Buy a large cage with solid flooring, levels, and ramps. Wire flooring, if not properly cleaned, can cause bumble foot. If you are not experienced with wire floor ware, steer clear of cages with wire shelving. 2 rats need a cage that measures at least 18 x 28 x 31. Rats cannot be housed in tanks due to the ammonia build up.  For every rat, there should be a minimum of two square feet, but two and a half square feet or more is better.  The bar spacing should be no more than 3/4 of an inch for a full grown rat, and no more than 1/2 an inch for babies. If the spaces between bars are larger than that, chicken wire can be used to close the gaps. The bars themselves should be powder coated to avoid rat urine corroding the bars. Rats are excellent jumpers and climbers and should be able to execute their acrobatics in their cage without flying through the bars.  An alternative is a perspex or plastic house, such as Rotastak cage. These usually have a colored base (which helps the rat feel more secure) and clear walls so that you can see your pets. They are designed to be interconnect with other units so that you can build a complex and interesting rat city for your pets. The rats can also be restricted to one area while you clean the other attachments. Cleaning perspex or plastic is easy because of the flat surfaces (rather than all the nooks and crannies in chicken wire or metal bars). Set up an area for your rats to eat and drink, providing either separate bowls for food and water or a sipper bottle. Always provide more than one food and water source for multiple rats to prevent resource-guarding. Sipper bottles are a great option because the water is kept clean in the bottle and the sipper is attached to the cage, preventing it from being knocked over by playful rats. Glass works best as the rats cannot chew through it. The bottom of the cage should be lined with a soft, absorbent material.  Use a wood-shaving bedding found at a pet store for your cage's bedding. Be sure you're not using pine or cedar shavings, though, because the fumes from the shavings mixed with rat urine can be fatal for your pets. Pine and cedar are dusty and contain oils that can cause respiratory irritation and breathing difficulties. Such bedding materials should be avoided. Fleece or towels are okay, especially for covering wire platforms, however you need to wash them a two or more times a week, depending on how many rats you have. You can also purchase paper shavings, but it is expensive and smells. Newspaper is a good option and very good for the environment, but the ink could stain light colored rats. Hay is dusty and smells really bad when mixed with urine as well.   Another good option is Carefresh, a reclaimed cellulose bedding available in many pet stores, or recycled newspaper bedding like Yesterday's News. Don't use your paper shredder and just shred your own paper, though--some of the ink can potentially cause illness in rats. It is natural behavior for a rat to want to hide away at vulnerable times, such as when it is asleep. For this purpose provide a nest or sleeping area for your pets. You can either buy the typical plastic houses that are commonly found in pet stores, or you can get wicker balls that have a entrance holes. These more closely mimic what a rat would choose in the wild. Just like dogs, rats don't like to soil their sleeping and eating quarters, and you can use this to your advantage by providing a rat toilet.  Rat toilets are small plastic boxes with an entrance hole, or open corner-boxes. You can place aspen shavings, newspaper or Carefresh an inch thick in the bottom of the rat toilet. Place the toilet in the opposite corner to the nest and food bowls. Most rats quickly work out what the box is for and are delighted to have a place to go and keep the rest of their accommodations clean. For best results, wait and see if your rats choose a corner of the cage to 'go,' before placing the litter box. However, not all rats are quite so neat, so just placing it in can also work.  Rat toilets also make cleaning their cages easier, because every couple of days you can simply empty out the toilet, disinfect it with a spray disinfectant that is non toxic to small pets (vinegar works well), and refill it with rat litter. Supplement your cage with toys, hammocks, and places to hide.  Rats love to be busy and will play with toys while you're away.  Toilet paper rolls, small stuffed cat toys, ping-pong balls, hammocks... rats love to play, and anything will suffice to entertain them. Find little trinkets (not too little, though, or your rats might swallow or choke on them) around the house to decorate and make their cage look like a home. Don't put things like yarn or string in for toys--they can choke your rats. Use common sense when choosing toys and make sure your rats will be safe with the item in the cage.
قم بشراء القفص الصحيح. ضعف أطباق الطعام والماء. أضف الفراش الصحيح. وفر أوكارًا. فكر في مكان قضاء الحاجة. قم بشراء الألعاب للفئران.