need rat cage ideas PICS ADDED POST 12!!

[ma2babygurl13]

So I was at my local pet store and they had a beautiful Blue Dumbo with Curly fur, like a rex but his whiskers are straighter than a rex, so I am guessing he is a cross. But he is Super sweet. Right now I have him in a smallish cage, but want ideas to make a bigger (not huge but bigger) cage for him and I might get him a few girlfriends. I don't want to keep him in an aquarium as I think they stay too humid and can cause respiratory problems... Any Ideas? Pictures? Etc

Edited to say pics are added to post #12!!!

 

[NewHopePoultry]

Rats are highly social and do best in SAME SEX pairs.
2 Male rats will get along just fine.
I wouldnt get a female for him unless you plan on having TONS of babies.
The bigger the cage the better.
Rats dont come in breeds, so they cant be "cross"

I house my rats in HUGE cages, ferret cages work good and so do large bird cages. You just have to make sure the wires arent spaced too far apart.

My smallest Cage:

 

[ma2babygurl13]

Well we would like babies, as my DH has snakes and well

they need to eat too...this was the only way I actually could convince DH to let me buy him was if he could provide something for the house... so he will make babies, to nourish the snakes... He will never meet that fate though. So he would just be considered a poor quality dumbo rex then? I called him a cross meaning I was thinking he was from maybe a dumbo rex crossed to a standard rat. I plan to build them a cage (hoping to make it around the size of a 55gal tank). Would it be better to get him a male to live with and only put him in with girls when I want the female to be bred? Or would having females near them make the males fight? If I kept him with the females, will he eat the young? Would it be best to get 2 females instead of one? Or should I get more than 2? I'm not sure how that works. Any additional info would be great! What do you feed yours? Right now I got the "block" rat food. Is that good or should I get something else?

 

[NewHopePoultry]

I make my own mix for food.
Theres other types of coats besides rex with curly coats, he could be one of those.
I would get him a male buddy and if you really want to breed, get 2 females, so they have each other.
Sometimes the females will be nannies to each other when they have babies.
I have my males house together near the females and they dont fight.
Ive never left a male in the cage with a female with babies, so I dont know how that works.
Rats love to play with toys. Ferret and cat toys work well.Most things sold for rats, really arent good for them.

 

[ma2babygurl13]

Ok so last question before I go to bed

How close together should the spacing be so they cannot get out?

 

[NewHopePoultry]

I think the bar spacing for most of my cages is 7/8" bar spacing.
If a rat can get its head through the body will sure follow.
rats should have 2 cubic feet per rat.

My biggest cage is 41"L x 24.5"W x 57"H (Its a Marshall Ferret Penthouse) it can house up to 16 rats, but I never have more then 10 in it.

 

[taraann81]

Quote:
when breeding for rexes you should always breed a standard to a rex. Rex to rex produce double rex's, they have bald patchy areas. I agree the bigger the cage the better. I'd love to see photos!

 

[ma2babygurl13]

So kinda like frizzle chickens then

I'll be doing his photo shoot hopefully sometime today. I would have done it last night, but the camera was out in the car and I was to lazy to go out and get it

 

[Stacykins]

Yea, even if you want to breed the females so the babies can be snake food, don't keep the female in with a male 24/7/ Why? She needs a break! It is so stressful on her body to have no rest between litters of babies being produced and nursing. So I second the idea of getting a buddy for the male, and then getting two females, kept in a separate cage. Breed one female, then the other, give each a turn off.

 

[NewHopePoultry]

The 2 females can be kept together, it might even be better to get 3 females and only breedone at a time, so that way the other 2 have each other while the 3rd is nursing.
If breeding for food, it doesnt matter if you breed rex to rex.