Rat Cage Accessories
Rat Cage Accessories & Necessities
Before choosing your cage accessories, you'll need to be sure you have a suitable cage as permanent housing for rats. Once you have chosen a proper cage, we can now move on to picking out accessories!
Necessary cage accessories include:
Necessary cage accessories include:
- Levels
- Hammocks
- Hidaways
- Toys
- Things to climb
- Food and water
Levels
A cage with plenty of levels is absolutely essential, because rats love to have lots of different places to hang out, eat their food, sleep and explore. A cage with built in levels and a cage with no levels are both good, but for different reasons.
A cage with plenty of levels is absolutely essential, because rats love to have lots of different places to hang out, eat their food, sleep and explore. A cage with built in levels and a cage with no levels are both good, but for different reasons.
If your cage comes with built in shelves, then you can be sure you'll always have plenty of space for your rats to explore.
A cage with no built in shelves is great for being creative and exploring new ways to make the most out of the space. You can use things like plastic baskets and modified cat litter boxes to create beds and platforms to place boxes or hideaways. Ultimately, though, it's up to you to be creative and find new ways to enrich the cage with levels. |
Plastic storage baskets are one of the cheapest and most creative cage accessories for rats. You can find them for as little at a dollar at most dollar stores, and they make great beds and alternative hammocks. They come in all different sizes and colors, so you have plenty of room for creativity. You can use zip ties or pipe cleaners to fasten them to the bars of the cage. They are easily washable, and because they're so cheap, if they get chewed up and ruined, you won't feel bad about throwing them away.
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If your cage has wire levels, you need to make sure to cover the wire with cardboard, newspaper, and/or fleece. Not only is walking on wire mesh very uncomfortable, but it also subjects your rats to injuries such as broken toes; and potentially risks an infection called Bumblefoot. You can fasten cardboard, newspaper or fleece to the levels using binder clips or mini clamps.
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Hammocks
Rats love to be up high. Ensuring that your rats can sleep at the very top of the cage is a big deal. So you'll want to make sure you have things that can be suspended from the top of the cage. Hammocks and suspended hideaways will most likely be your rats favorite type of bed.
Rats love to be up high. Ensuring that your rats can sleep at the very top of the cage is a big deal. So you'll want to make sure you have things that can be suspended from the top of the cage. Hammocks and suspended hideaways will most likely be your rats favorite type of bed.
Lixit Space pods are another great way for your rats to sleep up high. They are enclosed so they double as a hideaway, and they clip to the bars of the cage very easily. Space pods are fantastic as they are very durable and easily washable, so they will last your rats a very long time. You can flip them upside down to lay them on the floor of the cage, or you can use the tabs to easily suspend it from the top. Either way, your rats will love it!
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Hideaways
Rats are small animals, and like most small animals they are natural prey for many different predators. So instinctively, rats feel much safer when they have a secure place to hide. Just about anything can be a hideaway with a little creativity. Commercial hideaways include plastic igloos, ferret tunnels or wooden houses, and can be found at most pet stores.
Rats are small animals, and like most small animals they are natural prey for many different predators. So instinctively, rats feel much safer when they have a secure place to hide. Just about anything can be a hideaway with a little creativity. Commercial hideaways include plastic igloos, ferret tunnels or wooden houses, and can be found at most pet stores.
Igloos are perhaps the smartest of purchases when it comes to hideaways. There are many different brands that are often very inexpensive. Most commercial igloos are made of durable plastic and are easily washable so they will last you a very long time. Thus providing a permanent place to hide that will always be familiar to your rats.
Since rats love to be up high, I like to put one on the top shelf on the cage. You can keep them in place by either clipping them to the bars with mini clamps, or you can poke a small hole in the side and zip tie it to the bars. |
Cardboard boxes are destructible and disposable. Your rats can chew them up, sleep in them, and pee all over them, and at the end of the week when you clean your cage, you can just throw them away.
Use packing tape to hold the lips together and cut a hole to make a little house; or connect multiple boxes together to make a fort! You can even fasten the lip of the box to the bars with mini clamps or binder clips to ensure your rats don’t go moving it all around the cage. |
Like we do, rats often enjoy having their own space and a little bit of privacy, so the general rule is to have one hideaway per rat, plus one. For example, if you have 2 rats, you’ll put in an igloo, a coffee can, and a cardboard box. That makes 3 hideaways for 2 rats. This also allows the rats to stay safely away from each other if they get into a scuffle.
Some claim that allowing rats to have plenty of hideaways promotes skittishness, which doesn’t make much sense to me. I believe this may stem from the idea that if a rat has a place to escape and get away from her owner's hand, it is rewarding to the rat and encourages her to run and hide the next time she is reached for. This may be the case for rats who are overly-skittish and need rehabilitation, but it is certainly not the case for the average rat. Having no place to hide makes a rat feel vulnerable, and vulnerability adds to anxiety and ultimately skittishness.
Imagine if you lived in a house with a lot of windows and no front doors. You had no where in your house to go where people couldn’t see you from the outside, and someone could just waltz right in any time they wanted. Wouldn’t you be a nervous wreck? Rats are prey animals, in the wild. They instinctively like to hide to avoid predators, and when they can’t hide, it makes them feel nervous. Please make sure your rats always have a place to hide and feel safe.
Some claim that allowing rats to have plenty of hideaways promotes skittishness, which doesn’t make much sense to me. I believe this may stem from the idea that if a rat has a place to escape and get away from her owner's hand, it is rewarding to the rat and encourages her to run and hide the next time she is reached for. This may be the case for rats who are overly-skittish and need rehabilitation, but it is certainly not the case for the average rat. Having no place to hide makes a rat feel vulnerable, and vulnerability adds to anxiety and ultimately skittishness.
Imagine if you lived in a house with a lot of windows and no front doors. You had no where in your house to go where people couldn’t see you from the outside, and someone could just waltz right in any time they wanted. Wouldn’t you be a nervous wreck? Rats are prey animals, in the wild. They instinctively like to hide to avoid predators, and when they can’t hide, it makes them feel nervous. Please make sure your rats always have a place to hide and feel safe.
Wood Chews
You will need to have plenty of things in your rats cage for them to play with and chew on. Since rats teeth grow perpetually, they enjoy wearing their teeth down by chewing. You can purchase wooden chew toys made especially for small animals from any pet store. You can also use bird toys, lava ledges, or plain old cardboard. Keeping your cage filled with toys also prevents boredom and destructive behavior. |
Climbing Toys
Climbing is one of rats' favorite activities. You'll often see your rats scaling the bars of the cage to explore all the different ways they can get from place-to-place. Some rats love to have ropes and ladders to climb as well, and these things also encourage exercise. You can purchase climbing toys in the bird aisle of any pet store, or you can use a long dog rope. Ladders, ropes, and swinging bridges are fantastic in place of ramps for young, healthy rats. |
Food Bowl & Water Bottle
Obviously, your rats need access to food and water! You'll need a large, sturdy food dish that's easy to clean, and a good quality, ball-tip water bottle.
Obviously, your rats need access to food and water! You'll need a large, sturdy food dish that's easy to clean, and a good quality, ball-tip water bottle.
There are many types of food bowls you can use in your rat cage. Most importantly, you will need a dish that is large enough to hold at least a full day's worth of rat food. Rats have very small stomachs and can only eat a tiny bit at a time, but they also have incredibly fast metabolisms and need to eat at least every few hours. For two rats, make sure you have a bowl that can hold at least 1/2 cup of food.
Ceramic food bowls are heavy enough that they are not easily tipped over. Plastic bowls are cheap, but may get chewed up easily. Metal bowls are very easy to clean, but are often so lightweight that they are easily spilled. The choice is ultimately yours. |
Water bottles may prove to be a bit trickier. You will want to make sure you have a bottle that can easily hold a day's worth of water, is sturdy enough to last your rats' whole lives, and most importantly, doesn't leak!
Rats drink about 1.5oz of water per day, so for two rats, you will want a 6 oz bottle to make sure they do not run out before the day's end. Glass water bottles are almost guaranteed never to break, but are notorious for being leaky. Plastic water bottles are a great option, as they provide more control over the suction that keeps the water inside; however they may be more prone to being chewed up by the rats. |
Remember that these are just the bare essentials. A wheel is optional and the type of bedding you use is up to you. Try to be creative and think of new things for your rats to climb on, play with and explore. If your rats get bored, the boredom may lead to bar chewing, excessive grooming which clean lead to hair loss or self-mutilation, or they may become neurotic and lash out at their cage mates. Rats need plenty of things in their cage for mental stimulation, so try to purchase a wide variety of things to put in the cage. If you're the creative type, you'll love rearranging your rats' cage and making the most out of the space. Your rats will be very excited to explore their new surroundings every time you clean!
Thank you for reading, and have fun decorating!
Thank you for reading, and have fun decorating!
This page was last updated on December 15, 2017