rat home

 To make a home worthy of the refined tastes of Sir Hugo and his life partner Vinnie...

 

 After months of searching I found the perfect cabinet on Kijiji for $50.

 

 Supplies:  Staple gun, wire cutters, pliers, hammer, dollar store duct tape $2 and welded hardware mesh found in the fencing department of Home Hardware  $25, I decided on the 1/4inch  because I thought it looked "cleaner" but you could easily use the  1/2inch.  I also purchased five peel and stick tiles 3 for $1.25 from the dollar store and a tube of clear caulking $2.99.

 I pulled the thin partial board backing from the shelves leaving the wooden "spine" for structural support.  *note* set aside the backing and all nails and do not carelessly leave then on the ground to step on...yeah it hurts.
I used the backing I pulled off and cut the wire mesh to match the size and used heavy staples in my staple gun and stapled the mesh to the back of the cabinet.  I think it looks great :)

 

  I sealed off all areas of the shelving that was not covered with the white laminate using white duct tape.   

For the bottom floor where I plan on keeping the litter and the second floor where their food and water is I used peel and stick laminate tile and sealed all the edges with caulking. 

 I used my neighbors hand held jigsaw to cut at least one opening in each shelf  so the rats can access all levels and sealed the cuts with the white duct tape.

 Then the fun part of decorating.

I used a reusable plastic container for the litter $1,  dish towels for hammocks and snuggle blankets $2,  I screwed in little wall hooks on the celing of the cabinet to hook the hammocks on.  A rope dog toy makes a good ladder $2, a soft dog bowel for a little nest $1, a box I had around the house lined with a scrap of fleece for another nest $0, a square of fake grass for some fun texture $1 (they seem to like it).   From an actual pet store I got a couple wooden ladders $2.99 and $5.99, the neat bendy purple plastic tube $4 (which I doubt they will actually use...but it looks neat)  the food dish that is meant for a bird cage 2 for $4.  Its perfect cause it has hooks on the back that easily attach to the mesh on the cabinet's back.  I do not like having the dishes on the floor as liquids tend to pool under them and get nasty.The water dispenser took some creative thought , I ended up reworking the wire hook that came with the bottle so it would hook onto the mesh of the cabinet back and rigged up a little extra support on the bottom of the bottle with bits found in my basement.

 

  The rats have been living in their new home for a week now and I am happy to report this thing is dead easy to clean.  I use natural baby wipes and wipe the shelves at night when I feed them...done. 

 WHOOT!

**I also picked up a huge plain cage off Kijiji for $40 and I plan on pimping it out with hammocks and stuff and reselling for at least double my purchase price and I am also selling the rat's old cage so I should cover the cost of this cabinet and might even make a tiny profit.