i am getting a pet rat (a boy i think) froma shelter on tuesday. right now i have several tanks and a wire cage that were all givin to me... and i want to somehow connect them to give my new rattie a awsome home. i don't have time to build a cage though, and not enough money for that too. and btw.. i can use basically an unlimited amount of pvc pipe, i just don't know how. thanks in advance....
2007-01-19 06:34:58 · 4 answers · asked by pinkieswear127 2 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
the tanks are glass, one is 20 gallons and the other is ten. i also have a fairly large wire cage (it is as large as the 20 gallon tank, maybe larger)
2007-01-20 04:26:59 · update #1
I've had over 200 pet rats over the last 10 years and there is one major thing they all have in common, THEY CHEW! And when they can get their teeth around the edge of a hole, they will chew until it's big enough for them to get through.
I don't like aquariums (tanks) for rats. Rats drink and pee more then other rodents and it's too easy for the ammonia to build up. Ammonia build up leads to Myco (a lung disease). How would you cut a hole in glass or plexiglass and keep the cut edges from cutting the rats? Rat will chew plastic lids with or without holes cut into them to accommidate PVC pipe.
Tubes, and Tunnels of PVC pipe are going to get really grotty because rats pee and poop everywhere they go. They don't know they're making a mess, they just want to mark their trails as they travel through the pipes.
I have tried several different ways of connecting cages with PCV pipe myself, but in the end the rats (being incredibly intelligent and cunning animals) have found nitches in my plans and chewed my handy work to pieces making the cage both dangerous to them, expensive and time-consuming to repair, and no longer escape-proof. They even seem to like the taste of glues and silicone.
In the end, it would be safer for the rats, and easier on your pocketbook, if you just had a good size wire cage for them.
If you've never had pet rats before I would LOVE to talk to you either through my website, or on my Yahoo Group, Holistarat at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/holistarat
spazrats
http://spazrats.tripod.com
Rat Slave at age 38
Specializing in the care of pet rats since 1997
2007-01-19 09:56:25 · answer #1 · answered by spazrats 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Basically whatever you use to attach PVC to connect the tanks the rat will be able to chew through. If you use glue, he could ingest it and get sick.
If you had 2 wire cages I'd say use wire to connect.
if you use 2 tanks and a nice long piece of pvc leading into the cage and out of the cage - measured exactly the size of the pipe for the whole - you wouldn't need to use glue or anything - unless the rat figures out how to push the pvc pipe and pushes it through to open up the hole.
you might want to just alternate cages - making each one unique and give him his variety that way.
2007-01-19 06:40:47 · answer #2 · answered by henibee 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
some have pronounced a tank topper, this is in basic terms no longer large adequate or acceptable for one rat in no way innovations 2, they are for lots smaller rodents including gerbils. Ferret cages are appropriate for rats, although be careful with bar spacing in toddler rats as they could relatively squeeze out of cages with greater (eg. a million") bar spacing. A Savic Freddy 2 is a appropriate cage for 2 boys. it relatively is approximately 80cm x 50cm x 50cm if that helps. :o) Rats thrive with same intercourse agency, yet make confident your new significant different is quarantined and presented slowly after that era - in basic terms paying for yet another and slinging it in ought to effect in ailment in one or the two, exceptionally from components like petshops. i might propose looking a stable rescue or respected breeder as a replace as petshops usually get their rats from rodent farms.
2016-10-31 13:19:25 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It totally depends on what the tanks are made of. Glass or plastic?
2007-01-19 06:40:00 · answer #4 · answered by Doll 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋