Rat People Problems

Anonymous asked: How do people let their rats run all over the place? I'm very paranoid about it even though mine generally come when called. What do people do that makes them feel safe letting the rats run all over out of their cages?

Rat proofing, rat proofing and more rat proofing! Getting to know your rats really helps too, trying them out in safe situations but seeing how far they’re willing to wander will give you an idea about how much proofing you have to do.

Currently I don’t have a rat-room (but I should be getting one either this or next weekend! I’m super exited for that!) but I use the bathroom for out-time, and I know a lot of other people do too. When I just had the oldies they were so lazy I’d usually just keep them out on the sofa with me as they weren’t chewers (except for Cal who stayed in my jacket) and didn’t really wander anywhere, but it depends on your rats as the young’ins are bouncy and I’d lose them in a second (so I can’t have them out on the sofa as we have a cat!).

But yeah, when I first got the boys I used cardboard boxes to line up a play-pen, I also know some people have bought what’s called a “Martin’s Play pen” here and that works nicely for them too. But again my boys were never major chewers so the cardboard was left alone - I just had to watch out for Ferbuson who would like to hop over it. Rats can jump high so you’d need to watch out for that.

Depending on your bathroom or a spare room that may be safe assuming you don’t have plugs (which can be covered) those work brilliantly - they just involve setting up constantly which can take a bit of time.

(Sorry for not answering this sooner, anon!)