Our little friends spend a lot of their time in their cage! Knowing that, the way we set up our rat cages is one of the most important considerations we make when keeping pet rats.
Ideally, a rat’s cage will give them lots of opportunities to enjoy their natural behaviors. These include foraging, digging, climbing, “decorating”, chewing, and nesting.
A rat’s cage should give them enough room to really thrive. Each rat needs at least 2 – 2.5 cubic feet, so most of the cages advertised in pet stores as being “for rats” really aren’t big enough.
For a guide to picking out a good rat cage, see: Guide to Buying Your First Rat Cage. Otherwise, let’s get started on decorating it!
Rat Cage Essentials
Food Dish Recommendations
If you like, you can feed out of a heavy ceramic or glass dish. Rats just love perching on the edge with their back feet while munching. Metal isn’t the best for food dishes because your rats will probably move it around the cage lot, and that can get quite noisy for their sensitive ears (and ours)!
It’s even better for rats if you can scatter their food or hide it in toys around their cage, encouraging natural foraging behaviors. It keeps your rats active and is just a little more interesting for them than eating from a dish. It also solves the problem of your most dominant rat gaining more weight because they steal everybody’s food!
With that said, when you’re just starting out with pet rats, you might want to try out the food dish first, just so you can pay attention to how much food they eat. Typically you only want to give them as much as they can eat at one sitting, so they don’t have a bunch of stale food stashed around their cage!
Water Bottles
Rats should always have fresh water available to them throughout the day and night. Aim to replace their water 1-2 times a day.
If the tap water where you live is highly chlorinated and fluorinated, you might want to give your rats filtered or bottled water only. Because they’re smaller than us, the added chemicals can affect their little bodies more. Fortunately, they don’t drink a ton, so it shouldn’t be too expensive!
You can give your rats water from a water bottle or a bowl. The challenge with bowls is that rats often stash their food and nesting materials in random places. Bowls usually end up with random pieces of bedding in them too from when rats wrestle with each other! Some rat fanciers get creative, placing their bowls in a stand to keep them off the ground.
Some rats enjoy being able to reach into the water to bathe themselves too. You can always give them a water dish to play in during free roam time, which I find works better.
My personal preference is the glass water bottles that attach to the side of the cage. Because they’re closed off, rats can’t kick random stuff into them. I really like the ones with the bobbing toy (mine have a little rubber duck hahaha) to show you where the water level is.
It’s also hilarious watching rats shove each other aside to get a drink. Even when there’s multiple water bottles, the best one is always the one that someone else is already using.
Offering two or more water bottles or dishes at all times ensures that your rats always have water available, even if one is empty or gets blocked.
Bedding
There’s a little confusion over the word bedding because it can mean a few different things:
- Bedding or substrate for the bottom of their cage. Rats LOVE to dig and appreciate a nice deep layer of substrate – if the base of their cage allows. Some rat fanciers use a sheet of acrylic to deepen the base of their cage and give their rats more room to dig. Keep in mind that rats will fling stuff around as they dig, so you have to make the acrylic guard pretty tall. If you’re not into that idea, you can always give your rats a separate digging box either inside their cage or during free roam time. If the substrate is deep enough, rats will even dig out little tunnels and nests!
- Litter for litter boxes that’s different from the substrate you use for the rest of the cage. This is optional if you feeling like litter training your rats. As an added bonus, litter trained rats will hop back to their litter box even during free roam time, so you don’t have as much cleaning up to do!
- Nesting materials are extra things like hay, straw, strips of fabric (watch for threads), tissues, paper towel, and shredded cardboard that your rats can enjoy carrying around their cage and making nests out of. You can offer your rats nesting materials by the handful and watch them have fun!
For an in-depth look at the best bedding for rat cages, see: Best Bedding (Substrate) For Pet Rats. This article covers all three types of bedding.
Enrichment Items
Decorations don’t just make the cage look pretty! They also help keep your rats enriched and active while inside their cage. Most rats prefer a cage with quite a few extra things in it – it makes them feel safer and cozier than wide open spaces.
Rat Hammocks
Ratties absolutely love hammocks. Fleece is a fantastic option for hammocks because it’s stretchy and doesn’t fray.
If you provide other materials, check them often for small holes that rats could get stuck in and loose threads that can get wrapped around rattie feet. (This happens more often that you’d think.)
It’s not a bad idea to provide more than one hammock to give your rats a few options and let them sleep separately if they feel like it.
You can use clothes pins to keep hammocks fastened to the bars. It seems like no matter where you put hammocks, your rats will find a way to maneuver into them!
Rats will continually chew their hammocks. If you have multiple rats (you should always have at least 2 rats!) you’ll often find them piled on top of each other inside their hammocks.
Hammocks can be placed strategically around the cage to catch falls from higher up.
Hidey houses
Rats also appreciate somewhere to feel safe and hide away from the world for a little while. They love to collect and stash nesting material in hidey houses too.
You can use plastic bins, cardboard boxes, or rat safe wood as little houses and castles! If you give your rats a cardboard box, they’ll recycle it for you by chewing their own doors and windows into it. Watch for any glue, ink, stickers, etc. that might have chemicals rats shouldn’t chew.
One of my girls enjoying a Molson Canadian box that made a perfect little rattie shed. (It’s not what it looks like, I swear.) She was one of very few rats I regularly saw sleeping on her back!
You can buy plastic igloos and things like that at pet stores, but keep in mind they’ll slowly destroy it! Empty kleenex and other cardboard boxes work just as well, and rats love shredding them.
Just replace as they get chewed and peed on.
Climbing Opportunities
Rats can climb both vertical and horizontal cage bars! (The bars are also super important for ventilation, as rats get respiratory issues easily.)
When rats are able to practice their climbing and balancing skills throughout their life, it can help them stay healthy into their old age and stave off hind leg degeneration.
Keep the general activity levels of your rats in mind when placing climbing items around the cage. The ladies are usually more agile and can get around easier than males.
Older rats may also start to need cage accommodations as their balance and mobility declines.
Consider how to challenge your rats without it being hazardous for them. (i.e, watch for any places they could fall from, or get stuck in!)
Fall Breakers
If your cage is really tall, consider placing hammocks or stretching out scarves in strategic locations underneath climbing areas, just in case your rats do fall.
Rats aren’t always the most graceful little critters, and can really injure themselves falling from higher up in their cage if there’s nothing to catch them.
While, like cats, rats are pretty good at landing on their feet, that’s assuming they don’t hit anything on the way down!
Using a deep layer of a soft, bouncy substrate on the bottom helps protect your little friends from falls as well. Just make sure your rats can’t fall from too high at any given spot inside their cage.
Shelves & Ramps
Most cages come with plastic or metals shelves and ramps. They’re not my favorite because rats love to pee on any flat surface, so they have to be wiped down daily. Some people take advantage of this natural behavior and convert the shelves into litter trays instead.
If your rats are still young, I actually recommend removing these and setting up other ways for your rats to climb. They keep rats a lot more active and challenged, and minimize the number of flat surfaces inside the cage that you’ll have to wipe down.
It’s up to you if you want to use shelves. They’re great for sectioning off different parts of the cage, and also perfect for elderly rats with mobility issues.
Climbing Toys
There are tons of options for rat climbing toys!
- Ropes – dog tug-of-war toys work great for this. You can also find ropes meant for parrots at bird supply stores. Another option is to braid your own ropes and climbing rigs together from scrap fleece.
- Ikea scarf holders are really popular with the rat community right now! These are rings the perfect size for rats to run across and slip through.
- Some people use entire wine racks inside their rats’ cages (if they’re big enough).
- Branches – You can also find wooden branches at bird supply stores. Generally, if a wood is safe for birds, it’ll be safe for rats too. Using wood that’s a bit challenging to walk on (as opposed to flat) can help discourage rats from peeing on it, but you can also soak the wood, then leave to dry in the sunlight to clean it. Taking branches from outside usually isn’t the best idea, unless you’re totally sure they don’t have any bugs or toxins in them.
Wheels
Wheels aren’t a necessity for rat cages as long as your rats get time to run around outside their cage. But some rats do really like them!
It’s important to get a big enough wheel that your rats don’t bend their backs while running on it. You’ll need around 12+ inches for the ladies and 15+ inches for males.
Wheels made from bars with spaces in between make me nervous because rats can easily get feet, tails, and heads stuck in them. Especially if they come along while another rat is using it.
It’s better for the wheel to be totally closed off with no gaps. Flying saucer style wheels also work for rats! Here’s an example on Etsy of a wheel that would be perfect for rats.
In my experience some rats enjoy wheels, while others have no interest at all. They might just use it as a sleeping spot instead! A lot of the time, you have to show your rats how the wheel works before they’ll use it on their own. They can also learn from watching other rats run on it.
Foraging and other toys
Foraging toys encourage rats to “work for” their food and problem solve! There are quite a few Etsy stores offering forage toys for rats now. You can also look for toys meant for other rodents, rabbits, birds, etc.
You can also make your own foraging toys pretty easily out of old toilet paper rolls and egg cartons.
Rats also love little plastic balls and other random things you give them to carry around their cage. Just keep in mind that everything will get chewed, so consider whether it’s safe for rats to consume.
Many rat fanciers will rotate toys each time they clean the cage just to keep things fresh and stimulating.
Where to put the rat cage
Choosing the right spot for your rat cage is just as important as what to put inside of it! Some factors to consider:
- Avoid drafts: Rats are sensitive to temperature changes, and exposure to drafts can lead to respiratory problems. Place the cage in an area of your home where it is protected from drafts, such as away from windows and doors.
- Avoid direct sunlight: Excessive sunlight can cause overheating and discomfort for rats. Keep the cage away from direct sunlight to maintain a steady temperature inside the cage.
- Consider temperature: Rats are sensitive to temperature fluctuations, and extreme temperatures can be harmful to their health. Find a location that maintains a moderate and consistent temperature throughout the day.
- Close proximity to the family: Rats are social animals and enjoy being near their human companions. Placing the cage in an area where your family spends a significant amount of time, such as the living room or a common area, allows for regular interaction and socialization.
- Avoid bedrooms and kitchens: While it’s important to have the rats near your family, it’s best to avoid placing the cage in bedrooms or kitchens. Unless you’re a deep sleeper, rats will most likely keep you up at night with their shenanigans! Kitchens are a hygiene concern.
- Minimize exposure to other animals: Rats can feel elevated stress or when exposed to other pets – especially predators like cats or ferrets. Try to place the cage in an area where interaction with other animals is limited to provide a safe and calm environment for your rats.
Conclusion
Creating an enriching rat cage setup is crucial for your rats’ well-being and happiness. By giving them options inside of their cage that encourage their natural behaviors, you can ensure they have a stimulating environment that promotes their overall health.
It can be lots of fun putting your rat cage together, and something to look forward to after cleaning! I hope this article gave you lots of great ideas. Happy designing!
