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| RATS NEED TOYS CONTINUED.... |
| ROPES Rats like ropes. They like to chew on them, or drag them around, or climb on them. You can buy the fancy bird toys, which are unbelievably expensive, or you can buy some cheap offcuts of material and make your own. I plat several strands together until it's nice and thick. Then you won't be too out of pocket when it inevitably gets gnawed to pieces. TUNNELS Try making some tunnels for your rat to hide in, run through, or access other areas with. Big cardboard mailing tubes are good, but prone to sogginess when the inevitable pee occurs inside. Most building stores stock plastic plumbing joinery in interesting shapes, and it doesn't cost too much. RAMPS If your rat house has several levels, you may like to make some ramps or ladders for them to run up and down. Rats jump and climb very well and will probably be able to leap from one level to another, but it's only polite to provide them with a more sedate way of going from one floor to the next. You can buy bird ladders from the pet shop. These are cheap and sturdy, and easy on rats feet. Get one big one and cut it into different lengths. I have found that these can be prone to getting chewed, and get quite dirty. You can sand them clean, or just get another. I have made a material cover for mine - just make a cloth bag and sew some velcro at the top. You can then slide it over the ladder and fasten it so it doesn't come off. When it's dirty, just wash it. It helps to have two so you can alternate. And amazingly, mine have never been chewed! Cloth ramps are also quite good. Mine looks like an army stretcher. The cloth has two hems (one up either side) through which wooden perches are threaded. The advantage of these is that you can have two pieces of cloth, and alternate them when they need washing. My rats also love to lay on it. To find instructions on how to make cool playthings for your rats, go to The Dapper Rat Toys Page. CHEAP THINGS THAT RATS LOVE Paper Towels: Tear some off and leave just a corner poking into the cage. Hours of fun will be had retrieving them, leaping around the cage, stashing them in the bedroom, and tearing them into confetti which will somehow find it's way onto the carpet in every room of the house. Ice-Block Sticks: Fruit flavoured (depending on what sort of ice-block it was...) and easily reduced to matchsticks, which somehow also end up on the carpet in every room of the house. Cardboard Tubes: Once the paper towels are all gone, throw in the tube. Great for pushing around the cage, ripping the last bits of towel off, and gnawing into tiny pieces (guess where they end up!!!). Home |
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