Friday, January 3, 2014

A Home Made for a Queen Rat

During the week of Cyber Monday back in November, I began scouring online pet stores for a new rat cage for Nibblet, my pet rat. I finally decided on a cage from Petco. The price was right at about $150 and shipping was free, which is awesome because I'm sure shipping alone would have jacked the price up to $200.

The cage I selected is a WARE Living Room Series Ferret Home. It's about 2.5 feet long by 2 feet wide. It's very tall too at just over 4 feet. I wanted a cage that had lots of levels for Nibblet to explore, and this one is perfect.

WARE Living Room Series Ferret Home
Nibblet's new castle.

There are two main levels with other smaller panels that Nibblet can sit on. First, let's take a tour of the lower level of Nibblet's new castle.


A New rat cage
The lower level of the cage. 

The bottom level I have lined with a towel. I tried the litter box thing in this cage, but Nibblet just pushes it out of the way to poop in her favorite corner. It's nice that she goes all in one spot though.

There are 2 of those "balconies" with ramps leading upwards as you can see in the bottom right photo. I try to add towels, boxes and other containers throughout the cage because Nibblet likes that sort of stuff.

In the bottom left photo, she's creating some sort of food pile from her food dish that's on the top level.

Rat Home from Petco
The upper level of the cage. 

There is a hole that leads up to the upper level of the cage from one of the ramps. I have a towel down up here too because it gets chilly sometimes. And Nibblet also has her various boxes and the hammock. The hammock came with the cage, by the way. There's one more balcony in the top level too.

I have Nibblet's food bowl and water bottle in this level. And as you can see, there are doors that open up on the side of the cage. There is another door for the bottom level as well. There are also smaller doors on the very front of the bottom and top levels.

Overall, Nibblet and I are very pleased with this cage! I was nervous about some of the reviews on Petco's website because most stated that the ramps were too slippery to climb up. Nibblet seems to do fine with them, but if she were an elderly rat I could see her possibly having trouble. I may have to adjust the ramps later on.

Also, some reviews stated this may not be a good cage for rats because the platforms are plastic and rats like to chew. So far, Nibblet hasn't chewed up any pieces of the cage but I assumed that she wouldn't.

As for putting it together, I think I did a pretty good job. I managed to get it all together with minimal mistakes all by myself in about an hour and a half while fending off a curious toddler that wants to play with all the pieces

Queen Nibblet the Beautiful Rat
Queen Nibblet the Beautiful. 

This is a rat home fit for a queen! Nibblet is so happy in her new castle and I've been looking on Petfinder at a possible new friend for her. I was hoping that I could find a neutered male rat, but was skeptical. The rat rescues here in town mostly seem to adopt their rats out neutered and/or spayed which is great news.

Hopefully, this cage will last over time but so far it seems wonderful! Perhaps Nibblet can invite all of her friends over for a pawty sometime in her brand new mansion. :)

22 comments:

  1. This is awesome. Niblet deserves the very best and she got it in this cage. It truly is a home fit for a queen. I enjoyed reading all the details. Plus, I learned something. I am almost always dissuaded by bad reviews, but this clearly turned out very well.

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    1. I was nervous about it when it arrived because of some of the reviews... this wasn't my first choice for a cage, but I couldn't find the one I wanted for the price I wanted. I am pleased with this one though.

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  2. Great dawg, Miss Ann...that is definitely a mansion fit for a queen! Aren't you afraid that NIbblet may try to squeeze out through the bars of the cage? Can't rats squeeze through everywhere? Or, is keeping fun stuff for her to do in the cage a way to keep her from "escaping"? Just curious since we've never had a pet rat. So glad Nibblet likes her new abode!
    Happy weekend!
    Oz

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    1. Hey Oz, I am not afraid of her squeezing through. Her head won't fit through the bars. She can stick her little nose out but that's it. She's only escaped one time from her old cage which had a broken bar. My daughter, for some reason, was asleep on my floor and Nibblet just went over to where she was and started nesting in her hair and woke her up lol.

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  3. WOW! Nibblet, you really are Queen. It's a castle, for sure. And only $150? What a bargain!

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  4. Wow - that is some special palace! Love that Queen Nibblet photo. Too cute! Is she having a house warming party?

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  5. Whoa! What fancy digs. Niblet, don’t drink the Kool-Aid. MOL!

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    1. Lol, we have a lot of those kool-aid boxes from my daughter.

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  6. This is a furry nice home! I remember seeing it on Instagram but it is even better than I remember.

    Maybe Niblet will also appreciate that I have nominated you for the “Blog of the Year 2013 Award” =^.^=

    Purrs

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  7. That's a very impressive home for Nibblet! We're sure she'll love it!!

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  8. That looks like a very stimulating home for Nibblet. I'm sure she'll love it. The only thing it's missing is a room for digging. Maybe someday she'll build an addition. :)

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    1. I know! I tried some dirt things on the internet in the past, but have never had much luck with them... maybe I'll think something up one of these days.

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  9. Nibblet is living the good life, thanks to you. What a cool 'castle'!

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  10. Chuckling at the thought of Nibblet and her rat friends partying :-) That new cage looks awesome!

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  11. Very fancy, Nibblet! Don't go too crazy with the pawties, though. Trust us, they can get out of hand quickly!

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  12. I bet she is loving a new larger home with all the fun amenities. I would guess that life as an only rat in a cage could get boring, so this should be good for her.

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