Knowing what size cage to get - show us your cage pics!

The size of the cage really depends on what you're keeping in there and how many of them!

You always want to get the biggest cage you possibly can. Just think, this is your rodents' home, only they don't get to spend as much time out of it as you do. You want it to be big, with different levels, plenty of toys for mental stimulation, things to chew etc. For most rodents the cage needs cleaning roughly once a week; the exceptions are male mice which may need cleaning (or at least wiping down with non-scented baby wipes) a few times a week, and gerbils. Gerbils are desert animals, so they conserve water and don't pee as much, and what they do barely smells...so you can get away with cleaning them out once every couple months.

The type of cage you use depends entirely on what you house there. For example gerbils should be kept in an aquarium with a meshed lid for ventilation. They should be provided with at least 6 inches of substrate, as in their natural environment they dig tunnels and burrows. Provide them with enough substrate and they will do this in the cage, and with a glass aquarium you will be able to watch them go through the tunnels!

Rats are large animals, so it makes sense they need a bigger cage than mice or Chinese hamsters. However you should get the biggest cage you can, as they do enjoy climbing and playing with toys. My two are in a 4 x 2 foot cage with a second level and hanging hammock at the moment and are very happy in there, with a few hours free-running too. Before that they were in a Jenny Rat Cage which is also a nice size: Bam's, my old mouse's, cage was two plastic cages connected with tubes. We used this untill he was old and then moved him to a single storey but long cage with bars



And Keshi's (mouse) cage is big but compact. It's long, with one big level and another smaller shelf where his food is. I've added a CD wrack, a belt and lots of bird toys to his cage to make it more interesting, too, although in this pic it was before the bird toys



Most cages sold at pet shops as being good for Syrian hamsters and rats in particular are usually lies...nine times out of ten they're way way too small. Ask a shop assistant and they too will probably try and pawn you off with a cage far too small. When I first got my Chinese hamster, we were sold a Combi cage (the tiny blue cage, the lower level of Bam's mouse castle)...Pearl barely had room to move in there after her wheel, food bowl and bed were in the cage! She was in that cage for two nights, then we bought her a cage 5x as big from an independent pet shop for £14.99...the Combi cost me £30!

This is Pearl's latest cage, which used to be Bam's old cage (confused?!). She has a small second level clipped in there now, and everything is nice and low as she is "getting on a bit"



Also, avoid cages with barred floors. Not good for mice, gerbils, rats or hamsters. They can damage feet and cause swellings, you want plastic bases and levels all the way! Cages with horizontal bars are best for climbing - you also need to pay attention to the width of the bar spacing; young rats need bar spacing of 1cm (adult males over 6 months can have bar spacing of 1 inch), mice need bar spacing of 1cm, as do Robo hamsters and most of the dwarf varieties.

Wheels, which many rodents enjoy to run on, need to have a solid base. Ones with bars are extremely dangerous; tails, legs and necks can be snapped in the bars.

Please post photos of your cages and list what you keep in there, how many and how old they are - thank you!

Red

The rats current cage layout

Aaaand Keshi's new house:



We created a 2nd floor using a cat litter tray, and his food bowl, water bowl, wheel and tunnel are all up on the 2nd floor

We bought Titus a new cage today. It was only £30 and gives him more to do, so I couldn't resist


Titus' new cage by Redanimallover, on Flickr