. These ones are made by Ferplast and are our preferred choice as they fit really well into the corner and the clips actually do the job they are supposed to!

Plastic corrugated tube

These tubes are cheap and easy to clean. They extend and bend so are great to mould into whatever available space you have. Made by Small 'N' Furry. They do get chewed, but last for a good while. Not suitable for really large rats.

Wicker tube

I totally love this tube as it's a sensible size for large bucks and can be scubbed and dried quite easily. Used as chew toy, hideout and bed. Interesting texture and smell.

Feeding ball and 'carrot' holder

The vegetable cage comes in a variety of shapeds and sizes, and is an interesting way of presenting many different foods. This one has a little opening door to add the food, making it very easy to use. The carrot holder can also be used for more than just carrots; I have used it for eveything from kale to chicken bones!

Kabob style treat hanger

These are great little things, you can add chews, mineral blocks, food, monkey nuts in shells and I was even lucky enough to win a raffle prize of a bag of round pasta with a central hole that fits over them too. This one is by Small 'N' Furry and comes with the wooden blocks.

Plaited fleece rope

Another interesting way of giving some dry food/treats. Just thread the items into the cross over weave of the rope and hang up.