# Hopefully rehoming some ratties



## Tapir (Mar 20, 2010)

after advice from spoiled-rat and lisa I have decided against buying babies and rehoming instead! I have to have a home check first, but hopefully I will be owner of 4 beautiful black hooded boys! I am getting a Furet Tower, blocking it off (any tips welcome!) and having my group of girls in the top and the boys in the bottom.

There are two top ear and two hat ear - to be named Tobias, Roquefort, Nikko and Luca 

Pics from LeighAnne at Rodent Refuge


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Oooh gorgous boys, cant wait to see a ratty picture shoot with them as the stars.


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## owieprone (Nov 6, 2008)

they all look like our passed-on Rolly  much cuteness!

good luck with them  i'm very jealous.


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

what stunning squishes.
fingers crossed for you.


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## Tapir (Mar 20, 2010)

thank you everyone...i so hope that I pass the home check! they are so gorgeous. two are really cuddly and 2 are a bit fussy but thats fine... i have 5 does so i can handle fussy


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

You'll be fine, we had a homecheck for the 2 boys we adopted & they have settled in so well & good on you for choosing to rescue:thumbup:


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## momentofmadness (Jul 19, 2008)

I think this is fantastic for your new critters.... Good luck on your home check...


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## Tapir (Mar 20, 2010)

aww thank you hun.

Right I'm stressing about it, i want the cage to be perfect. I have ordered some ecobed, i have got biocatlet for the litter tray. Right I will make them a hammock, and buy them an igloo. I use kitchen tissue for bedding, will this be okay? Does anyone know how to block off the Tower into two parts?

Also, I have heard that the Pets at Home food isn't very good...is this true or should i change it?
The girls get a mix of nuggets and dry pasta daily, plus veggies, monkey nuts, bread, cooked meats and a yoghurt drop before bed 

will this diet be okay?

i also free range them in the bath room (as the rest of the house is laminate/carpet, and this is a delicacy for the girls' finely tuned pallate  )

LeighAnne said it is fine that they are shed rats, as it is good for them to get fresh air so that is okay :thumbup:


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

Tapir said:


> aww thank you hun.
> 
> Right I'm stressing about it, i want the cage to be perfect. I have ordered some ecobed, i have got biocatlet for the litter tray. Right I will make them a hammock, and buy them an igloo. I use kitchen tissue for bedding, will this be okay?


Sounds good, we had the cage set up & ready for them as they wanted to see the set up



> Does anyone know how to block off the Tower into two parts?


Sorry hun I don't, try looking around online, someone's bound to have done it!



> Also, I have heard that the Pets at Home food isn't very good...is this true or should i change it?
> The girls get a mix of nuggets and dry pasta daily, plus veggies, monkey nuts, bread, cooked meats and a yoghurt drop before bed
> 
> will this diet be okay?


Everyone has different ideas about feeding, I give mine a homemade shunamite type mix, go easy on monkey nuts though as they are very high in fat!



> i also free range them in the bath room (as the rest of the house is laminate/carpet, and this is a delicacy for the girls' finely tuned pallate  )
> 
> LeighAnne said it is fine that they are shed rats, as it is good for them to get fresh air so that is okay :thumbup:


Again, different people free range in different ways, I have mine on the bed, in the bathroom, on the table & on the sofa, but one day I hope to be able to build them a massive Correx playpen 
They will ask you questions about you & your ratty experience, when you think its necessary to take your rats to the vet & that you will not be breeding from them & you will probably have to sign a contract as well


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## Tapir (Mar 20, 2010)

thank you for all your help...

okay, rats and vets, i would answer:
Wheezy/crackly etc respiratory infection
lumps - possible cancer...and a some can continue growing until the rat cant even move!
excess porphryn around eyes/nose
cuts/bites/bleeding
lethargy/weightloss
blood in urine/poop

just a few as i am sure the list is endless!

i certainly wont be breeding...i wouldnt have a clue :eek6:

ohh i will look into a new diet. and RE the monkey nuts, they get about one each a week or fortnight.


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## myzoo (Jan 13, 2010)

hi welldone:thumbup: for choosing to rescue i really hope everything gose well with the home visit. I cant see why it shouldnt you have a decent sized cage and sound like you know what you are doing so please dont stress and just look forward to hopfully owning a georgious group of ratties they look very cute and cuddly have you tried fancy rats for ideas on splitting the cage i know its not the best forum but you could just have a look and see if anybody has ideas on splitting the cage well anyway good luck hope all gose well and if you get them looking forward to pics :thumbup:


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## Tapir (Mar 20, 2010)

awww thank you very much. I will ask on fancy rats


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## LisaLQ (Dec 19, 2009)

Yay - well done you! If LeighAnne is the same LeighAnne I know, she's lovely and her rats will be well cared for 

Have you already bought the cage? If not - I'd consider something like the Explorer rather than the Furet Tower. The Furet Tower is huge, awkward to access, and the plastic bases could mean the girls chew through and end up pregnant. Girls are often quite chewy, especially in season girls! :lol:

Scroll down to the Explorer here:
Pet World Direct Rat Chinchilla and Other Cages

Trays aren't very deep but some people use fleece on them, others order metal trays made to order (expensive), and some just use huge litter trays (cat litter trays work well, but also storage tubs too).


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## Tapir (Mar 20, 2010)

LeighAnne of Rodent Refuge 

I did look at the explorer... still a bit undecided.

how many rats does the explorer house?
are the shelves wire?
how could i block the two layers? also I was concerned as my girls love climbing and the bars are vertical (i think thats right - up and down as opposed to side ways)


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## Tapir (Mar 20, 2010)

i have been reading reviews of the explorer on fancy rats and have decided to get that instead.


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

The explorer is a fantastic cage hun, your ratties will love it, Ive got an extended one with the deep metal trays and I use fleece. The floors are plastic over metal bars so very comfy for ratty feet. You can seperate the two halves if you need to, I think people use the ladder that comes with it to seperate it but Im not sure how.


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## myzoo (Jan 13, 2010)

Tapir said:


> i have been reading reviews of the explorer on fancy rats and have decided to get that instead.


:thumbup: good decision this is my dream cage iam trying to save for an explorer at the minute and from what ive herd they pretty easy to split dont know how but loads of people do this good luck cant wait for pics


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## owieprone (Nov 6, 2008)

for shed rats be very careful about heat/cold. if you leave them in over winter make sure they have a house and lots of bedding (just bedding doesn't keep the warmth in. If you can keep the door open in summer for the breeze, gets very VERY hot in sheds we have reached 35c (only 20 outside) in ours. we had to take the rats back into the house as we aren't around during the day and our bikes are in there so couldn't leave it open. wouldn't worry about cats too much they'll soon be bitten on the nose.

pah nugs and muesli is loved by my rats, you can always supplement with veggies and fruit cuts offs/left overs 
check out the below for what you should avoid and be careful with:
Rats and a healthy diet - Critter City

as for the two parts of the tower, you can usually buy a blank for holes but failing this, depending on what sort of cage you have, put the holed section on the floor and the non-holed section in the middle, put a food bowl under the hole on the floor (the brown ceramic rabbit ones from pets at home (the ones saying 'rabbit' on the side fit the futret tower perfectly for example) if that makes sense.
or if you find a 'lipped' dish big/small enough recess it in the hole.
or screw two metal plates together over the holes, easy to remove later on (if screwed in the middleof the plate rather than through the cage).

play time for mine is usually on the landing (with a 3ft plybrd over the stairs and a 2 foot one over their room door (i close the door so they can leap up the side of the board and hide in the space between that and the door, hours of amusement apparently). i also let them play occasionally in the bathroom, but i have to plug hoes first so don't do it very often, they get baths/fishing occasionally too 

good luck


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## Tapir (Mar 20, 2010)

thank you. they come in the house in winter and the shed has two doors are each end which are open all day.

there are no plugs in our bathroom, and no bath, so i just put the plug in the shower cubical and let them go!


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## LisaLQ (Dec 19, 2009)

That diet site is a bit off. You can feed rats rabbit food, in fact it's better than most rat mixes. Most breeders make their own food that way, and if you read the Scuttling Gourmet (book by Alison Campbell of Shunamite Rats) there is much better nutritional advice in there.

You can go all out and make your own diet from scratch, but even rabbit food on it's own is fine for rats - although most of us prefer to add some dog food and cereals/crackers to give them more variety.

http://www.shunamiterats.co.uk/diet.shtml


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

Tapir said:


> i have been reading reviews of the explorer on fancy rats and have decided to get that instead.


I love my Explorer, I have my 8 girls in one. Only downside is the flimsy plastic trays (I've already cracked the top one a little with my over enthusiastic cleaning) I'm looking into asking a local metalworker if they do trays like the Hopewell ones but cheaper, if not I'm getting one from Hopewell's soon


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## Tapir (Mar 20, 2010)

simplysardonic said:


> I love my Explorer, I have my 8 girls in one. Only downside is the flimsy plastic trays (I've already cracked the top one a little with my over enthusiastic cleaning) I'm looking into asking a local metalworker if they do trays like the Hopewell ones but cheaper, if not I'm getting one from Hopewell's soon


argh i thought they were metal? I was told the girls may chew threw to get to the boys 

is this true?


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

Tapir said:


> argh i thought they were metal? I was told the girls may chew threw to get to the boys
> 
> is this true?


They are basically metal bars with a plastic tray resting on them, you can buy replacement trays but I want to get something more substantial as I'm really clumsy (hence why the tray has already cracked!) Apparently the ladder serves to block the entrance but I haven't tried it as the ones in there are all girls. They haven't so far made any attempt to chew the plastic shelves yet (touch wood!)


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

The plastic trays are on metal bars but there is a hole which allows access between the two floors, Ive tried blocking it off with a ladder today just out of curiosity and it was pretty substantial with cable ties holding it in place. Ive got some deep metal trays for mine and they are well worth having, having said that none of my gang have tried chewing any of the trays.


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

thedogsmother said:


> The plastic trays are on metal bars but there is a hole which allows access between the two floors, Ive tried blocking it off with a ladder today just out of curiosity and it was pretty substantial with cable ties holding it in place. Ive got some deep metal trays for mine and they are well worth having, having said that none of my gang have tried chewing any of the trays.


Are your trays 36 by 24 inches? this is the measurement I've taken for mine, John Hopewell do one this size (& 4 ins high so less mess on the floor hopefully) & I just wondered if I measured it correctly (my maths is rubbish!) as I don't want to buy the wrong size


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

I just got 23.5 inches x 35 inches and its a tight fit, I wouldnt do them any larger than that.


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

thedogsmother said:


> I just got 23.5 inches x 35 inches and its a tight fit, I wouldnt do them any larger than that.


Oh no  looks like Im going to have to re measure & get custom ones made. I've got to look locally & see if anyone can make one but I'm not sure if anyone with rats uses any that aren't Hopewell & whether they'd be safe


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

If you want to use it as a whole cage then John hopewell dont do the metal trays with the holes in to get to the lower floor just the solid trays.


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

thedogsmother said:


> If you want to use it as a whole cage then John hopewell dont do the metal trays with the holes in to get to the lower floor just the solid trays.


I know, I looked on their site & hubby said getting one custom made will be expensive so I might get large cat trays for that bit or use newspaper & just have the Ecobed on the bottom tray


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