Knowing that rats are chewers, you'd be surprised just how many of the bottoms or sides of rat cages are made out of plastic, a substance that rats can chew through very easily. This is a picture of the holding cage I had Lucky in when he was 4 months old. He was small and so he was the perfect size for this cage while I waited for the bigger cage to arrive in the mail. But before I bought the other cage, Lucky decided to chew his way out. lol He chewed that hole in the plastic bottom of the cage, so I changed the other cage I was going to get, for a metal chew proof bottom cage.
This was the cage Lucky chewed his way almost out of. He was a tiny little thing when I first adopted him so this was perfect for him until he grew a bit and I didn't have to worry about him slipping through the bars of the cage.
This is the metal bottom cage that I bought for my little chewer. 3 levels and plenty of room for him to run around and best of all, he couldn't chew the bottom.
Now that Bandit *bottom* has passed away a few month ago and Marbles *top* is older and not getting around very well. Marbles is in a single level cage like the one Lucky chewed his way through and Lucky is in this big cage and my smaller Scribbles is in his older 3 level cage.
I switch the rats around different cages as their needs get different. The bottom that is covered in a fleece blanket in this larger cage is also plastic but thankfully now that Lucky is older, he doesn't chew as much as he used to. But if I had to I could buy a metal replacement bottom for this cage. I actually like metal bottoms better because I don't have to worry about them breaking, being chewed on and metal is easier to clean than the plastic is. Plastic seems to keep some of the smell where metal doesn't.
yeah metal seems like the wiser choice.
ReplyDeleteMetal does seem like the obvious choice, but then plastic is cheaper to make so they go with that when they make them
ReplyDeleteOh what naughty little chewers! My mouse girls chewed through one of their outside the cage crawling tubes. About gave me a heart attack.
ReplyDeleteI've not had too much of a problem with my rats chewing plastic, although the four girls I had last did have a bit of a go at a raised bit that holds the bars in place of their big cage.
ReplyDeleteWhat one of them did do was figure out exactly how to open the cage!
It had held about ten rats before them and none of them had any such compunction to unfasten the clasp, but Carol figured it out and then woke us up at 3am by climbing into bed with us, presumably because two of her sisters had got out and wouldn't get back in again!
I'm hoping this isn't a trick that my new boys learn!
Adam- It sure was for Lucky.
ReplyDeletePat- Oh yeah the plastic cages are cheaper to buy too. That metal bottom cage was $80. lol
Anna- LOL Oh I bet.
Click- LOL Now that would be funny. Thankfully, Lucky didn't get out. Just had his head sticking out when I got up and he looked so pleased with himself too.
Smart rats... I'd chew my way out too. Too bad my life's a prison with no plastic bottom...
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