Rats are smart animals who need enrichment to keep their busy brains happy! When setting up a home cage for your rats, this 'enrichment' factor is very important.

The following information should help you achieve this for your rat(s). 

On this page, you’ll find recommendations for:

• A good cage
• Places for rats to hide/sleep, toys and other enrichment
• Cage substrate/nesting material
• Food (including food and water bowls)
  

Where to shop

• Animates
• NZ Rat Rescue
• Pet Stock
• Facebook Market Place is a good place to look for cheaper, second-hand items. Just make sure you clean them properly, as the smell of other rats can cause stress.
  

A good cage 

Rats require a large cage. They need lots of space to run around and climb. Mice cages are not suitable, as they’re far too small. 

Important: Make sure the cage has good ventilation, as rat urine produces ammonia vapours that can hurt the respiratory system of rats and humans. This is also the main reason why a fish tank or plastic bin/container is not appropriate for rat homes. Their closed sides prevent sufficient ventilation.

A large wire cage with levels is good, like the ones below from Animates:

Note: This one has a wire mesh floor which can damage rats' feet and legs. You can easily fix this by covering the wire with fleece or cardboard. Fleece blankets can be purchased from the Warehouse and from thrift stores. These can easily be cut to the size you need. You can also buy more than one of these cages and connect them together to create a bigger space!

Places to hide/sleep, toys and other enrichment

Rats love toys such as sleeping boxes, hammocks, tunnels, running wheels, untreated wooden blocks to chew and/or suitable balls. Rats are also prey animals, and so, no matter how big the cage is, they need comfortable places to hide, like huts or tunnels.

Some of our favourites include:

Kaytee Comfort Wheel 30cm - Giant (for Rats)

The smaller ones are not suitable for rats. These are available from Animates.

Savic Sputnik Hanging Small Pet Bed XL

Rats love sleeping in these! They are available from Animates.

Living World Small Pet Dome Medium

These can be filled with paper towels or shredded paper to create a cosy nest for rats. They are available from Animates.

Hammocks

The standard hammocks from pet shops aren't as durable as polar fleece ones like these hammocks from NZ Rat Rescue.

You can also make these yourself using polar fleece blankets and clips or hooks — NZ Rat Rescue sells hammock hooks. If you know how to sew, there are some great tutorials on Youtube for making rat hammocks!

Rats will chew these, so they'll need to be replaced eventually.

The Pet One - Tunnel

These come in a variety of sizes, if you have 3+ rats, you might want to get the largest size. The product below is the medium tunnel (15cm Diameter) and is available from Animates. This extends out to 80cm in length.  

Chew toys

There are a lot of different chew toys for rats. From experience, favourites include:

• Kaytee Wodden Knot Mini Nibbler Chew Small Pet Toy from Animates.
• Living World Strawberry Small Pet Chews from Animates.
• Trixie Play And Snack Ball from Animates.

You can also get creative and use household items, including paper towels, toilet rolls, and cereal boxes.

Cage substrate/nesting material

Rats must be provided with a dry bedding 'substrate' such as recycled paper litter, which is available from pet shops and the Warehouse.  

This is ideal for cages like this one. If you purchase a cage with a wire bottom, then litter can be put in the tray below to help with odour control.

The substrate must be changed and cleaned weekly or more often when necessary. Choose a dust-free substrate to avoid dust irritating the rats’ airways.

TIP: When the substrate is changed, place a small amount (e.g., two tablespoons max) of the old substrate back in the cage to provide a ‘home’ smell (this makes cage changes less stressful, and the rat(s) don’t feel the need to immediately renew their scent markers).

It is essential that the rats are provided with nesting material, such as hay, shredded plain paper or plain tissue (as inks can be toxic to rats). Nesting is an important rat behaviour, and the nesting material provides important thermal insulation for comfort. 

You’ll likely already have paper towels and tissue around your home. Rats love ripping these up to create a nest! If you work from an office (or know someone who does), you should have access to a paper shredder – shredded paper is a fun nesting material for rats.

You can also cut up a fleece blanket and add small rat-sized blankets to hammocks, tunnels, huts etc., to give them a comfortable, warm place to sleep.

Food (including food and water bowls)

Like our own daily diet, a good one helps us feel healthy and happy; the same goes for rats. Rats generally need their diet to be about: 

• 75- 80% carbohydrates, 
• 15 - 18 % protein, and around 
• 4 - 6% fat. 

Most seed mixes are too high in fat and protein and should not be their staple diet. Lab blocks are good – just ensure you’re feeding the rats other food. 

A good diet is a quality low-protein dog food such as Nutro Lite, along with other grains such as rolled oats, dried veggie pasta, pumpkin seeds, puffed wheat, and puffed rice. Always supplement dry food with a little fresh fruit and vegetables daily. Healthy, balanced leftovers from your dinner every now and then are ok, too! 

Keep the rotation of food interesting for rats. They can be bored by having the same thing over and over again.

Some food is really bad for rats: onion, citrus fruits, walnuts, rhubarb, grapes, raisins and chocolate. Avoid sugars and high-fat foods such as dairy. Rats like sweet and fatty food, but it can cause health problems if they eat too much of it, so only use these as treats and rewards during training and/or play.  

There are many different types of dried food for rats, and you'll soon figure out which ones your rats do and don't like. From experience, favourites include:

• Premium Quality Rat Food from NZ Rat Rescue.
• Vetafarm Origins Mouse & Rat Food from Animates. 
• Supreme Selective Fortified Diet For Rats from Animates.

Pet shops sell a range of different water bottles. Our preference is to give rats access to both a water bottle and a water bowl (i.e. if something goes wrong and the water bottle gets blocked, it's important that your rats can still access fresh water).

D-cup Feeders (found in the bird section at pet shops) work really well as water bowls as they can be attached to the side of the cage (making it harder for rats to tip these over). You can purchase these from Animates and NZ Rat Rescue. 

Want more inspiration? Check out photos of approved rat cages here.