Build a Safe Playground for Your Pet Rats

Rats need a lot of exercise and space to roam. Unlike most small rodents, they can't spend most their life in a cage. Some rat owners let their rats run freely in a certain room, but if your house hasn't been rat proofed this may not always be the safest choice. Whether safety is the issue, or you just want to give your rats something special, this article will teach you how to build a safe playground for your rats out of everyday household objects.

Steps

Cardboard rat city

  1. Find a raised surface. It can be a counter top, a table, a desk. Anything relatively high off the ground with lots of space for a small mammal to run. You should make sure that there is no risk of the rat falling off the surface.
  2. Secure the area. Rats aren't blind, they usually have a pretty good sense of elevation. They probably won't run off the edge but if you're worried you can build a low safety fence out of sturdy cardboard or colorful combs for a more attractive presentation. The fence is just to provide a boundary in case they slip. Apply the fence all along the edges. If you bought the surface just for your rats you can glue the fence directly to the surface or make a mat and glue the fence to it, in order to preserve the surface for later use.
  3. Get several large cardboard boxes and set them on one side of the table. We will use these to build a ratty fort.
  4. Glue the boxes together however you like. Place one box on top of another and cut a hole in top of the bottom box all the way through to the bottom of the top box in order to create a fort with multiple floors.
  5. Decorate the "fort" however you like. You may want to add some pretty colors or give the fort a name to write on the front.
  6. Make a pile of random garbage next to the entrance of the fort. Twigs, old pieces of cloth, strips of paper, bubblegum packet wrappers, old books, and toilet paper rolls work well. Also rats love anything shiny. You could put these in the fort but ratty will probably want to do this himself.
  7. Fill a shallow bowl or pan with water. Now that your rats are rolling fly with their cool crib, they need a swimming pool.
  8. Add carrots, peas, slices of cucumber, or other fresh veggies to the water. Most rats love to go fishing for their favorite snacks!
  9. Add little cocktail umbrellas if you want to get really fancy with it.
  10. Release rats into play area.
  11. Make sure your rat is safe. If there are wires or fireplaces around, secure them.

Fleece RattieTown

  1. Design the houses and create a pattern for them. Use simple shapes, squares, rectangles, occasionally triangles. When you design a pattern with multiple layers, make sure there are rectangles for each corner, the same height as the house, to sew in between the other pattern pieces so you can just slide in the dowels through either top or bottom.
    • A simple pattern is a square house (cube) with a hole in middle of the front of the cube so they can get in and out (you can make multiple entrances and exits). You can make the 6 square pieces one layer, or two (for insulation, another fleece pattern, whatever you like).
    • Use wooden dowels (must be a safe wood for the rats) for supports on the outside.
  2. Make multiple little fleece houses and buildings. You can connect entryways and exits with cloth tubes with supports, little popsicle stick ladders, rope ladders, etc. If you want, you can make a cardboard (or other type of sturdy material) wall around the little town, to keep your rats from wandering off when not supervised.
  3. Hide treats and chew toys around your rat's little town, a running wheel or little perhaps, anything else your rat likes to play with. You can put a little swing in there, a small swimming pool, whatever you want that's safe for the rats.
  4. Store when needed. This little town can be put away in a clear storage tub (also the "walls" if you decide to make them and they can be folded), after you remove the dowel supports of the buildings. Depending on how you make them and what fabric you use, they can be washer-safe (put them in a pillowcase to avoid damage, though).
  5. Change the layout of the town every now and then, to give your rat more opportunities for problem-solving and fun adventures.

Tips

  • You don't need fancy rat toys to keep rats happy. Rats are highly intelligent creatures and can entertain themselves with just about anything. The kind of things you'd throw away can be the greatest gifts you could ever give them. Making your own rat toys will ultimately save you a lot of money.
  • If you don't have a fence or if you glue it to a mat you can easily pick up the entire play area and store it away in the closet until it's needed again. A few boxes, a bowl, and a mat doesn't take up much space.
  • Cut "rat removal" flaps on the sides of your fort. Your rats may like the fort so much they won't want to leave and you'll want a way to quickly get them out without damaging the fort in the case of an emergency.

Warnings

  • When decorating your fort be sure to use non-toxic products.
  • Don't work too hard on making everything look pretty unless you really want to. Remember that your rats will probably tear it up anyway.
  • Spend time with your rat. Watch them and make sure they're safe.
  • Be prepared to clean up the mess.
  • When selecting garbage to reuse as rat toys, make sure you cut up anything they could get their feet or head stuck in.

Things You'll Need

Method 1:

  • Cardboard boxes
  • Glue
  • A Shallow bowl or pan
  • Fresh veggies
  • Sturdy cardboard or packet of colored combs
  • Cocktail umbrellas (optional)
  • Your recycling bin

Method 2:

  • Fleece fabric
  • Dowels
  • Popsicle sticks
  • Sewing machine and thread
  • Scissors
  • Rope ladders
  • Toys
  • Treats

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