how many cages have you gone through?

[Suebee]

Never took me that long to clean my 695... if it took an hour, it was only because of frequent breaks to play with ratties.

[brandy]

I originally had a cage that was about 25"x15"x15" that I'd gotten for free.  I had my first few rats in there, but it wouldn't house more than two females comfortably.  So three years ago I got my R-690 for my birthday, and it has been terrific!  I also have a smaller cage, a bit smaller than that original cage, that I use for quarantine and travel.  Well, I have a carrier for travel, but the smaller cage is for staying overnight places, etc - since dragging the R690 in and out of motels is not fun!

Unfortunately, my R-690 is getting a bit worn.  The powder coating is chipping off here and there, and it's got that nasty white buildup all over. I've tried soaking it in vinegar water, I think it only made it worse!  So within the next year I'd really like to get a new Martin's, although for now it's still holding up fine.  If much more coating wears off, though, it'll start smelling.

So if you count my carrier (which really isn't a cage, it's like 15"x12"x9"), I've had four cages, three of which I still have.  I've never had more than 5 rats at a time, I currently have 4.

[donna4909]

Oh, where to start?! I also made the newbie mistake of tiny cages/single rats. Here are the cages I've had in the past 6 years:

1. 10 gallon aquarium, 1 rat - this lasted about 2 weeks

2. Del Mar 3 story cage, 1 rat

3. Homemade 2 level filing cabinet cage, 1 rat

4. Super Pet deluxe my first rat home, 1 rat

5. Super Pet critter home, 2 rats - later connected to the deluxe rat home to house 3 rats

6. Homemade hardware cloth cage, 3 rats - large enough for 6

And this Christmas, I think I'm going for a Martin's.  So much wasted time and money on crappy cages.

[Ratwings]

So maybe 4 hours is a bit of an exageration...  but 3 hours... oh it more often than not took me three hours.  mainly because I scrubbed the whole cage, and dried by towel every time I cleaned it. (although it got rusty anyway)  And I had to carry it up and down two flights of narrow, steep stairs.  Also, being kicked out of the bathroom every five minutes. I have no idea *why* it took me so long, but it did, and I was fed up.  I think mainly it was the size.  cage that is more than half the size of me = not good.

[love2teach]

Let's see.  I've had Einstein and Archimedes for 4 months and they have lived in three cages.  I first had them in a 21 gallon long tank.  Outgrew.  Then had them in a 1/1/2 story stainless cage.  I wanted to do more decorating, so I needed a bigger cage.  Now in a three story cage.

Newton came with a small cage.  I now use that for travel/hospital.  Newton is quarantining in Einstein and Archimedes' stainless cage and the 21 gallon long tank now houses three long tailed grass lizards and a house gecko.

I also have a travel cage.  That works out to 5 cages in 4 months.  Oh, ya.  I am purchasing a large cage from a forum member.  Couldn't pass up the good price.  Guess I need to get more rats.

love2teach

[Scubbs]

Six cages.  I still have five of them, which makes for a lot of spare cages.

My homemade cage is the god of all of them.

[Scratch]

I'm a cage junkie, which is a bad thing since I work at the Humane Society... we get some really random cages donated that we can't use at the shelter and I have to fight the urge to bring all of them home. But I really haven't had too many cages...

1. First rat in a 10 gallon tank

2. First rat upgraded to a 20 gallon long tank (both tanks were donated to the shelter)

3. First rat had passed; I adopted a pair; they were in a black two story powder-coated cage that I still have and would use if I had rats... a reject cage from the shelter

4. One rat from the pair died and the other was getting on in years and having trouble getting around the levels, so he was switched to one of those big two-door Marchioro cages... I think this cage was excellent! However, it has wide bar spacing so it can only be used with big guys...

[Indygo]

My rats have gone through 3 cages so far...  When I first got Roku and Goblin from the Humane Society, I kept them in a 3-level hamster cage that I got at PetsMart. 

That was way too small for them, so when they grew up a bit, I got them a much larger 1-level cage which I added a shelf to. 

But of course, I happened to spot Ammit and Horus's litter at the pet store when I was cage-shopping, so a few days later I returned that cage, bought one twice its size, and got my 2 nekkid boys to go with it, though they stayed in the old hamster cage for quarantine, and until they were big enough not to slip through the bars of the big rats' cage.  I'm not sure what brand this or the last cage were; they came from a tiny, privately-owned pet store in a small town.  But my boys like it!

Right now I'm passively browsing for another cage, something taller and a bit narrower (but bigger overall), and preferably with a bar width small enough to keep babies in.  Not that I'm looking for more rats, because despite a bad case of GGMR, my parents already think 4 is too many.  But more space is always good, and you never know what might happen if you have it!