This is the Rat Palace...

The first part of the Rat Palace (the square bit on the bottom) was built for us by our human friend in January 1998 when just Max and Alfie lived in it. An extension was added in April 1998 after Eric came, made out of a hamster cage. It had our Wodent Wheel in it, which was great because we'd never been able to use it before. When George joined us, our human had to make it even bigger, so she added the extension on the top to house the Wodent Wheel and the new sleeping quarters.

The frame is made from three quarter-inch by one inch untreated pine. It was sprayed with non-toxic paint designed for children's toys. That funky pink colour was chosen because we live near the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre in London and it's pink too. Or at least it was till Comic Relief 1999 when they painted it red.

In the bottom of the square part is a heavy-duty seed tray from the local DIY shop and the wooden frame was built to fit round it. The tray slides out from the bottom of the frame for cleaning. Aviary wire was stapled all round the inside of the frame and a catch was added to hold the two sections firmly together. There's a door in the front of both sections so that we can get in and out and our human can put food in, and there are three shelves. The lower two shelves are made from coated gauze stapled to spare blocks of wood and the third shelf came out of the old hamster cage and fitted perfectly across the top.

In the bottom of the tray is Bio-Catolet which our human likes because we can't kick it out all over the floor. It's also better for our health than sawdust or wood shavings, which can cause respiratory problems in ratties like us, and it doesn't smell too much. It's also environmentally-friendly because it's made from compressed recycled paper. You can buy Bio-Catolet from Sainsbury's and Asda in the UK or ask your local pet shop to get it if they don't stock it already.

As for the accessories, two plastic flowerpots and a redundant T-shirt make very comfortable beds for us all. We also have a Rodarope and three ladders, one from the hamster cage and the other two made from off-cuts of wood and wire. We have two food bowls - a ceramic one for dry food and the plastic one hanging on the side of the cage for fresh titbits like carrots and grapes. In the bottom is a piece of plastic plumbing pipe and a large toilet roll tube. We also have a wooden parrot toy for chewing but we prefer our human's furniture for wearing down our teeth! We have a gravity water bottle, which Eric is modelling below, and another flowerpot where our human hides our dog biscuits sometimes.

Finally, we have a Wodent Wheel which George is particularly fond of. Eric has a go on it sometimes too, but Max and Alfie just like to hide food and sleep in there.

All in all, we think the Rat Palace is brill and our human is very clever to have made it for us and we love her very much!