Just did a bit of cage cleaning for the girls and boy...our cages are fairly spartan, but I've discovered exactly what my rats like to have in their cage...they tend to destroy any "extras".

The three girls are in a SuperPet My First Home.  They like to have two hammocks, either side-by-side or (as in the pic) bunked.  More than two hammocks and the extra ones get chewed up and peed all over.  They have two toilets on the upper level.  If they don't have toilets upstairs, they press their bottoms against the cage bars and try to pee outside.

There are two large locking food cups for Suebees and block, and they get their daily fresh fruit and vegetables in a paper bowl, which doubles as something for them to beat each other with in the middle of the night when it's empty.

All three girls love their wheel.  I try to keep it on the lowest level, because they tend to toss each other out of it.

I've had this cage for several weeks now, and I love it.  It's very easy to disassemble and scrub in the bathtub.  All traces of odor are quick to wash away.  The shelves are easy to wipe down daily with baby wipes, so the girls perpetually smell of baby fresh scent, even though they act like little poops. 



The bachelor pad is the girls' former cage - a Coast Rat Mansion.  This one isn't quite as easy to clean as the SuperPet, but it still fits nicely in the bathtub for a scrubbing.  This cage is extremely spartan for the time being.  Streaker has been the only rat living in it for about a month now, and he seems to like it this way.  When there was a lot more stuff in it, he never came out of his Timber Hide-A-Way.  So only the things he actually utilizes are in there - his beloved wood house, a soft and fluffy hammock, the stocking pantry down in the pan, and a plastic dog bowl that he puts his toys in.  He's a very...neat....rat.  Doesn't like a mess, and seems to be quite happy for a single rat, strangely enough.  We'll be introducing another male rat tomorrow, adopted from Oldsgal.  Hopefully he and the new rat can come to an agreement on housekeeping. 

I just got a pair of beautiful female rats a few weeks ago and this forum has been awesome and my main source for information so far.  Ordered a Martin's aquarium topper last week and received it two days ago and I can already see a huge improvement in the ladies' behavior and overall enjoyment. Diana at Martin's was awesome and had great suggestions. Here's a pic of their new home



I'm moving into a new apartment in 2 weeks and can't wait to get them settled in with some more toys to play with.  Take care and thanks for all the great info!

-Matt
Clevo, Ohio

Sorry the pic is sideways.



Top level.





This is before I added the ladders and made a third floor. I also added some more space on the second level so it is now a bit bigger.

I posted these elsewhere, but am posting them here, too...... (hope that's ok)
The Gangs new cage:


the top half:


the bottom half:


the "basket hammock," filled with bandannas (which they drag into their ball):


and the ladies ball (with four rattie girls in it):


I am so very happy with this cage (two Martin's 680's stacked)!  The only downside is that when I introduce my two QT girls I will only have room for maybe one more.......     and to think that when this all started, I promised my husband we'd only have two!  Thank goodness he doesn't mind living with rats!

  S.

My turn!  YAY!

my two cages.



The top cage is fuzzy and harriet and the bottom is audio and speaker. 

each cage has the same thing mostly.  each has a hammock, an igloo, chew block toys, hanging bird toys and tp tubs. 

I am dying to get a new cage, but just can't afford it yet.

This is a picture of the cage that I built for my 5 beautiful girls: Roxie, Elle, Shou-Shou, Corazon and Pip-Squeak.  On top of the cage are several tissue box hides and a litterbox.  Inside the cage there are 3 hammocks, 1 tube, an upside down igloo placed on a shelf at the top, 2 additional resting shelves (black), an extra large Silent Spinner exercise wheel, and of course their food and water (near the bottom).  The bottom of the cage is an under the bed box filled with bedding and of course toys like stuffed animals, jingle balls, and feather fluffs.  Hanging from some of the shelves are plastic toy links, a feather boa, a nylon dog leash, and a pink monkey.

My girls currently live in a 29 gallon aquarium with a thick cardboard tube, a little strawberry paper mache type hut, a small box and a little wooden hamster house from PetCo.  This is temporary.  I will soon be buying them a much MUCH larger house.  I can't wait and they will be so excited when I get it all done up with lots of hammocks and huts and tubes and bird toys and things for them to explore and play in and with!  Also, I want to get them a wodent wheel to run on, if they like...up to them.

I've never mastered the art of cage decorating, I just throw a bunch of fun things in my guys' cages and they've never complained! I change things around every week for them so they won't get bored.

Here is the first cage I did for my two foster girls; they were only in it for four days because they kept biting the bars and spending way too much time trying to get through the bars and I was worried they would escape, they really enjoyed running up and down the levels and through the ferret tubes:



I swapped cages with my two boys and gave the girls their R695 and tried to put in as many ferret tubes as I could and so far they are enjoying running through the tubes. I have the cage sitting in front of my living room windows because they love sunning themselves when the morning sun comes through, but I will have to move them to a better location before long. Here are three pics of their new cage and my attempt at decorating! I have added another water bottle and white PVC pipe on the bottom level.

I recently moved Angel, Princess and Milo into a Prevue 420 cage.  It's decorated courtesy of the fine work of MaevePotter from Meg's Magical Hammocks on here!   The octopus print is my favorite!

Here is a cage I keep ready for any short quick outings I need to leave for in a hurry. It is handy if I have to rush off to my vets. They were very impressed with it and thought it was so colourful and co-ordinated.  It makes it like home away from home for them. Makes a convenient weekend travelling cage as well. 

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All commentary will be removed by staff.

Thanks!