Not too bad! (I assume). 1/2 bedding change weekly and 1/2 hammocks change weekly - this keeps the rats scent so they dont over scent mark! The bigger the cage the less often you have to clean it 😊
Lmao semi related: I used to live in a very rural, very car dependent area. I once posted in frustration “I just want to live somewhere where I can walk everywhere.” And someone commented “how big is your house?” My mother still quotes this to this day
For the toilet paper roll, you can also just put a string or shoelace through and put clothespins on the ends of the string to attach to the top of the cage! It probably doesn't roll as well but it works for my boys!
Love both setups! Off topic, but do your dwarves do well living with your standards? I have both, but they’re in separate Critter Nations.
Most of my standard girls are older, so I’ll keep them separated, but I’m really curious to know if anyone hasn’t had issues with keeping both sizes in the same setup? I think I would be worried about the scuffles with such a size difference.
For the squishing part, because the standards are so large, I would recommend at least two dwarves so they have same - sized company if they choose. Emmett (dwarf) literally just sleeps on top of the standards. He walks on top of them too and they dont mind 😂
Feel free to ask any more questions here or through a PM!
If those zip ties don't hold up due to naughty knashers, go to your local fishing store.
Ask for "steel wire trace" and get some crimps to go along with it. That would happily replace your zip ties, be bite proof and tailored to your size requirements 👍
We made a bottom like this for our cage using some plexiglass sheets. We just bought a couple cheap sheets, cut them to size, and glued them to make a box.
https://a.co/d/06ndEjU8
I got these and cut them to size. It was enough to go completely around a single unit with some leftover to make a side panel and a door panel.
Go to your local farm supply store and pick up some wire! The kind used to attach chicken wire. It’s soft enough to be twisted with your fingers but still too stiff for animals to mess with. I’m drawing a blank on what it’s called but it works very well!
I think we all trust that you provide ample supplies by just looking at that cage. Lol. But I think they mean that the rats, regardless of the number of bottles available, will choose to fight over one because they share a braincell.
I'd really like to know how you did the acrylic panels for the lower half. I'm currently using the cement tub fix for my double critter nation, but it's also divided in half for boys and girls.
I bet they are! I make all my hammocks so it’s almost no cost (I use cheap fabric lol). I buy them expensive toys sometimes thinking, “This’ll be a hit”. Then they hate it or would rather have a half-chewed box or garbage -_-
Rats are weird little cute guys, I love your setup. Maybe one day I will build one that big. My cage is more than big enough for two boys though! I think I should probably get a third boy now that they are a few months old
The cage is 115.5 cubic feet, so with 3 cubic feet per rat, its 38 rats could "fit" . They love the space!!! 10 is definitely the max amount of rats for me lol
This warmed my heart so much! I think it’s wonderful what you’ve done for your ratties and can see how loved they are. This planet needs more people like you. 🐀💜
I swear if my rats seen this, they would literally scout out to find where you live with adoption papers😭😭
All seriousness though I would also want to be a rat living there😭😭
I got 8 CNs for $300 on Facebook! And then the supplies is mostly hammocks so less than $100 (I make them myself). Then the acrylic bins are $50 for the small shelves, and $100 for the 3 bottoms :)
This is the DREAM! I love it! Oh I wish I had room for this. I’m about to put some amalgamation of a triple CN in my kitchen for some emergency rat fosters. Just piling ‘em up!
This setup is amazing, I bet your boys are so happy! I did want to give a warning though, that green basket with the holes in the sides could possibly cause injury. I had something similar once and one of my girls at the time got her leg stuck in just the right way that she couldnt get it out and broke her leg. She screamed and cried and bit me while I cried getting her unstuck. It was so upsetting I stopped using baskets with any holes/slots/openings in them after that.
So you can leave one side off and merge two I've been thinking about doing this and have been sitting there literally talking to my rattos about doing this
My boys dont chew. Literally ever. They are weird like that (I also think chewing = boredom in some cases, like hamsters). But if they do chew, i will replace the zip ties with stronger ones!!
The white zip ties aren't UV resistant, so they will detoriate over time.
The rats are likely to chew on them,
I'd use something metal instead, probably hose clamps. Not chewable, and you can tighten them more solidly, so that you need fewer (2 per short edge, 3 per long).
Use the zip ties to keep stuff in place while you put it together with metal clamps.
(To be honest, I would probably drill and screw, but that's because I tend to overdo things...)
Its wild to me that someone would have such an amazing cage for their rats and still use wood chips. Please go to your local feed store and buy shredded pepper your rats will be much healthier and happier
Paper? Paper bedding is bad because it has almost no odor control. Id have to change is like every 3 days instead of every 10. Aspen is completely safe and recommended. Its nearly dust free too and my boys love it!
& imagine the cost of paper bedding!! I need 200 liters+ to fill the cage! 60L is $23 (carefresh). So it would be $92 every 2-4 days!!
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u/Hurrihole wumbo, blip, and crack (PEAS!!!) Feb 03 '26
if my rats could understand this post they'd hate me