# Forward Planning - Rats



## rainbow.nicola (Aug 4, 2009)

Hi everyone!

Since Sparks passed away I've been thinking of some new friends for the future. I'm thinking about getting a pair of rats after the summer, so I have time to save up and get everything I would need beforehand. I've spent a wee while looking through forums and searching about cages and I'm totally lost on what to work towards. Anyone have any suggestions or information I might need to know about the cages or just rats in general? It would all be appreciated!


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## Maltey (Nov 29, 2011)

A Freddy 2 is a good cage for the minimum requirements for 2 rats. However, I would opt for something a little larger- not only because I always want to give my girls more than the minimum but also because if you find a rat that you just -have- to take in then you have the room for it.
Ferplast Jennys and Furet Plus are also good cages to look at. I have a Marchioro Tom and I love it.
I would suggest looking for a second hand cage, that way you can get a bigger cage for less money. I have never bought a brand new cage, I just couldn't justify it knowing that there's great quality cages out there for half the price! I got my Marchioro Tom 82 for £25 Marchioro Official Site
and my Furet XL for £32
Ferplast Ferret Cage Furet XL - Gray Bars, Gray Basin
The XL was 2 months old and in brilliant condition.
Anyway enough bragging about my bargains! 
Are you looking to get boys or girls?

ETA: For the rats themselves
Things that you'll need/want beforehand:

A good vet
Toys (cat balls, hanging bird toys, cardboard boxes! Anything and everything is a toy to a rat)
Hammocks
Ropes/perches/ledges
A good water bottle. It might seem trivial but your choice of water bottle is actually really difficult!
I personally have a glass superpet one.
Super Pet Chew Proof Water Bottle Medium | Pets at Home
I originally had plastic ones and I had to buy a new one every 4 days. This was before I knew glass ones existed, so I thought I'd save you the hassle!
Food. A lot of people recommend the Shunamite diet
Shunamite Rats
A carrier- to take them to the vets and things.
Bedding- Preference varies a lot here. Some things to look in to:
Megazorb Megazorb - loose - £1.15 : ratRations.com
Finacard Finacard - £0.65 : ratRations.com
Biocatolet Bio-Catolet Cat Litter - £5.83 : ratRations.com
Or fleece liners

Rats can be litter trained fairly easily so cleaning out becomes less of a hassle.
Personally I use fleece liners and then litter trays. Up until about 2 weeks ago I used Biocatolet in the trays but now I'm using Finacard since it's a lot cheaper.

I'm sure I'll think of some more things later.

ETAA (edited to add _again_!)

Some good websites to look on for all sorts of stuff
ratRations.com, Rat food, base mixes and herbs
www.EquineCanineFeline.com Online UK Pet Accessories, UK Pet Supplies, Rat, ferret, chinchilla, hamster, rabbit, guinea pig, cat, dog and horse products with FAST UK Delivery!
Preloved | UK free ads - buy and sell with local classifieds (for your second hand stuff!!)
Home - Only Natural Pet Supplies (a member here- Lil Miss)
and of course a mini plug for my own website 
The Relaxed Rat - Home


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## rattiedee (Jun 3, 2012)

Maltey said:


> A Freddy 2 is a good cage for the minimum requirements for 2 rats. However, I would opt for something a little larger- not only because I always want to give my girls more than the minimum but also because if you find a rat that you just -have- to take in then you have the room for it.
> Ferplast Jennys and Furet Plus are also good cages to look at. I have a Marchioro Tom and I love it.
> I would suggest looking for a second hand cage, that way you can get a bigger cage for less money. I have never bought a brand new cage, I just couldn't justify it knowing that there's great quality cages out there for half the price! I got my Marchioro Tom 82 for £25 Marchioro Official Site
> and my Furet XL for £32
> ...


Great advise, hun, I have a Freddy 2 with 2 young males in it and they are very happy, I have lots of toys for them to play with and things hanging from the cage for them to climb on. I also have an abode coming for the females as I have 4 (2 coming soon) which is a brilliant cage, but not good for babies as they will get through the bars. This cage is quite hard to find cheap, though I managed to get one for £30. My freddy 2 cage cost me £10 hun. I think the Freddy 2 is fine for 2 rats, if like mine they are out everyday for quite a long time, mine sit with me for hours but my aim to find the boys an abode to at some point.
I have found that rats love human company as much as other rat company hun. They can learn their names and become very good at coming to you when you call them. They just love toys and things that make them think, mine certainly do. And they love things they can tear up and have fun making a mess with 

Hope you find your furry little friends soon hun and manage to get all the right things for them at the right prices, I have found ebay and preloved to be a great place to find things cheap. The abode was on auction, but I mailed him and asked if he had a buy it now price, he let me have it for 30 and the bidding went over that by the time he'd removed it, but he didnt mind. Its always worth asking I think.


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## Snippet (Apr 14, 2011)

I'd recommend using the Cage Calculator when looking for cages. It will tell you the maximum amount of rats you can put in a cage, but make sure it's set to 2 cubic feet of space per rat. Some good starter cages are the Savic Freddy 2/ Chi Chi, Ferplast Jenny (I'd recommend the KD over the original design as it is a better quality cage) and the Liberta Abode. I agree with Maltey, don't bother with a new cage (unless it's something like a Jenny KD which aren't sold second hand very often) because it doesn't make sense. I got my nearly new Freddy for £5. My Abode I bought new, but that was 2 1/2 years ago and it was only £60. It's more expensive now, so probably not worth it.

I don't like liners for cages. They get shredded, they're expensive, and rats enjoy digging so I feel it takes something away from them. The only time I can see a use for them is for old rats with mobility problems. Pine shavings are not suitable for rats due to the phenols they release. They can cause respiratory issues. Suitable substrates include shredded/ chopped cardboard, hemp, shredded paper, megazorb/ carefresh and aspen. Finding a suitable substrate might take a bit of trial and error.

Maltey has given you some good links to look through


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## rainbow.nicola (Aug 4, 2009)

Oh wow. I didn't expect that. I think you've just given me everything I could possibly need! I think I'm going to keep my eyes peeled on ebay and second hand websites now for the whole summer, haha! 

I haven't decided whether to get males or females, I started researching and I ended up on youtube for about 3 hours 'aww'ing.


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## Maltey (Nov 29, 2011)

rainbow.nicola said:


> I started researching and I ended up on youtube for about 3 hours 'aww'ing.


Welcome to the world of rats


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## rattiedee (Jun 3, 2012)

Maltey said:


> Welcome to the world of rats


Totally agree with Maltey and it gets worse :thumbup:


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## rainbow.nicola (Aug 4, 2009)

Omg

I would really like a 3 story cage but that just look huge!


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## Snippet (Apr 14, 2011)

The bar spacing is too big for a lot of female rats, and too big for young males. It'll fit 9 rats by the cage calculator. If you want a cage that will fit that many then I'd got for the Ferplast Fuet XL. 

I forgot to write this on my last post, but rats need at least an hour of free range a night. It gives them some running exercise, and gives them some different surroundings.


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## rattiedee (Jun 3, 2012)

rainbow.nicola said:


> Omg
> 
> I would really like a 3 story cage but that just look huge!


When I looked at these, I thought they were lovely looking, but not as big as you'd think, I'd agree with the last post, if you want a 3 story go for the Furplast hun if not look at some of the Jenny's or the Freddy 2, or even the abode hun, though thats not good for babies, bars are to wide apart, adults only.


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## Snippet (Apr 14, 2011)

rattiedee said:


> When I looked at these, I thought they were lovely looking, but not as big as you'd think, I'd agree with the last post, if you want a 3 story go for the Furplast hun if not look at some of the Jenny's or the Freddy 2, *or even the abode hun, though thats not good for babies, bars are to wide apart, adults only.*


The Abode is fine for young and small rats. I've had girls under 250g in mine with no one breaking out through the bars. If they can get out then only the edges of the panels need doing because the rest of the cage has bar spacing the same as the Furet Plus and Furet XL.


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## rainbow.nicola (Aug 4, 2009)

Now that I'm looking at the cages you all suggested I want them now! I think you're all just bad influences  Seriously though I don't think I can wait! I think I'll just go on youtube for the rest of the night looking them up. I don't think I can sleep now haha! 

/Edit

PreLoved Furet XL

Do I, Don't I? Oh god.


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## Snippet (Apr 14, 2011)

It's a nice cage, but the foot print is huge so you'd need to find somewhere to put it.


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## rainbow.nicola (Aug 4, 2009)

Snippet said:


> It's a nice cage, but the foot print is huge so you'd need to find somewhere to put it.


You have to join PreLoved to see the information and I assumed it would be a pick up but I found a second hand Abode on ebay that I put a bid on that the person is willing to post. Just 5 days on it to wait and see if I get it! :cryin:


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## chrisd (Aug 25, 2011)

I'm still constantly looking for new cages even though I have the explorer! I don't know why but I really want a Ferplast Tower!


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## chrisd (Aug 25, 2011)

rainbow.nicola said:


> You have to join PreLoved to see the information and I assumed it would be a pick up but I found a second hand Abode on ebay that I put a bid on that the person is willing to post. Just 5 days on it to wait and see if I get it! :cryin:


I think I just found that cage that is on preloved for sale on fancy rats forum

Fancy Rats • Login


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## rainbow.nicola (Aug 4, 2009)

chrisd said:


> I think I just found that cage that is on preloved for sale on fancy rats forum
> 
> Fancy Rats • Login


Yeah that's the one, I knew it would be collection.

I meant to ask, with the abode and other cages with... what would you call it... wire ledges? I guess. Would it be a good idea to cover those or is it not a problem? :blink:


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## chrisd (Aug 25, 2011)

rainbow.nicola said:


> Yeah that's the one, I knew it would be collection.
> 
> I meant to ask, with the abode and other cages with... what would you call it... wire ledges? I guess. Would it be a good idea to cover those or is it not a problem? :blink:


Yes I would recommend covering the ledge up with something as it isnt comfortable for them to stand on.


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## Maltey (Nov 29, 2011)

I usually cover mine in fleece liners, but on hot days I either leave it uncovered or put a plastic sheet over it as they like to lay on them to stay cool


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## Snippet (Apr 14, 2011)

rainbow.nicola said:


> I meant to ask, with the abode and other cages with... what would you call it... wire ledges? I guess. Would it be a good idea to cover those or is it not a problem? :blink:


I removed mine and replaced it with a cat litter tray.


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## rainbow.nicola (Aug 4, 2009)

Dilemma!

Rats For Sale

I found this ad on preloved. They are literally 5 miles from here. I don't know if I should take them in or not. Help!

Any advise?


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## Maltey (Nov 29, 2011)

Ask her why she's rehoming them- you want to make sure you're not encouraging Back-yard breeders.
Although they don't usually sell cages along with it so it's unlikely.
Also, it says 'large' cage- no. 
I don't know the brand so I don't know if it meets basic requirements but I wouldn't keep 2 rats in that for more than a trip to the vets, so be prepared to have another cage either before you get them or as soon as possible afterwards.
I would just contact her and get a feel for her, see if you trust her and she sounds genuine.


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## rainbow.nicola (Aug 4, 2009)

I don't really trust the majority of people from that area although I've not really heard of people with rats around these parts.

I'm going on holiday for a week so I'd have to get them on return but I'll contact her and see what she says, ask for pictures of the rats if possible. I thought that cage looked really small, I'd have to get one soon after.

I'll share the reply if/when I get one!

//Edit

GumTree

I found this, same ad but more information on GumTree


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## Maltey (Nov 29, 2011)

Large cage to the majority of people means anything bigger than the animal itself.
That boy in the photo is only 18 weeks and he's already the depth of the cage.... imagine what will happen when he's a big ol' squish!
Yeah I'd contact her.
I contact a lot of people off preloved to get a feel for them and see if I trust them and if they have genuine reasons for rehoming.
If you don't have any luck with those I believe there's a rescue in/near Scotland that I can get the name of for you.


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## rainbow.nicola (Aug 4, 2009)

Hi again.

I spoke to the girl selling the rats, I think it's really a case of a teenage girl wanting to have more freedom and her parents aren't too keen on looking after her rats for her. She told me that she feeds them dog biscuits and that I can get rat food for them, I'm not sure if she gives them rat food or not. From what I gather I don't think they get out for free running and their cage is just a pet store bought.

I told her I would take them in once I have returned from up north so start of next month. 

I don't know where to start to be honest. Is there any thing I should order in, in advance for them? Apart from a cage, I'm working on that now. 

I've asked her to send me pictures so when I get them I will share with you guys :001_smile:


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## Maltey (Nov 29, 2011)

A good quality food- ratRations.com, Rat food, base mixes and herbs
A good water bottle
Bedding
Get registered to a good rat vet

They're the most important things you'll need for their arrival- you can collect hammocks and toys along the way!


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## rainbow.nicola (Aug 4, 2009)




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## Maltey (Nov 29, 2011)

Jeez, there's not even litter at the bottom.
If you feel like she's genuine then you'd be doing an awesome thing for those Boyd


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