Introduction: How to Keep 20+ Rats Safe and Healthy in a Condo

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About: I bread hairless and normal haired rats, among other animals. I hate filling out these forms and generally tend not to say very much in them.

This cage is is based on the "grotto" style rat cage. It coast me about $150 excluding food supplies. I'm a busy collage student living in a two bedroom condo with my mother who isn't exactly a rat enthusiast. So to keep the cage clutter and coast down I made my own three story rat book shelf. I bought a press board book shelf for $70 assembled it and spar varnished it to make it urine proof. Then a carpenter friend of mine made me three separate doors to attach. I used a sewing machine and a grommet puncher to make three different types of rat hammocks installed them by using spare wood with hooks attached to the top of each unit. This cage is slightly cramped but very useful, it takes me all of ten minutes to clean on a daily basis. Let me know if you have any questions.

Step 1: Obtain Your Rats!

Spend five months breeding 20 pet rats of your choice, mine are for the most part hairless dumbos, those two are thel great grandfathers! There names are pimple and pimples twin.

Step 2: Buy Supplies

Buy press board book shelf from wall-mart or ware have you.

List of things I used.
1. Yard stick
2. Sewing machine
3. Miter box and saw
4. Wood glue
5. Grommet and grommet puncher
6. Wire grid not wire mesh.
7. Hooks
8. Water bottles and food bowls
9. Spar varnish
10. Paper shredder

Step 3: Be a Rat Enthusiast!

Spend two days putting together cage and organizing it perfectly. Insert rats and watch as in 15 minutes they climb sniff chew pee and defecate on everything in site to mark there territory.

How to clean the cage:

Remove the rats and the food and water bowls, vacuum out the shredded paper with a wet dry shop vacuum then wipe down surface area with animal safe disinfectant. Restock bookshelf with shredded paper new food and water and old rats.