Below you'll find a rather vague account of how I personally care for my colonies. In other words, this is my educated opinion and what works for me may not necessarily work for you. If you have any questions, comments, or please don't hesitate to email me.

Diet-



As a staple diet I use Nutro Natural Choice Lite Dog Food. A rather expensive main course when compared to other brands of kibble, but in this case the high price means high quality. Although I prefer Nutro Lite, almost any dog food with a protein percentage under 17% is fine for ratties. In addition to the dog food I like to add dry pasta, grainy cereal, and of course fresh fruits and vegetables. My colony absolutely loves the dry pasta. I try to alternate with varying shapes (spirals, bowties, wheels, etc.) to keep interest.

Cages-



For my main colonies, I use powdercoated Martin's Cages, model R-695. This model of cage is perfect for me. It's large (30x18x36, plus a full mid-shelf), attractive (much nicer looking than the galvanized wire picture on their site), easy to clean, inexpensive, and has lots of fun shelves and ledges for my ratties to climb. After trying many different types of cages, Martins are the only enclosures I now recommend.

For newborn pups, and newly nursing moms I use securely sceened 20 Gallon tanks from Creative Habitat (they simply make the nicest tanks out there). As soon as the pups have opened their eyes I move them and their mother into a 24x14x36 generic wire cage I purchase from a local pet shop. I like to refer to it as "the Martin Cages rip off", as it has the exact same structure and lay out as their R-690. The idea behind moving the entire litter (with mom) at 14 days is to stimulate them with a new much more fun and interesting environment (more room, climbing toys, etc.)

Bedding-



Cedar Wood is deadly, Pine Wood is toxic, Corn Cob too hard, and Care Fresh too expensive. So what do I use? Aspen Supreme. It's remarkably absorbent, doesn't stick to the bottom of the trays, holds odor like nothing else, and most importantly my rats love it. I recommend this bedding to anyone who will listen, it's simply fabulous.

Toys-



Hammocks at Pet Shops are disgustingly expensive for what you're actually getting (two stitched pieces of thin plastic and a few soft metal hooks). Although I am guilty of buying them every now and then, most of the time I just tie old shirts around the bars of their cages.



For staple hide boxes, I use wooden bird nesting boxes for my girls (the males tend to urinate in them), and plastic igloos for the boys. (why are they igloos? who knows) I'll also throw in a few cardboard coke or cracker boxes, but they never last too long.



Another great product, that I simply can't go without mentioning is the Leap-N-Ledge by Super Pet. This has been a tremendous hit with every rat here at Catalyst Rattery. If you don't have one, get one! You'll rats will love you for it.