# Suitable Cages for Rats



## PawsForThought (Dec 1, 2008)

Hi Everyone,

Hoping to pick your brains. 

We don't sell rats, but we do sell the equipment for them. We sold a customer a one storey rat cage with a metal base and square bars, then they went down the road to our friends at Pets at Home to purchase the rat.

This is the cage :










But the customer has come back to us demanding a refund since Pet at Home told them the cage we sold isn't suitable for rats :'(

I believe Pets at Home may have sold them this cage instead.

Mary Rat Cage | Pets At Home

We refunded the cage since the customer wasn't happy, but just wondering if anyone can see any reason why the cage we sold would not be suitable?

Cheers!


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## Tomskrat (Aug 11, 2011)

neither cages, the one you sold or the Mary cage from PAH are suitable for rats i'm afraid. the absolute bare Minimum cage size for a pair of rats in my opinion is the likes of the furet plus or the critter 2 (the double version of the one you've shown). How sad that the customer now has a single rat in a too small cage. Rats NEED company and room to climb.  All the knowledge one click of a button away, and people still cant be bothered to type 'how to care for rats' in google.


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## PawsForThought (Dec 1, 2008)

Thank you for the information.

Though this website suggests it is suitable for two rats. :/ Is it inaccurate?

http://www.rattycorner.com/odds/calc.shtml

dimensions : 28"X18"X15"


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## Tomskrat (Aug 11, 2011)

> Thank you for the information.
> 
> Though this website suggests it is suitable for two rats. :/ Is it inaccurate?
> 
> ...


No its not inaccurate. According to the rule of 2 cubic feet its can "technically" house two rats. However, i know that no ethical rat breeder (or person i hope) would sell rats to someone looking to house them in a cage so small.

I do know however, some breeders and rat owners that use it as a nursery or hospital cage, for mums and litters or elderly rats who struggle with mobility, so it defiantly has its place.


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

Rats love to climb and your cage doesn't offer any real climbing space it's not tall enough. Neither is the Mary rat cage.
Also the cage you sell has wired flooring and a wired shelf which isn't nice for rats to walk on it can cause irritation on the feet.

A lot of rat owners go for cages like the freddy 2 or freddy max cages, jenny rat cages, liberta explorer cage, and the savic royal suite which is the king of all rat cages.

This is my freddy max rat cage, it houses 4 rats and as you can see offers climbing and it's tall enough to add toys and hammocks


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## kodakkuki (Aug 8, 2011)

Considering the cage I use is this (below) which is 5ft tall and houses 2 groups, I wouldn't use the cage you have linked. Some of my girls came in a 3 teir cage similar to that one and tbh I hated it! The floors were horrible for their feet, at one point Jenny caught her tail in a hole of the floor and hurt it! It also wasn't very secure as between Jenny and Emily they could hold the door open to allow Elle to escape!


(Eta- please excuse it being so bare, I'd just put a new girl in the group so we are still building up the accessories again in their home to avoid squabbles!)


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