# Is this a suitable cage for a first time rat owner?



## Hotfire606 (Dec 1, 2014)

Okay guys, so for christmas or my birthday, my mum is getting me a cage! She said her top is £150, so I found this really big cage. But, I was wondering if its good enough?

Rat Cages : Metal Aventura HUGE Metal Rat Ferret Chinchilla Cage : www.LittlePetWarehouse.co.uk - The UK's Small Pet Specialists - The place to buy amazing products for your pet online

Also, what bedding should I use for this? The pans arent very deep... So I wondered if using a bath towels underneath fleece would be good? Or should I use something else?

Lastly, if I use fleece, how do you wick it? How would I wash it after the rats have used it - what detergents do you use? Thanks guys!


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

The only issue with that cage is I * think* only one door opens out unlike it does on the explorer rat cage or the savic royal suite. 
There will be pictures of the cage you mentioned plus the two I mentioned on the fancy rats forum in the show your set up part. Members post there cages set up.

If your going to use fleece you will need to make a digging box full of substrate because rats love to forage for scraps of foods/seeds etc and just plain boring fleece doesn't offer much enrichment.
Some folks put a cat litter tray in or an under bed storage container with a ladder or not leading to it.

As for washing it you'd need to wash in a non bio wash powder as this doesn't irritate rats sensitive respiratory systems. And don't use fabric conditioner as it stops the wicking process of the wee so it would end up sitting on top of the fleece. You'd need towels and newspaper underneath too so the wee has somewhere to soak through to.
It would need washing every 4-5 days as this is what I do with my rat hammocks because rats will pee anywhere! Lol

Invest in a corner litter tray too as rats can be poop trained.
I know for the explorer and savic royal suite (srs) you can get custom made trays, I did this years back for my old explorer and had 2 metal 4 inch high trays made which stopped any mess escaping.

Hope that's helped you


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

If you use fleece it will need to be prepped first to wick away so washing it up to 5 times in the washer with non bio powder on a 40c wash. That should so the trick.


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## Hotfire606 (Dec 1, 2014)

Thank you so much! This is the perfect response that I was looking for - so excited about getting rats! I was actually stuck between the Aventura and the Liberta Explorer, since I could get either - but the Aventura has metal trays where the Liberta has plastic. Would I be better to invest in the Liberta despite this? So happy that I will finally know how to wick - that was one of the things I was worried about. Feel a lot better now - Thanks.


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

It is hard plastic and my boys never really bothered with chewing but I only used the plastic trays for a few months until I got my metal ones.
I'd personally go for the explorer as both the doors on each level open out fully.


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## peter0 (Oct 4, 2011)

I have the Aventura cage for my chinchilla and it's a great cage. Use the word RAT in the discount box and you get 10% off! Got mine for £135


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## Tomskrat (Aug 11, 2011)

The new Liberta explorer does have metal trays. Still pathetically shallow but at least chew proof now 
Liberta 2nd Edition Explorer Rat, Ferret and Chinchilla Cage - CagesWorld


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