I love that you are encouraging, NOT harshly critical. Many rat owners are children and may be limited in what they can buy or where the cages are allowed to be (I'm thinking the 2 girls with the small, tall outside cages?) There are so many rats in this world who are used as snake bait, used in laboratories for experiments, seen as pests and poisoned, or otherwise killed. So kudos to all of these rat owners who love their rats, and are doing the best they can under their individual circumstances to provide them with a good life
yeah the two girls were clearly kids and the parents have made wrong decisions here about the rats and their upkeep. i hope the kids can talk them into getting a bigger cage, but from what i can remember from my own childhood it was very hard to convince my parents to get stuff for my guinea pigs even if it was needed
Thank you for showing my cage :) I work very hard on it and I treat it like an art project each time. It makes me so happy. I make sure they have plenty of different textures of nesting materials, climbing options, and sleeping options. FYI The branch with the weird holes is called cholla. It’s more common here in the US than elsewhere I think.
I wanted to ask, where did you get the bamboo ladder that goes across your cage in the front? I've been looking all over for it. Could you please show a link to that, as well as some of those really cute forage toys?
Take a shot each time Emi compliments ropes. 😂 Love naturalistic cages, sucks that it's so hard to find good natural or natural looking items in pet stores (at least here), my cage looks like a colorful chaos. 😆
I actually purchased a wooden hutch for one cage, and used all branches from my yard and hemp rope, so it’s all very natural. Cleaning is a little more in depth, but it’s pretty easy to do with super accessible materials. I change things up every week, once we used leafy branches from my blooming lilac bushes, so it’s always fresh and engaging.
Emi, I love how you offer suggestions to people in a friendly and constructive manner. It's a hard thing to get right, but will be much more effective in encouraging further research/care evolution. ☺️
That advice for free homemade cage accessories was super helpful!! Thank you so much for the inspo and helping me make sure my boys have the best life possible! ❤
I use old hoodie hoods or dressing gown hoods as hammocks. And the tie belt from a dressing gown braided with others makes a rope. Also the arm makes a hanging tunnel hammock. My ratties don't care about colours etc so hey ho.
Thank you so much for including my cage! I know it’s not ideal and there wasn’t a ton to do it was just so they could easily access everything as they were very old :) I’m so grateful you included my cage I’ve been sending them since you started doing these videos :)
I'm a bit late but thanks so much for including my cage! (Last in the video) The hide at the bottom is a repurposed plastic Bisto gravy container. The boys love pulling paper/tissues from the log-tunnel + basking on it like little alligators in summer! 😂
@@dontbreedandbuywhilehomele146 I've got a pet planet cage, was about £200. It's sometimes on offer with discount codes I think? (seem to remember getting £10/£20 off) If you're UK based it's one of the cheaper double-door cages. If you're elsewhere in the world the critter nation cages are a very similar design!
Thanks for reviewing my cage and the kind feedback! It's the savic soon to be triple😊. I have found a supplier with 1 meter rat safe branches and also making my own foraging toys for them. I replaced the levels with kiln dried pine dig boxes too, so no more cleaning wee every night!😂
I once bought a pack of 500 wooden popsicle sticks and started to glue them together to make some ledges. It's a great low budget way of making stuff for the rats. Even my oldest lady (2y 8m) can get around and climb the cage despite her health issues.
I would watch these videos for days on end... Please do another when you get a chance! They are such good inspiration, and you do a wonderful job critiquing and explaining the setups!
I love when you do these types of videos. I always get such great ideas and learn what is a safe/good setup and also what not to do/use so my rats aren't in danger of getting hurt or ill. Thank you to everyone brave enough to send in their setups for reviewing. I've gotten so much inspiration from many of these photos. 🤘🏻❤️🔥
Thank you so much for reviewing my settup! Our puppy is a Cavoodle named Kaia . She's my sweet little baby girl . She's fully blind in one eye and loves to piss in our bed. I love her with all my being. You're right, some of the rats would jump from the cage onto the bed! I made the rat tower on top of the cage using three peices of wood and a bunch of other materials. I understand your fear of the rats slipping off the tower especially as they've become less mobile. We recently moved the cage and rat tower right into the corner of our studio apartment. I miss them at the foot of the bed though ahaha. To be honest, we don't fill the perspex tray at the bottom as much as we should because all the bedding the ratties kick out, Kaia then eats and gets sick. But we really should figure something out, you're right. We'll work on that one. Thank you again for all your help. I love these videos! These are what helped me make a better home for our ratties. A little note no one really asked for (TW euthanasia): we had Olive euthanized a few days ago because of a pituitary tumor. Same as her sister Thistle. I don't know how people cope with their short life spans. It ruins me. Especially when the euthanasia doesn't go as smoothly as you'd hope. Olive seemed confused/scared and struggled a little to get away. And the vet didnt handle Olive as gently as they had Thistle. It broke me. I vomited all over their Carpark afterward. I feel traumatised fam. Anywayyy. Wishing everyone's lil critters health and happiness and a comfortable passing when the time comes xxx
So sorry to hear about Olive 💔 I haven’t had rats for years but recently got four new ones. What worries me the most is when and how they will die… 😔 I want it to be peaceful, but you’ll never know how it goes. You really seemed to love your rat though. That’s all that matters 💛
@@crilith07thank you for the comfort. I agree with you. It's just hard to feel love is enough when they have difficult/traumatizing deaths. Congratulations on your new mischief! I hope they have long, happy, healthy lives! ❤
Aw I’m so sorry to hear about Sage and Olive :( , your cage set up seemed really nice! I’m looking into buying rats, (I’ve had mice for a couple of years now and I’m very interested in rodents lol) and I was wondering if you remembered where you bought your cage from? It looks really spacious and nice ❤
Two weeks ago or so, I discovered two baby rats who had been thrown away in their cage, in a dumpster behind my house. (Technically it was my dog who found them by alerting me to the strange sqeeks coming from the dumpster). Then a week later we received two rescues from a friend. I've taken the four of them in and am working on building a comfortable and safe home for them. Your videos have been such an amazing help in this process, but we are still a long way from finished. If anyone here has any advice to add I'd be happy to hear it. I'm ridiculously in love with these babies and want very much to bond with them and let them know they're home.
Update: Our ratties babies are doing wonderfully and are now grown with 4 girls in one cage and 3 boys in the other. (We collected more strays along the way). Also the dog is now afraid of the fully grown ratties lol. We are all bonded and comfortable with one another. Plus there is the added bonus of getting to see my big girl Chione boggle for the first time last month. It was so amazing 😍
Just sat down to clean my rats out and wanted to put TH-cam on in the background and saw you had uploaded this, so perfect! Completely blanked on sending you the picture of my cage but its definitely work in progress so glad to have this video for more inspo!
I love your videos and i love that you give cheap options as well i dont work in winter sometime and i usually need new stuff then and this really helps
Thank you so much for what you do! I got my first rats and set up a few months ago thanks to you! I researched them for over 2 years about and I now have to boys called Asher and Star
My cage has flat (rather than lipped) shelves and I use cheap puppy training pads cut in half to cover them - secured with small plastic sewing clips (perfect size for all things ratty). Despite what you might expect my boys don't chew or shred the puppy pads at all and they (the puppy pads not the rats lol) soak up wee, control odour much better than fabric bath mat and are super easy to whip out and replace every two/three days as required. It might not work for everyone but I just thought I'd throw the suggestion into the mix
This video has given me idea's for toy's where before I'd stopped buying toy's because my boys weren't interested. Now I use cardboard to build tunnels and safe paper products for them to have fun building their bedding. The paper products come in the chewy box orders. They like that stuff more than the toy's lol
My family used to have four girls named Rain, Nova, Tesla, and Dot and it was when I was pretty little so I don't fully remember but I think we had them in a well-sized cage but I don't think it had a bunch of stuff for them to climb on (if I'm remembering correctly). I don't plan on having rats in the future but I love learning about different animals that can be pets so these videos are really interesting to watch and hear what you have to say.
I'm adopting rats tomorrow and you're videos really helped me. I feel like I know so much more and I love that you don't really judge and give allt the best tips. This video also helped me to know if the cage Im getting is good enough. love your vids and again thank you very much for making them❤️❤️❤️
I got a two layered savic royal, with a perspex box for more litter, two side levels and a full in separating level, no fall height over 30cm. I‘ve been told I’m not allowed to foster because the cage doesn’t have 1.5m2 of running levels 😢 The German opinion on cages is very different
Yeah here in Germany we'd rather keep rats in shelters than give them to loving owners. The people of the VDrD are just insane, nobody in the whole world agrees with their asinine requirements, but us Germans will be Germans....
I'm just wondering if when you have these deep dig boxes/deep bedding areas on the bottom of cages do you clean the entire bedding out every week? or do you just clean out the litter/poop from the rats and leave the rest be? Sorry to ask I just got some rats 2 weeks ago and I'm trying to build the cage up more and more as I learn more and the best way to take care of them.
Try to keep a handful of the "cleanest" old bedding when doing bedding changes as new stuff doesn't smell like them; they'll mark it like crazy to make it smell again. The fewer flat surfaces they have to walk on (like shelves) the less likely they are to potty there. Speaking of which, I'd have at least 1 litterbox (big enough for at least 1 rat to sit in comfortably and without the wired bottom because rats need access to their poop, gross i know lol) with a safe bedding that's of a different material from their regular stuff so they won't get confused. Lastly, find a "pee rock" i.g. a smooth, flat rock that's at least palm sized to train them to pee there. You can clean those too but not too much so it doesn't lose their scent
My husband had a cane with those holes in it; someone told me it is from a cactus, but I don't know that for a fact. I might have to cut it to fit into my new baby's setup. My son and I had pet rats 40 years ago and loved them and now I am thinking about getting a few more. I'm not getting any younger but wanted a pet to keep me company while I travel. Being that they have shorter lives than say, a cat or dog, rats would be perfect. And unlike dogs and cats, they stay cute and adorable their whole lives. There are some really great looking home setups people have shared!
this vid really helped me with deciding what kind of cage to get (and even the brand to get, since im just now buying rat products because the idea to get some was just set in stone) i think the gang of rats i get will be very happy ^_^
Have a question: A new friend has rats (4 pieces). I will visit her soon. The rats do not know me yet. The rats have been living with her for many months and are a well-rehearsed pack. Can I pet the rats (as a stranger to them) or could they bite me?
I need some advice. I have a wooden pawgut cage right now for my syrian hanster (the measurements are 115cm long by 57cm wide by 55cm tall) is this a safe cage for rats? I want to get 2 or 3. I am afraid that it is not tall enough or they will chew out of the wood. Help!
b very true, many years ago my hamster caught a foot in a cage rail and broke his leg. it healed a bit crooked but he was fine. one day he escaped! could not fine him anywhere in our furnished basement... forward to several months later. I was cooking upstairs in the kitchen and turned around and freaked out at the rodent on my floor... (we live in the far north and rarely have any house rodents larger than a field mouse) Then I realized it was my hamster with the broken leg! Boy, I caught him up quickly!
@@HanBanan828 oh ok thanks! i dont have any friends in the uk but i might get the white one ive been seeing on amazon (im trying to do a naturalistic cage) do you think it would be safe to spray paint it or no?
@@harper.... yes I’ve spray painted one before. I used Rustoleum it is safe once dried for a while. But the paint will chip over time because they are flexible. My painted one is over a year old and starting to look rough.
is overcrowding a rat cage ever an issue? i'm preparing for rehomed research rats and i'd love to give them as much stimulation as possible but i'm also wary of smothering the poor things! i was also advised by the lady doing the rehoming to get large cages for the sake of ample floor space so they can run around, and wouldn't want to crowd up that floor space. any advice?
Those cement bins are all fun and games until your rats chew a hole just big enough to get through but not back up and run around the bottom all night. Not once, but repeatedly. As a new rat owner I panicked lol. Ratties will be mischievous I guess. I got my metal pans from Quality Cage. Shipping can take a while but I highly recommend otherwise.
I just got my 2 male 6 week old rats, and i still have a starter cage from my hamster, and i think its ok for now, but i was wondering what age maybe i should change to like a 78 x 48 x 80 cm cage (idk if thats a good size)
Hi I was thinking or getting two rats and was wondering is the (Little Friends Langham Tall Rat and Hamster Cage with Two Floors, 78 x 48 x 58 cm) is the right size ???😁
I know they make these vertical cages to save space in our homes, but I just can’t stand it. I bought one of those off-brand critter nations that show a ferret in a four-tier thing that I had to cover in hardware cloth (Pain in the BUTT btw), but I also turn it on it’s back to make a really wide base for running space. I had to cover the new “floor” with wallpapered cardboard to protect their feet, and make-shift new doors/wall but I love it now. And so do they. 2 months in and I’ve already learned SO much more than I thought reasonable lol. And I’m still changing things all the time. I’ve added the plexiglass around the bottom for more digging. Luckily my boys seemed to adapt to my shinanigans and enjoy testing things out while I’m working on them. I just love how all these people want to do well for their little companions. Oh! and bc I have a bearded dragon, I already had superworms for protein snacks….The one I got from a pet store handled them like a ninja, and the two from the breeder was like “what the Heck is this??!!!” lol. It took them a couple tries but man it’s their ultimate favorite treat. It looks like it leaves an after-taste so I give them a little something else to wash it down. Great video! I love that you’re so kind and not judgy and snooty about advice.
Thank you for your videos; they’ve been very informative. I have a rather strange question… I just got a new baby and he’s quite the special boy. He’s a black semi-hairless dumbo rat with the biggest ears I’ve ever seen-and only one testicle😮 I’m concerned he may need surgery if the other one is impacted. Have you ever come across this issue before? He seems healthy and sociable otherwise.
@@llucasS2ove that’s a little concerning even if they are in cages accidents can happen. Especially if they are left outside unsupervised 😖 One of my rats bit my cat very hard before I could grab him. My cat snuck past into the room designated for the rats and it happened very quickly. Luckily no infection my cat is ok and I can only blame myself for not seeing him sneak past me. I am extra alert now.
Hey so I have been wanting a rat for a while but my parents are divorced and I usually switch between houses daily but I don’t want to leave my rats alone for a bit unless its for school, work, or vacation. I feel like if I get them one cage and move it it could be a lot to do but if I have two cages it might add on a lot more stress and be quite more expensive. But I’m also scared that something bad might happen to them if I leave them alone. I might not even get a rat but if I did I was wondering what the best approach to this may be
Definitely make sure you do your research as you can't have any less than 2, ideally 3 rats as they're social animals. It depends how on board your parents are, they'd be fine missing every other day and just having a parent check their water and feed them on the day you're not there, moving the cage every day is a lot of work so having a cage at each house is the only other option really :)
@@Emiology if I do get some rats I’d probably make it so I stay at each house longer and have a cage at each, I just don’t wanna cause unneeded stress for the rats
I personally have been a fan of rats for such a long time, but my mom thinks theyre disgusting animals! But i almost got her convinced to let me and my sister get rats, so i will keep trying and in the mean time we will be saving up ourselves for the cage, playpen and all the other necessary things ^^ And in the meantime i will continue doing research about rats and their lifestyle to be prepared as much as i can. Im 14 myself and ive had quite some pets and i know that im responsible but my sister is 9 so she isnt that good with animals so weve decided that the rats will be living in my room and every day they get atleast an hour of supervised playtime in her room, that way she has rats without religiously having to care for them! Both happy that way haha!
It does irritate me when people want pets but don't have the money to afford them to begin with; food, shelter, vet bills, it all adds up. I understand not knowing, but with everything "e-vailable" on the net, there is no valid excuses anymore.
Im planning on getting Rats soon and not sure on what sized i should get for 2 rats but im also kinda on budget . So if anyone have some recommendations i would be very grateful! Since this is my first time owning rats
My new babies are in a furat, but they have hammocks, chew toys, and loads of bedding. 🤞 They get along with my lone rescue girl. Please with us luck. I'm stressing...
i need advice- i wanted rats for a long time and i finally got two young males from pet store 2 days ago (monday). The one of them is very calm but the other one is veryy energic but also aggresive towards me and my bf. The first day we were watching rats after we put them in the cage, gave some food between the cage wires (ofc they also had food in the cage) and talking. My bf stick up finger into the cage(i told him not to but he did anyway) and Vex (the aggresive rat) bite him to the blood. Later I put my hand into the cage to clean up poop to the litter box, I didnt get bite but Vex seemed to be scared. Yesterday we tried to tame them by giving food from the hand. First my bf put hand into the cage and got bitten but not as hard as the time he bite his finger. Then I tried. Vex seemed to me calmer and was nibbling me. I was making a squeek noise and moving hand a little when they bite me too hard. Vex started to focus on my fingers and then suddenly he bite me REALLY hard- his teeth were deep in my finger for about 20 seconds. I panicked and tried to shake him off or put him down to the ground in the cage but he didnt want to come off, he even moved the teeth and bitten the other place on my finger. After this incident we left them alone to not annoy vex. In the evening I also wanted to set up litter box bc they took toilet paper (lady at the pet store who owns rats told me that toilet paper is good to a litter box) and made the litter box a den to sleep. It was so stressfull because everytime i tried to slowly and quietly put my hand into the cage vex has been leaning out of hides. Everytime i stand in front of the cage Vex is acting aggresive, he tries to bite me and scratch me from the cage wires. I noticed that he also moves and run really fast and grates. He is scared of me but if i'd give him food he would bite me. He moves really fast as so he attacks and bites really fast. I found a tip to tame a rat 'by force' by taking it somewhere out ouf the cage and be with it but I think he would be scared if I took him out and i dont want him to be stressed. Its my first time owning rats. I want the best for them and also i dont want Vex to stay like this forever. pls help
I’m leaving another comment in hopes that the rat queen can help me out. I have 5 girls , 16 oz. 12oz. And then younger 3 who I think are around 8 or 9 oz. I try to feed them a salad in the morning and food mix at night and am Just wondering how many grams i should be giving them. I definitely feel like I am over feeding them.
When it comes to food mix it should be around 15 grams per day per rat. Rats can get quite watery poop if you give them too much salad so I would advice you to switch things up. Rats are omnivores so you can feed them everything from fruits and vegetables to rice, pasta, potatoes (cooked and peeled) or even meat. There’s a lot of info online what rats should and should not eat so you can look it up to make sure it’s okay for them.
ohh i didnt realise there was a smaller one😅i have that one too but its the bigger one it was quite pricy too.. more that the single story critter nation so i got confused why the one in the video was so small
@@dawncowan7009 yeah i have a big box at the bottom so they can forage and dig and i bought special pads to cover each floor its a pretty cage and i spent more for the white version which was defo worth it
@@Emiology we havent had any issues, with it. i understand thats the guidelines but honestly people are far too hung up on the "correct" thing to do is to the extent where I have left several facebook groups over seeing new members ridiculed for asking for advice. They're fine, they come out every day, are cleaned often and they are loved very dearly, i think thats far more important than cage size! we still have 2.5 cubic feet per rat, many hammocks, ropes, fall breaks and a deep substrate base we went as big as we had space for (both in the house and the car) with the cage and I think its important to not gatekeep owning these lovely creatures behind minimum sizes when it's perfectly obvious to me they can be happy in lots of different environments. The main thing is looking after them properly. i love your channel and as ive said before you are the reason we went out and got rats but really.. for the sake of an extra 15 cm each way i dont think it'll make any difference to their quality of life, as i said earlier there are far more important things than cage size as long as they have room to find their own space as needed just my 2 cents, keep up the great vids
Hey Emiology! I recently watched a video that is kinda old but i want to know your opionon about it ❤. The video is called "Our Rodent Breeding Setup!" By Snake Discovery
So I recently got two female rats, and they have a 6 story cage. It's plenty big. We've had them for maybe a month to month and a half. We noticed the younger of the two has a pimple-like bump on the end of her tail, and later that same day a bump on her neck appeared, about half the diameter of a pencil. I really hope it's not a tumor, as she's still a young rat. She often annoys the older female by biting/grooming the back of her neck. It's nothing serious, but I'm hoping my older one just got tired and bit her neck and it's just swollen from that. Its soft to the touch and not hard, so that's good. Has anyone had this issue that can give some advice?
It’s hard to say without seeing it in person but it’s likely to be some sort of cyst / abscess / blister even. It could be something that has just occurred, or from an injury from the other girl but it should hopefully go away on it’s own, if it reoccurs or she gets more a vet trip might be a good idea 😊
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I feel like even though they can be repetitive, those videos are excellent for getting inspiration as well
yes! it can help a lot when its repetitive too. that way she can critique many many cages that r all different.
You are a beautiful soul you do NOT try and give nasty advice, you are friendly, kind and very aware of people’s feelings. ❤️
I love that you are encouraging, NOT harshly critical. Many rat owners are children and may be limited in what they can buy or where the cages are allowed to be (I'm thinking the 2 girls with the small, tall outside cages?) There are so many rats in this world who are used as snake bait, used in laboratories for experiments, seen as pests and poisoned, or otherwise killed. So kudos to all of these rat owners who love their rats, and are doing the best they can under their individual circumstances to provide them with a good life
yeah the two girls were clearly kids and the parents have made wrong decisions here about the rats and their upkeep. i hope the kids can talk them into getting a bigger cage, but from what i can remember from my own childhood it was very hard to convince my parents to get stuff for my guinea pigs even if it was needed
But If you can't really care for them Well, than don't own one
Thank you for showing my cage :) I work very hard on it and I treat it like an art project each time. It makes me so happy. I make sure they have plenty of different textures of nesting materials, climbing options, and sleeping options.
FYI The branch with the weird holes is called cholla. It’s more common here in the US than elsewhere I think.
That’s the one! Your cages really are like art 😍
I wanted to ask, where did you get the bamboo ladder that goes across your cage in the front? I've been looking all over for it. Could you please show a link to that, as well as some of those really cute forage toys?
Take a shot each time Emi compliments ropes. 😂
Love naturalistic cages, sucks that it's so hard to find good natural or natural looking items in pet stores (at least here), my cage looks like a colorful chaos. 😆
I actually purchased a wooden hutch for one cage, and used all branches from my yard and hemp rope, so it’s all very natural. Cleaning is a little more in depth, but it’s pretty easy to do with super accessible materials. I change things up every week, once we used leafy branches from my blooming lilac bushes, so it’s always fresh and engaging.
Emi, I love how you offer suggestions to people in a friendly and constructive manner. It's a hard thing to get right, but will be much more effective in encouraging further research/care evolution. ☺️
13:56 Ooooh you reviewed mine! Thank you so much! I will take out that toy immediately 😵
Almost a year later! How are your rats doing now? Have you gotten any new ones?
That advice for free homemade cage accessories was super helpful!! Thank you so much for the inspo and helping me make sure my boys have the best life possible! ❤
I use old hoodie hoods or dressing gown hoods as hammocks. And the tie belt from a dressing gown braided with others makes a rope.
Also the arm makes a hanging tunnel hammock.
My ratties don't care about colours etc so hey ho.
There's so much inspiration to be taken from this series, love seeing what different people do with their enclosures 😍
Really helps for telling the difference between a good and bad cage, thanks Emi!
Thank you so much for including my cage! I know it’s not ideal and there wasn’t a ton to do it was just so they could easily access everything as they were very old :) I’m so grateful you included my cage I’ve been sending them since you started doing these videos :)
Which one was yours? :)
I'm a bit late but thanks so much for including my cage! (Last in the video)
The hide at the bottom is a repurposed plastic Bisto gravy container. The boys love pulling paper/tissues from the log-tunnel + basking on it like little alligators in summer! 😂
what cage have you got? I'm getting rats and love this cage so much! what brand/model is it and how much did it cost?
@@dontbreedandbuywhilehomele146 I've got a pet planet cage, was about £200. It's sometimes on offer with discount codes I think? (seem to remember getting £10/£20 off) If you're UK based it's one of the cheaper double-door cages. If you're elsewhere in the world the critter nation cages are a very similar design!
Thanks for reviewing my cage and the kind feedback! It's the savic soon to be triple😊. I have found a supplier with 1 meter rat safe branches and also making my own foraging toys for them. I replaced the levels with kiln dried pine dig boxes too, so no more cleaning wee every night!😂
I once bought a pack of 500 wooden popsicle sticks and started to glue them together to make some ledges. It's a great low budget way of making stuff for the rats. Even my oldest lady (2y 8m) can get around and climb the cage despite her health issues.
I used to do that for my mice, it sure takes a while though 😅
I would watch these videos for days on end... Please do another when you get a chance! They are such good inspiration, and you do a wonderful job critiquing and explaining the setups!
I would love to see a video about diy/low budget diy toys, hides, etc.
I love when you do these types of videos. I always get such great ideas and learn what is a safe/good setup and also what not to do/use so my rats aren't in danger of getting hurt or ill.
Thank you to everyone brave enough to send in their setups for reviewing. I've gotten so much inspiration from many of these photos. 🤘🏻❤️🔥
Thank you so much for reviewing my settup!
Our puppy is a Cavoodle named Kaia . She's my sweet little baby girl . She's fully blind in one eye and loves to piss in our bed. I love her with all my being.
You're right, some of the rats would jump from the cage onto the bed!
I made the rat tower on top of the cage using three peices of wood and a bunch of other materials.
I understand your fear of the rats slipping off the tower especially as they've become less mobile. We recently moved the cage and rat tower right into the corner of our studio apartment. I miss them at the foot of the bed though ahaha.
To be honest, we don't fill the perspex tray at the bottom as much as we should because all the bedding the ratties kick out, Kaia then eats and gets sick.
But we really should figure something out, you're right. We'll work on that one.
Thank you again for all your help. I love these videos! These are what helped me make a better home for our ratties.
A little note no one really asked for (TW euthanasia): we had Olive euthanized a few days ago because of a pituitary tumor. Same as her sister Thistle. I don't know how people cope with their short life spans. It ruins me. Especially when the euthanasia doesn't go as smoothly as you'd hope. Olive seemed confused/scared and struggled a little to get away. And the vet didnt handle Olive as gently as they had Thistle. It broke me. I vomited all over their Carpark afterward. I feel traumatised fam.
Anywayyy. Wishing everyone's lil critters health and happiness and a comfortable passing when the time comes xxx
So sorry to hear about Olive 💔 I haven’t had rats for years but recently got four new ones. What worries me the most is when and how they will die… 😔 I want it to be peaceful, but you’ll never know how it goes. You really seemed to love your rat though. That’s all that matters 💛
@@crilith07thank you for the comfort. I agree with you. It's just hard to feel love is enough when they have difficult/traumatizing deaths.
Congratulations on your new mischief! I hope they have long, happy, healthy lives! ❤
Aw I’m so sorry to hear about Sage and Olive :( , your cage set up seemed really nice! I’m looking into buying rats, (I’ve had mice for a couple of years now and I’m very interested in rodents lol) and I was wondering if you remembered where you bought your cage from? It looks really spacious and nice ❤
These videos never get repetitive to me tbh 😂
Two weeks ago or so, I discovered two baby rats who had been thrown away in their cage, in a dumpster behind my house. (Technically it was my dog who found them by alerting me to the strange sqeeks coming from the dumpster). Then a week later we received two rescues from a friend. I've taken the four of them in and am working on building a comfortable and safe home for them. Your videos have been such an amazing help in this process, but we are still a long way from finished. If anyone here has any advice to add I'd be happy to hear it. I'm ridiculously in love with these babies and want very much to bond with them and let them know they're home.
Updates?!
Update: Our ratties babies are doing wonderfully and are now grown with 4 girls in one cage and 3 boys in the other. (We collected more strays along the way). Also the dog is now afraid of the fully grown ratties lol. We are all bonded and comfortable with one another. Plus there is the added bonus of getting to see my big girl Chione boggle for the first time last month. It was so amazing 😍
Amazing
thank you for teaching me about cages and rats in general 😊
I always love seeing these! I also like hearing about people’s set ups in other countries
Just sat down to clean my rats out and wanted to put TH-cam on in the background and saw you had uploaded this, so perfect! Completely blanked on sending you the picture of my cage but its definitely work in progress so glad to have this video for more inspo!
Another fab video, full of ideas to make ratties lives better!
I love your videos and i love that you give cheap options as well i dont work in winter sometime and i usually need new stuff then and this really helps
Just became a proud rat father and these videos are super helpful!!
“Go Away”. 😂 Love your shirt. Good video. You could always do an easy video reacting to wholesome videos.
Where can I find the link or website to submit my cage to get it critiqued and looked at by you?
Thank you so much for what you do! I got my first rats and set up a few months ago thanks to you! I researched them for over 2 years about and I now have to boys called Asher and Star
My cage has flat (rather than lipped) shelves and I use cheap puppy training pads cut in half to cover them - secured with small plastic sewing clips (perfect size for all things ratty). Despite what you might expect my boys don't chew or shred the puppy pads at all and they (the puppy pads not the rats lol) soak up wee, control odour much better than fabric bath mat and are super easy to whip out and replace every two/three days as required. It might not work for everyone but I just thought I'd throw the suggestion into the mix
I love your reaction videos. Gives me great ideas
This video has given me idea's for toy's where before I'd stopped buying toy's because my boys weren't interested. Now I use cardboard to build tunnels and safe paper products for them to have fun building their bedding. The paper products come in the chewy box orders. They like that stuff more than the toy's lol
I LOVE THESE VIDEOSS SO MUCHHH!!! ❤❤❤
Hey emi thankyou for doing such inspiring and incredible videos these help my daughter so much
Great video as always!
I'm watching this to get ideas for my rat's cage ❤
Great video!
My family used to have four girls named Rain, Nova, Tesla, and Dot and it was when I was pretty little so I don't fully remember but I think we had them in a well-sized cage but I don't think it had a bunch of stuff for them to climb on (if I'm remembering correctly). I don't plan on having rats in the future but I love learning about different animals that can be pets so these videos are really interesting to watch and hear what you have to say.
I love these videos! I want to get rats soon but I refuse to get rats until I could write a whole book on rat care from memory.
I'm adopting rats tomorrow and you're videos really helped me. I feel like I know so much more and I love that you don't really judge and give allt the best tips. This video also helped me to know if the cage Im getting is good enough. love your vids and again thank you very much for making them❤️❤️❤️
How are they doing?
Loved this video thank you 😊
I got a two layered savic royal, with a perspex box for more litter, two side levels and a full in separating level, no fall height over 30cm.
I‘ve been told I’m not allowed to foster because the cage doesn’t have 1.5m2 of running levels 😢 The German opinion on cages is very different
Yeah here in Germany we'd rather keep rats in shelters than give them to loving owners. The people of the VDrD are just insane, nobody in the whole world agrees with their asinine requirements, but us Germans will be Germans....
I LOVE THESE VIDEOS!! 😻
I'm just wondering if when you have these deep dig boxes/deep bedding areas on the bottom of cages do you clean the entire bedding out every week? or do you just clean out the litter/poop from the rats and leave the rest be? Sorry to ask I just got some rats 2 weeks ago and I'm trying to build the cage up more and more as I learn more and the best way to take care of them.
Try to keep a handful of the "cleanest" old bedding when doing bedding changes as new stuff doesn't smell like them; they'll mark it like crazy to make it smell again.
The fewer flat surfaces they have to walk on (like shelves) the less likely they are to potty there. Speaking of which, I'd have at least 1 litterbox (big enough for at least 1 rat to sit in comfortably and without the wired bottom because rats need access to their poop, gross i know lol) with a safe bedding that's of a different material from their regular stuff so they won't get confused.
Lastly, find a "pee rock" i.g. a smooth, flat rock that's at least palm sized to train them to pee there. You can clean those too but not too much so it doesn't lose their scent
Pls do another part to this🎉😊
Would appreciate it soo much
I always use these to improve my own girls cage❤️❤️ appreciate you
These are literally my favourite videos you make! Maybe you could do a mouse one? ❤😊
I NEED MORE OF THESEE
Where can I buy that thick of a rope from Gabby’s cage at 14:24
I have no intention of ever getting rats (I'm a reptile person) but I still love watching these videos lol.
I loved your Shein haul I'd love to see a temu haul in the future if you want to
My husband had a cane with those holes in it; someone told me it is from a cactus, but I don't know that for a fact. I might have to cut it to fit into my new baby's setup.
My son and I had pet rats 40 years ago and loved them and now I am thinking about getting a few more. I'm not getting any younger but wanted a pet to keep me company while I travel. Being that they have shorter lives than say, a cat or dog, rats would be perfect. And unlike dogs and cats, they stay cute and adorable their whole lives.
There are some really great looking home setups people have shared!
Brb just about to do more online shopping for rat toys🤪
this vid really helped me with deciding what kind of cage to get (and even the brand to get, since im just now buying rat products because the idea to get some was just set in stone) i think the gang of rats i get will be very happy ^_^
Have a question: A new friend has rats (4 pieces). I will visit her soon. The rats do not know me yet. The rats have been living with her for many months and are a well-rehearsed pack.
Can I pet the rats (as a stranger to them) or could they bite me?
Does anyone know what cage the second to last one is? We are getting our two baby boys in about a month and that cage is the dream cage for us!
I need some advice. I have a wooden pawgut cage right now for my syrian hanster (the measurements are 115cm long by 57cm wide by 55cm tall) is this a safe cage for rats? I want to get 2 or 3. I am afraid that it is not tall enough or they will chew out of the wood. Help!
b very true, many years ago my hamster caught a foot in a cage rail and broke his leg. it healed a bit crooked but he was fine. one day he escaped! could not fine him anywhere in our furnished basement... forward to several months later. I was cooking upstairs in the kitchen and turned around and freaked out at the rodent on my floor... (we live in the far north and rarely have any house rodents larger than a field mouse) Then I realized it was my hamster with the broken leg! Boy, I caught him up quickly!
2:52 ive been looking for this sputnik but cant find it anywhere! does anyone know where its from??
You can get the brown one readily in the UK but not in the US at all. I live in the US so my friend overseas shipped it to me special.
@@HanBanan828 oh ok thanks! i dont have any friends in the uk but i might get the white one ive been seeing on amazon (im trying to do a naturalistic cage) do you think it would be safe to spray paint it or no?
@@harper.... yes I’ve spray painted one before. I used Rustoleum it is safe once dried for a while. But the paint will chip over time because they are flexible. My painted one is over a year old and starting to look rough.
@@HanBanan828 oh ok thanks! ill try it out
is overcrowding a rat cage ever an issue? i'm preparing for rehomed research rats and i'd love to give them as much stimulation as possible but i'm also wary of smothering the poor things! i was also advised by the lady doing the rehoming to get large cages for the sake of ample floor space so they can run around, and wouldn't want to crowd up that floor space. any advice?
Those cement bins are all fun and games until your rats chew a hole just big enough to get through but not back up and run around the bottom all night. Not once, but repeatedly. As a new rat owner I panicked lol. Ratties will be mischievous I guess. I got my metal pans from Quality Cage. Shipping can take a while but I highly recommend otherwise.
I just got my 2 male 6 week old rats, and i still have a starter cage from my hamster, and i think its ok for now, but i was wondering what age maybe i should change to like a 78 x 48 x 80 cm cage (idk if thats a good size)
For now theyre just about the size of a mice? a bit bigger though
I have a critter country ferret cage for my 2 albino rats🐀🐀
Hi I was thinking or getting two rats and was wondering is the (Little Friends Langham Tall Rat and Hamster Cage with Two Floors, 78 x 48 x 58 cm) is the right size ???😁
I had that cage for 2 rats and felt it was good size, but no more than 2 rats
@@1997skye2234 ok thanks 😊
I am not sure if I should get them now or wait until my old gerbil passes away until I get them any ideas ?
How many rats do you recommend per level of a critter nation? I’m looking into rats and I have been loving your videos!
I know they make these vertical cages to save space in our homes, but I just can’t stand it. I bought one of those off-brand critter nations that show a ferret in a four-tier thing that I had to cover in hardware cloth (Pain in the BUTT btw), but I also turn it on it’s back to make a really wide base for running space. I had to cover the new “floor” with wallpapered cardboard to protect their feet, and make-shift new doors/wall but I love it now. And so do they. 2 months in and I’ve already learned SO much more than I thought reasonable lol. And I’m still changing things all the time. I’ve added the plexiglass around the bottom for more digging. Luckily my boys seemed to adapt to my shinanigans and enjoy testing things out while I’m working on them. I just love how all these people want to do well for their little companions. Oh! and bc I have a bearded dragon, I already had superworms for protein snacks….The one I got from a pet store handled them like a ninja, and the two from the breeder was like “what the Heck is this??!!!” lol. It took them a couple tries but man it’s their ultimate favorite treat. It looks like it leaves an after-taste so I give them a little something else to wash it down.
Great video! I love that you’re so kind and not judgy and snooty about advice.
Could you do a video of good pet insurance for rats?
If you have engaging and interactive cages do you still let the rats out of the cage every day?
No not always, it’s fine to miss days 😊
Thank you for your videos; they’ve been very informative. I have a rather strange question… I just got a new baby and he’s quite the special boy. He’s a black semi-hairless dumbo rat with the biggest ears I’ve ever seen-and only one testicle😮 I’m concerned he may need surgery if the other one is impacted. Have you ever come across this issue before? He seems healthy and sociable otherwise.
I’m getting two boy baby rats and I would like some tips
How are they doing?
Does that outdoor cage also have rabbits in it?
I couldn’t work out what it was 🧐
@@Emiology around 7:09 there is a dark grey and black bunny behind the black cage on the ground. I had to zoom in lol
@@llucasS2ove that’s a little concerning even if they are in cages accidents can happen. Especially if they are left outside unsupervised 😖 One of my rats bit my cat very hard before I could grab him. My cat snuck past into the room designated for the rats and it happened very quickly. Luckily no infection my cat is ok and I can only blame myself for not seeing him sneak past me. I am extra alert now.
Yes the rats are outside but that's the only place we can keep them we don't actually live in a house but the rats are in a secure pen
Thank you for reviewing are rat cages.
Hey so I have been wanting a rat for a while but my parents are divorced and I usually switch between houses daily but I don’t want to leave my rats alone for a bit unless its for school, work, or vacation. I feel like if I get them one cage and move it it could be a lot to do but if I have two cages it might add on a lot more stress and be quite more expensive. But I’m also scared that something bad might happen to them if I leave them alone.
I might not even get a rat but if I did I was wondering what the best approach to this may be
Definitely make sure you do your research as you can't have any less than 2, ideally 3 rats as they're social animals. It depends how on board your parents are, they'd be fine missing every other day and just having a parent check their water and feed them on the day you're not there, moving the cage every day is a lot of work so having a cage at each house is the only other option really :)
@@Emiology if I do get some rats I’d probably make it so I stay at each house longer and have a cage at each, I just don’t wanna cause unneeded stress for the rats
I love your vids sm! Thanks to you i know how to handle rats (i will get them in some weeks )
im planning on getting 4 rats but we have 2 dogs and 2 cats idk if they will live happy when they are getrting watched 24/7 bc i really want rats
Try orchard grass versus hay. It’s is softer
I personally have been a fan of rats for such a long time, but my mom thinks theyre disgusting animals! But i almost got her convinced to let me and my sister get rats, so i will keep trying and in the mean time we will be saving up ourselves for the cage, playpen and all the other necessary things ^^ And in the meantime i will continue doing research about rats and their lifestyle to be prepared as much as i can. Im 14 myself and ive had quite some pets and i know that im responsible but my sister is 9 so she isnt that good with animals so weve decided that the rats will be living in my room and every day they get atleast an hour of supervised playtime in her room, that way she has rats without religiously having to care for them! Both happy that way haha!
It does irritate me when people want pets but don't have the money to afford them to begin with; food, shelter, vet bills, it all adds up. I understand not knowing, but with everything "e-vailable" on the net, there is no valid excuses anymore.
I’m wanting 2 rats i’m not sure awhat gender yet would a single story critter nation be okay for either gender?
Have you every got gerbils
Search gerbil on my channel and you’ll find out!
@@Emiology Thx
Im planning on getting Rats soon and not sure on what sized i should get for 2 rats but im also kinda on budget . So if anyone have some recommendations i would be very grateful! Since this is my first time owning rats
id love to be a rat and run around a really cool cage
My new babies are in a furat, but they have hammocks, chew toys, and loads of bedding. 🤞 They get along with my lone rescue girl. Please with us luck.
I'm stressing...
i need advice- i wanted rats for a long time and i finally got two young males from pet store 2 days ago (monday). The one of them is very calm but the other one is veryy energic but also aggresive towards me and my bf. The first day we were watching rats after we put them in the cage, gave some food between the cage wires (ofc they also had food in the cage) and talking. My bf stick up finger into the cage(i told him not to but he did anyway) and Vex (the aggresive rat) bite him to the blood. Later I put my hand into the cage to clean up poop to the litter box, I didnt get bite but Vex seemed to be scared. Yesterday we tried to tame them by giving food from the hand. First my bf put hand into the cage and got bitten but not as hard as the time he bite his finger. Then I tried. Vex seemed to me calmer and was nibbling me. I was making a squeek noise and moving hand a little when they bite me too hard. Vex started to focus on my fingers and then suddenly he bite me REALLY hard- his teeth were deep in my finger for about 20 seconds. I panicked and tried to shake him off or put him down to the ground in the cage but he didnt want to come off, he even moved the teeth and bitten the other place on my finger. After this incident we left them alone to not annoy vex. In the evening I also wanted to set up litter box bc they took toilet paper (lady at the pet store who owns rats told me that toilet paper is good to a litter box) and made the litter box a den to sleep. It was so stressfull because everytime i tried to slowly and quietly put my hand into the cage vex has been leaning out of hides. Everytime i stand in front of the cage Vex is acting aggresive, he tries to bite me and scratch me from the cage wires. I noticed that he also moves and run really fast and grates. He is scared of me but if i'd give him food he would bite me. He moves really fast as so he attacks and bites really fast. I found a tip to tame a rat 'by force' by taking it somewhere out ouf the cage and be with it but I think he would be scared if I took him out and i dont want him to be stressed. Its my first time owning rats. I want the best for them and also i dont want Vex to stay like this forever. pls help
I’m leaving another comment in hopes that the rat queen can help me out. I have 5 girls , 16 oz. 12oz. And then younger 3 who I think are around 8 or 9 oz.
I try to feed them a salad in the morning and food mix at night and am
Just wondering how many grams i should be giving them. I definitely feel like I am over feeding them.
When it comes to food mix it should be around 15 grams per day per rat.
Rats can get quite watery poop if you give them too much salad so I would advice you to switch things up. Rats are omnivores so you can feed them everything from fruits and vegetables to rice, pasta, potatoes (cooked and peeled) or even meat. There’s a lot of info online what rats should and should not eat so you can look it up to make sure it’s okay for them.
What rat cages do you guys use?
Thats a smaller yahjeetak cage. I have the larger one, but that one looks really small for rats.
ohh i didnt realise there was a smaller one😅i have that one too but its the bigger one it was quite pricy too.. more that the single story critter nation so i got confused why the one in the video was so small
@@nwezwuko5943 the larger version is ok, with adaptions.
Base tray and I'd recommend cable ties added to the bird doors.
@@dawncowan7009 yeah i have a big box at the bottom so they can forage and dig and i bought special pads to cover each floor its a pretty cage and i spent more for the white version which was defo worth it
I can’t believed i missed it
I’m also new to owning rats I’m 9
we use a cage with a footprint of 60 by 40 cm for seven girls its very tall, they love it
Floor space is more important than height for rats. The minimum is 80x50cm but for 7 I’d want at least 100x50cm
@@Emiology we havent had any issues, with it.
i understand thats the guidelines but honestly people are far too hung up on the "correct" thing to do is to the extent where I have left several facebook groups over seeing new members ridiculed for asking for advice.
They're fine, they come out every day, are cleaned often and they are loved very dearly, i think thats far more important than cage size!
we still have 2.5 cubic feet per rat, many hammocks, ropes, fall breaks and a deep substrate base
we went as big as we had space for (both in the house and the car) with the cage and I think its important to not gatekeep owning these lovely creatures behind minimum sizes when it's perfectly obvious to me they can be happy in lots of different environments.
The main thing is looking after them properly.
i love your channel and as ive said before you are the reason we went out and got rats but really.. for the sake of an extra 15 cm each way i dont think it'll make any difference to their quality of life, as i said earlier there are far more important things than cage size as long as they have room to find their own space as needed
just my 2 cents, keep up the great vids
Hi, I’m just wondering what do you use to protect the wood, from pee? Thank you 😊
They actually covered this topic in the blog last week it's about six minutes into the video
@@balicard00 thank you
Baby Safe paint works very well, the type that toddlers can chew on
Its non toxic and washable, just make sure to get it from a reputable brand
nooo i missed it
Hey Emiology! I recently watched a video that is kinda old but i want to know your opionon about it ❤. The video is called "Our Rodent Breeding Setup!" By Snake Discovery
Those rodents are feeders for there snakes and for there store lol not pets.
🤍
So I recently got two female rats, and they have a 6 story cage. It's plenty big. We've had them for maybe a month to month and a half. We noticed the younger of the two has a pimple-like bump on the end of her tail, and later that same day a bump on her neck appeared, about half the diameter of a pencil. I really hope it's not a tumor, as she's still a young rat. She often annoys the older female by biting/grooming the back of her neck. It's nothing serious, but I'm hoping my older one just got tired and bit her neck and it's just swollen from that. Its soft to the touch and not hard, so that's good. Has anyone had this issue that can give some advice?
It’s hard to say without seeing it in person but it’s likely to be some sort of cyst / abscess / blister even. It could be something that has just occurred, or from an injury from the other girl but it should hopefully go away on it’s own, if it reoccurs or she gets more a vet trip might be a good idea 😊
@@Emiology I have a smaller two story cage I put the hurt female in. I'll keep an eye on it and see. Thanks.
How are you doing?