Although they may be frightening to some people, rats are increasingly loved companion animals, especially by children. In addition to adapting easily to small environments, rats do not usually demand as much time from their handlers as dogs and cats.
However, deciding to adopt a rat as a pet also requires dedication and commitment, since these rodents will need to find the optimal conditions for their physical and mental development in their environment. Rats are highly intelligent animals that need to exercise their physical, cognitive, emotional and social skills to enjoy a he althy and happy life.
In this article on our site, we will teach you how to enrich your rodents' environment with ideas for toys and games for house rats that you can do at home, using your creativity and recycling many materials. Do not miss it!
1. Rat Stairs
Just like hamsters, house rats need and love to climb, go up and down. This exercise may seem very simple to us, but it allows you to expend energy, exercise your bones and muscles, and helps you manage a he althy weight, thus preventing obesity and associated diseases.
One of the simplest ideas you can make to enrich your rat's cage is make a homemade ladder, recycling wooden sticks of popsicles or treats like lollipops. The ideal is to bet on wooden sticks, and not plastic ones, since there is always the possibility that your rat will be tempted to gnaw on his ladder. Plastic, as well as metal, may contain some elements in its composition that are toxic to rodents, when consumed in excess or for a long time.
To make a ladder for your house rat, you will only need 2 items: sticks and non-toxic glue. Before using the sticks, we must wash them very well, using neutral soap, to remove any impurity or food residue. When they are dry, you can use them. Some sticks will be left in the vertical position to make a base on each side of the ladder, while others will be used in the horizontal position to build the steps.
The more sticks you use, the higher the ladder you make of your rodent. For this reason, before you start gluing the sticks, we recommend you plan how you want to enrich your rat's cage, to calculate the height and size of each of the toys that you intend to add to their environment.
A good idea is to combine stairs with platforms and tunnels, making a kind of labyrinth in your rat's cage. But remember that you must not overload its environment, leaving free space for your rat to run, move freely, feed and rest.
Here's a video of Eimy Riccer to inspire you:
two. Cardboard rat tunnel
Cardboard is one of the most versatile materials that we can recycle to make toys and games for house rats. With a few simple toilet paper rolls or kitchen rolls, we can make a simple tunnel for them to enrich their cage.
However, this time, we want to show you how to make a slightly more complex tunnel to motivate your rat. To prepare it, you will need to have some cardboard rolls (toilet paper, kitchen paper, etc.), a cardboard box (you can recycle tea boxes, milk boxes, shoe boxes, etc.), a box cutter (or other cutting tool), and non-toxic glue.
The preparation is very simple but will require a few minutes of your time. To begin with, we need to cut some circles in the cardboard box with the help of the cutter, which are more or less the same diameter as the rolls. To achieve a neater finish, we can use a compass or the paper roll itself to mark the circle on the box before cutting it. Then we will insert the rolls into the holes that we cut in the box. To secure them, you can use non-toxic glue.
The number of circles can be defined by you, considering the size of the box, the number of rolls you have and how complex you want to make the maze for your rat. If we want to build a more complex maze to work on their intelligence, we can use several boxes and many joined rolls. Each box will act as a kind of station where several tunnels branch off, which can be interconnected, as well as being interspersed with stairs, platforms, wheels and even obstacles to generate a track of physical and mental stimulation.
You can also take advantage of this homemade tunnel to work on your rat's intelligence. To do this, you can "hide" various treats at different points in the maze, encouraging your rat to exercise its senses, especially its sense of smell, to find its prizes. Without a doubt, you will be surprised with the intelligence of your little rodent.
3. Platforms to increase the productive surface of the cage
Platforms are the easiest and cheapest way to increase the surface area of your rat's cage, creating a second level where your rodent can play and entertain itself. A platform basically consists of a raised surface in relation to the ground. To create them at home, we use a piece of wood, either square, round or rectangular, fixing four legs with non-toxic glue. Or we can recycle a sturdy wooden or cardboard box to create a second level for your rat's cage.
Logically, when adding a platform we should also think about access ramps, providing optimum mobility for your domestic rat. Do you remember that we already taught you how to make stairs with recycled sticks? Well, just place them on the edge of the platform to generate a connection with the floor of the cage.
4. Hammock for rats
Another similarity that house rats share with hamsters is the taste for swinging If you have already had the opportunity to observe how these rodents they exercise by getting in and out of their little hammock, have fun playing inside or simply enjoy a nice nap suspended in the air, you certainly know that this is a beautiful complement for the cageof a house rat.
Although you can find hammocks for hamsters and rats in pet stores, we want to suggest you recycle some old garment and transform it into a beautiful toy for your rodent. To do it, you will need to have a garment, scissors, some ribbons, a needle and sewing line.
First, you must choose the garment you want to recycle and make sure it is clean before you use it. The ideal is to opt for firm and resistant fabrics, which do not fray easily, such as polar fleece or pure cotton garments. Then, using scissors, you must cut a rectangle that is proportional to the size of your rodent. Remember that the rat must be able to move, lie down and stretch out in its hammock, to enjoy it better.
With the cut rectangle, you will take the needle and the line to sew a ribbon on each end of the hammock. At the end of this step, you will be able to place your house rat's homemade hammock in its cage, tying the ribbons on the bars of your choice. If you want to improve the finish and give more security, you can add small carabiners to better secure the hammock to the bars.
In this video Gia shows you how to make a somewhat more complex rat hammock:
5. Puzzle or hideout for house rats
Rats love their hiding places, where they can play, rest and observe their cage while feeling safe and calm. Once again, we can take advantage of the versatility of cardboard boxes to make a puzzle-hiding place for our rodents. On this occasion, we will need a cardboard box with a lid, and that has a size and depth that will allow your rat to enter, exit and move inside.. You should also have a cutter or scissors, and some toys for domestic rats.
The making of this puzzle for rats is very simple: you just need to cut some holes in the lid and put some toys that are of the pleasure of your rat inside the box. You can also "hide" some treats among her toys, to encourage her to look for them. If you prefer, you can also make a cardboard ball, make holes just like in the lid of the box, and place toys and treats inside. Balls give rats more mobility, so they can be more fun.
These have been some ideas of homemade games and toys for domestic rats. Do you have other alternatives to enrich the cage of your rats? Well share your ideas in the comments and help us learn more and better games for domestic rats.
