Petco Rat Manor

[~*ChaoticSerenity*~]

the bars are 1/2" spacing...my youngest girl is 6wks and she cant fit through them

[Addicted2Rats]

It's 1/2" bar spacing on the Rat Manor. 

Deb

[Willard]

outside bar spacing is 1/2" x 4 or 5", ramp and level spacing is 3/8" x 3/8".  Drop in pan is metal as well.

There's another thread I started for it with all the box pics and info.

[JustJenna]

Actually ferret.com is selling the Model 142 Ferret Nation for $154.99 -- it normally sells for about $229 at Petsmart.  If you print out the page showing the ferret.com price and bring it with you to Petsmart, they'll honor that price.  So you're saving a significant amount of money and getting a really nice cage.  I do have the Ferret Nation as well as the Exotics cage.  The way I figure, if I ever decide to get out of keeping rats, I can sell my Ferret Nation on craigslist and get some of my money back.

Deb

I didn't know that Petsmart did price-matching - great to know!  Saves on the price + shipping - Thanks, Deb!

[noratsyet]

Just something hopefully helpful for the member who said Rat Manor isn't on Petco's site . . . it is . . . just type in "rat manor" in the search engine on the lefthand side of their website: http://www.petco.com The SKU is 1096214

I found the rat cage there, then found you guys when trying to find reviews and recommendations regarding this cage.

[Lilija]

I'm getting closer to have a little extra money to get this cage, but I wonder a few things...how easy is it to snap the bottom off?  Like, for my current cages, I can effectively remove the top part, with the rats in their hammocks or on shelves, and empty and wash the bottom part, without disturbing them much.  How easy is it to get that bottom pan off, does it take dismantling the whole cage?

That, and can you reach every level of the cage, every corner, through the doors?  How good are the doors for moving furniture into?  Like, one of my cages, if I want to put any igloos or boxes, I have to go in from the bottom, and it's a pain to hook hammocks up and tie toys on the bars.  Tiny doors.

[~*ChaoticSerenity*~]

the doors are kind of small..but ive gotten everything in with a bit of manipulation...i can reach every part of the cage through the doors..and the bottom does take a bit of work to get off but you can remove it without disturbing the rats..and i found hammocks/liners hook nicely to the bars and the shelves...the whole layout is very customizable...i have mine no where near what the instructions say and looks great! its a fun easy to clean cage! and easily decorateable

[Lilija]

Thanks for the info!  I love that I can come here and ask questions no petstore could answer (without me physically breaking down the cage in the store...)  I almost certain that this is gonna be my next cage.

[~*ChaoticSerenity*~]

i called them when i was looking at it..to ask about the bar spacing..they said they didnt know and wouldnt take it out...so i went put it together in the store before i bought it LoL they werent to happy..but 2 other people were looking at cages and when seen it together they decided to buy it..then the workers changed their attitude...i usually stick to small no live animal stores but sometimes i just have to suck it up and go..

[noratsyet]

I would caution against buying a cage online, *if* you can help it. Most cage manufacturers ship cages without proper packing materials (in many cases, they just put a cage in a box and hope it gets to you okay--with little or no packing materials). They maybe don't realize that delivery companies throw and stack packages. I never learn my lesson and just got a cage for my parrot through online order today that's broken in a few places. *Sigh*

A while back I ordered (through their site) a cage topper from Petco for my gerbils. It arrived smashed.  Thankfully, Petco has a return/exchange policy and you can go to your local store to make an exchange or get a refund. My local store had the cages . . . but said that I had to pay extra because they refuse to honor the prices on their own website. This could just be a local policy, but I was surprised that I had to pay extra to replace a damaged product for the same product. Anyway, just a caveat emptor for anyone who buys cages online. I would personally first try to get a Petco cage in a local store and check it thoroughly for shipping damage before taking it home.

The Petco brand cage topper also makes me a bit wary of the Rat Manor, even though that looks like a great cage. I couldn't access the levels well for cleaning, to the point where, after several months, it got stinky and I couldn't use it anymore (and gerbils aren't stinky pets)--again, this was a different cage, not the Rat Manor. It sounds like the rat cage is designed better . . . but I hope they'll keep adapting their cage designs to improve them if they're going to get into the cage-making business--I'm glad they are, though, because they're more affordable than other brands.

[julztoni97]

River Rat

How much would you charge to make shelf liners for the cage.  I may be interested.  I usually just throw lots of hammocks in and leave the shelves uncovered but would really like to have them covered.  I'm not very crafty LOL!  Please let me know.  I can pay paypal if you are willing.  Thanks!

Julie

[Addicted2Rats]

Personally *I* don't like the Rat Manor.  But I thought I'd just tell whoever is interested in it that it's on sale right now at the Petco online website for $71.99 until 6/27.

Deb

[~*ChaoticSerenity*~]

i think its always on sale lol..every time ive checked its been that price just the date was expanded

[Addicted2Rats]

Ahhhh ok!  Well I saw that the Super Pet Exotics cage is $99.99 at the Petsmart website.  That's the cage that I have, and I like it alot better.

Deb

[noratsyet]

Petco "got"  me with a cage "sale" before, too.  I got it thinking I had only a short chance to get it on sale, but once the sale date expired . . . the price simply stayed the same and the sale expiration date changed to a few more days in the future. It has probably been a year since I ordered the cage, and it's *still* "on sale" with a "very soon date" of when the sale will end. Track any product like this (not on clearance) on their site and you may see a similar trend of only the sale expiration date changing to a several days in the future once it was supposedly going to expire.

My take on their sales is that maybe some things offered for more money in brick and mortar stores are advertised at a lesser price "on sale" on the web. This seemed to be true for me, because the local store said they won't honor sale prices on the web. Pheraps it's a way to have two different prices without local stores having to honor the lesser price. Their marketing/planning team must have a good reason because they seem to do this with more than just the Manor.