Post by adoptaratcanada on Apr 18, 2009 1:17:31 GMT -4
Anyone got an easy trick for stopping rats from getting through the plastic bottom of a cage?
I really love the SuperPet cages and I'm thinking of going for a Multi-Floor Large.
www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=6067+10431+16962&pcatid=16962
DF had posted a link to this cage (http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753263&keepsr=0#prodTab1) not long ago. Although it's bigger than I plan to get, it seems to me from looking at the photo that the bars sit almost at the base of the...base
That would be good, because it's that darned lip that the bottom bars rest on, on most SuperPet cages, where the beasties get a foothold...or toothhold.
When I first had Locutus and Hugh, they were in one and promptly chewed a hole in the back, which might be my fault...I left their left over popcorn on top of the cage that that cages was sitting on. They turned out to not be chewers in general, but that might have been too much temptation for them. Fortunately the rascals got out, ate most of the popcorn, and went back home
The standard way that I seem to come across is to put "hardware cloth" (so called) around the bottom of the cage. Have you handled that stuff?! It's nasty! It's basically mesh of sturdy metal. I have no idea how you'd snip it to size AND make sure none of the snipped wires wouldn't gash you. WAAAY more work (and really practical equipment) than I'm able to manage.
The only thing I can think of is...I still have the bases from the other cage (which are the same size), the one they chewed through and the second base I purchased to replace the chewed one. I thought maybe stacking them (setting one base inside the other) might be enough to deter them. Once through one layer theoretically they won't have a good angle to reach the lip/tooth-hold to start working on the next layer. It's not a foolproof plan because it IS after all, just another layer of plastic.
You may have guessed from this, that I'm pretty much resolved to "Get More Rats"!
I really love the SuperPet cages and I'm thinking of going for a Multi-Floor Large.
www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=6067+10431+16962&pcatid=16962
DF had posted a link to this cage (http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753263&keepsr=0#prodTab1) not long ago. Although it's bigger than I plan to get, it seems to me from looking at the photo that the bars sit almost at the base of the...base
That would be good, because it's that darned lip that the bottom bars rest on, on most SuperPet cages, where the beasties get a foothold...or toothhold.When I first had Locutus and Hugh, they were in one and promptly chewed a hole in the back, which might be my fault...I left their left over popcorn on top of the cage that that cages was sitting on. They turned out to not be chewers in general, but that might have been too much temptation for them. Fortunately the rascals got out, ate most of the popcorn, and went back home
The standard way that I seem to come across is to put "hardware cloth" (so called) around the bottom of the cage. Have you handled that stuff?! It's nasty! It's basically mesh of sturdy metal. I have no idea how you'd snip it to size AND make sure none of the snipped wires wouldn't gash you. WAAAY more work (and really practical equipment) than I'm able to manage.
The only thing I can think of is...I still have the bases from the other cage (which are the same size), the one they chewed through and the second base I purchased to replace the chewed one. I thought maybe stacking them (setting one base inside the other) might be enough to deter them. Once through one layer theoretically they won't have a good angle to reach the lip/tooth-hold to start working on the next layer. It's not a foolproof plan because it IS after all, just another layer of plastic.
You may have guessed from this, that I'm pretty much resolved to "Get More Rats"!
Sad time; best possible location.
