Many people wonder what is best: a cage or aquarium. Having had both for my pets, I can only offer my opinion. Both can be good for different reasons. Initially, I had my rats in a 25 gallon aquarium. It was perfect in size and good because they couldn’t splash bedding on the floor. There was plenty of room to run around and at the time, they were too small to climb out (provided I didn’t put any box or bottle close enough to the edge). I did have a box right by the edge one time and I came out one time in the middle of the night and found Felix climbing on top of the aquarium. Like a scared kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, he dived back into the aquarium. The funny thing was, I don’t think he could have gotten off the aquarium anyway as it was too high. His diving back into the aquarium was his last ditch effort to not get in trouble as he knew what he was doing was bad.
For a while I would keep the aquarium in my room but they would make so much noise, I moved it out (I have since put their cage in my room). I would put a flashlight by my bed so if something was going on in the middle of the night, I could flash the light on them and see. One night, I heard this constant thumping. I had had the two rats for a week and they were always trying to get out of the thing without any success. I turned the light on the aquarium and there they were, both standing no top of the little box, jumping up and down trying to reach the top. The funny thing was, they could stretch and reach higher than they could jumping, yet they kept jumping up and down like two oversized Mexican jumping beans. They waited until it was dark before trying this, like if they did it in front of me I would stop them. Now, even with the flashlight on them (and my cracking up), they kept hopping up and down. Oscar fell off the box onto the ground (as neither one of them was too coordinated). Rather than get back on the box to keep hopping, Oscar just continued to hop from the floor! I was laughing so hard, I couldn’t go back to sleep.
I knew I’d have to get a cage at one point, because I live in LA and it can get hot in the summer, and even with a lid on that aquarium so they couldn’t get out, it would get hot in that thing, so a cage was inevitable.
The first cage I bought was a three level cage with a plastic bottom with easy removal. When buying a cage, you don’t want one with a wire bottom. This is not good for the rat’s feet and can cause a number of problems. You want a cage with a smooth bottom. This cage seemed great, because it not only had the smooth bottom but plenty of climbing room. It also had a wheel.
They hated it. They never used the wheel. In most cases unless they start using a wheel from when they’re babies, rats won’t touch a wheel. They’re too smart. These two just stared at it, usually climbing underneath it but never getting in it. That was one problem. The cage only had a top entrance. If the rat didn’t climb to the top level, I couldn’t get them out unless I removed the bottom. Half the time, they wouldn’t come to the top. I’m standing there trying to get them out and they’re both at the bottom or the second level eating cheese.
If they had been introduced to that cage from the get-go, they might have liked it more. But these two didn’t seem to like it at all. There wasn’t too much playing room, since the cage was higher than it was wide. And I knew I was going to get another rat and there was no way this cage would be good for three, so I knew I had to get a new cage.
So in looking for a cage, I had to keep in mind: space, climbing room, flat floor and easy accessibility plus affordable. I looked all over. I finally found the perfect cage. Made for finches (little birds), the cage I finally purchased was long, and high and had plenty of room to add toys, an extra level and other stuff. It had three entrances and a flat, metal floor that could be removed easily.
And the rats love it. They have plenty of room to play, as well as room for extra water bottles, raggedy clothes, and stuff I’ve added.
With your cage, you want to make sure the rodents have stuff to play with and in. A box is a must for rats and mice: something that they can go into that is dark. When I first had the rats in the aquarium, they loved to hide in a paper bag. So I would always keep a paper bag in it (having to change it every couple days because of the pee and poo factor and the fact they love to rip parts of it up).
Besides their dishes and water bottles, you’ll want to have some sort of clothing (an old shirt or something like that) for them to play in and on. A rope is good for climbing. If you have mice or smaller rodents, tubes are great (toilet tissue tubes are perfect) and jars. Mice love to go into jars. Those plastic tubes you buy that create little tunnels and small rodent cities are cool. Rats can use the ferret sized tubes. You can create different things for them to climb in. Remember, rats and mice love to climb through and on things, especially inside dark things. I had a ferret "tent" for my rats, but they never used it. Hammocks are good, but again, mine personally didn’t care for it. Petco always sells those bamboo balls really cheap. My rats love it. They always go in it and sleep or just lie. I took out all the dried grass that was in it. It’s one of their favorite objects.
There are a couple really good sites that sell cages made especially for rats and mice. Check the links on my home page.