With the abundance of unsafe items that line the shelves, we often have to be creative in what we use and put inside our rats' cages for both enrichment and comfort purposes. Oftentimes, items marketed for other animals, or objects not even advertised towards animals at all, can make great additions to a cage layout. IKEA, thrift stores, dollar stores, and secondhand sites will be your best friend in finding these accessories! These will not only help to offer more enrichment, activity, and comfort to the cage layout, but also more texture variety, which is ideal within keeping a rat cage stimulating.
Accessories Made for Rats:
Hammocks
Hammocks advertised for rats are perfect additions to a cage to add some comfort; While some rats chew them to no end, others can appreciate a comfortable place to hang out. Be sure hammocks are made from fleece or 100% cotton, other fabrics are not safe! These are easily crafted using a sewing machine, crochet skillls, or no-sew method as more cost affective alternatives.
Log hides/bridges
These can be very enriching and very useful in regards to offering texture variety and incorporating natural textures into your cage. Oftentimes you will want to get the sizes advertised for guinea pigs, as the ones advertised for rats or hamsters are usually not large enough.
Sputniks/Space pods
Savic sputniks and Lixit space pods (depending on your location one will be more expensive than the other) are often great additions to your rats' cage, and while they can be messy and collect urine, this can be resolved by using nesting materials to line the bottom (some even drill a hole into the base to allow for "drainage" but this isn't sanitary imo!). These have multiple entrances to deter fighting and allowing them to hang their heads out of many angles. Once again, and very commonly with items advertised for rats, these can be small; I would not suggest anything besides the XL/Extra large size, anything else is a bit too small, but that is just my opinion.
Lava ledges
Crafted from hardened lava, these natural mineral based perches make for the perfect chew and perch combination, and act as a great way to offer texture variety in your rat cage. While these can help to keep nails generally trim, they do very well serving as opportunities to chew and jump. These do wonderful under water bottles and rats often love to lay on them (especially during hot days!). Should they break, or arrive to you broken (which I'd then suggest arranging a refund as well) you can use these as chews on the cage base. These can be pricey, but if you are handy you could make them yourself.
Accessories Made for Other Pets:
Seagrass mats (for reptiles or birds)
These are an ideal way to offer natural texture and provide good coverage making it a suitable fall breaker and great cage filler. Quite cheap when advertised for birds and reptiles (do not use these for lizards with toenails!) these are very useful in a rat cage. Bunnings (Australia) and Makeyourownbirdtoys,com (US, global shipping) offer the best prices for seagrass.
Hay/willow rabbit hides
Contrary to popular belief, hay is a perfectly suitable and safe way to offer your rats enrichment and natural textures; They make hay hides and tunnels for rabbits that rats often love! These offer variety in texture but also a place to sleep, and a nice material for chewing and nesting. Willow hides and tunnels are also great, and can even be hung up in the cage (or just used on the ground as a base tunnel or burrow starter).
Bird toys (foraging and chewing)
Bird toys are amazing for rats, and often much more affordable in comparison. Wood, rattan, loofah, acrylic foraging toys and various other bird toys are ideal options for your rats. They make an abundance of foraging toys (wheels, hanging toys, etc) for birds that are very beneficial and stimulating for rats.
Cat hammocks
These are very large and often can be found for great prices on amazon; Very useful in a rat cage when working to remove dividing levels and shelves and provide room for more enrichment and activity while providing a proper fall breaker to prevent serious injuries.
Dog ropes/leashes
Often found in dollar stores for great prices (or pet stores during discount sales) dog ropes are amazing in comparison to ropes advertised for birds and rats; They are large and can be attached to the cage using zip ties or carabiner clips, offering thick and durable ropes for your rats to balance and climb on.
Bird ladders, ropes, and perches
Wooden bird perches, ladders, and bird ropes make for great additions to any rat cage! Be mindful that many do have a metal wire inside, so remove when fabrics begin to fray. These can easily be made with natural wood trimmings and hardware fixtures, these offer great natural textures for rats!
Ferret litter boxes
While often not large enough for ferrets, these are often ideal for smaller pets like rats! Corner trays help to fill space in the cage (corners can be espeically tricky ime) and also offer frequent areas to use the washroom and encourage them to focus their bathroom habits to specific areas. Rats are also known to most often use the washroom in the cage corner anyway, as this is often where they feel safest doing business, so these are often most successful in litter training overall. If they're available to you, I always suggest the Kaytee Hi-Corner Ferret Litter Boxes as they are very strong and can be hung up independently (without the support of a level) just by the hangers on the back, and even support the weight of pee rocks as well. 1 litter box for every 2-3 rats (depending on their size) is ideal if they are litter trained; A good cheaper alternative for those looking would be a bin hung up with litter inside instead of nesting materials or a blanket.
It is very important to know that many of the items advertised for pets are actually extremely overpriced; Below is a list of random items that you can often find in stores like IKEA, dollar stores, and thrift stores, as well as items that may just be laying around in your home that you aren't aware can serve another purpose!
Miscellaneous/Random Househould Items:
Tie hangers/Scarf organizers
These are awesome additions to any rat cage as they make for a great climbing accessory and offer opportunities for activity. You can hang toys off them, and you can break dangerous fall in the cage by stretching them across the cage! They can be attached together (by the hooks, carabiners, or by pipe cleaners) and made even longer, and can even be cut into longer circle ropes.
Be sure to avoid any paper ones, often advertised for birds, as these are commonly made with a very thin metal wire inside that can cause serious and even fatal injuries to your rats; IKEA has the best tie hangers, see below for more information on these.
Bins/baskets
Commonly readily available at dollar stores, plastic baskets intended for desk organizing are often very beneficial to rat cages, and a very cheap way to offer sleeping spots and fill cage space. Line with nesting materials or offer a blanket inside, but be sure to wipe these down and replace anything in them regularly to prevent urine buildup.
Wine racks
These wooden structures are used to hold wine bottles, however as innovative as rat owners are, we are now seeing many people use these inside the cage to offer more activity, texture variety, enrichment, and filler. These are amazing at filling wall space, and can even be used to attach other things to, such as ropes, nets, tie hangers, etc.
Lengths of natural rope or twine
You can most often purchase many types of ropes all of various thicknesses by the metre/foot at your local hardware stores, these make for great quality materials to make ropes and nets by hand! You will want natural ropes such as 100% cotton, sisal, manila, jute, hemp, or coconut fibre; Avoid ropes such as paradors and other synthetic materials intended for outdoor use as these are treated and sealed with harmful toxic chemicals that are meant to protect them from the elements. 2.5mm twine is best for toys and small nets, as well as bridges; 5mm is best for larger nets, and 1in.+ are great for extra large nets and weaved/braided ropes.
Bamboo garden edging
Very cost effective and durable in comparison to bridges advertised for birds and chickens. A great way to fill cage space in large cages like Midwest Double Critter Nation’s and Savic Suites; Very enriching and offers a natural chewable texture!
Recyclables/DIY
Cardboard boxes, tubes, various paper items like egg cartons and paper cups, can all be recycled to make toys, hides, and even just be tossed in the cage and act as chewing enrichment. Pringles cans (remove the plastic linings inside) are great for tubes/tunnels and can be hung up to the side of the cage, cardboard boxes can be cut and even built using cardboard scraps and hot glue! Not everything has to be so expensive, however be sure you are replacing regularly as cardboard gets messy fast!
IKEA/Thrift store products:
Komplement tie hangers
Arguably the safest option in terms of tie hangers, this brand is extremely popular, versatile, and durable when used in a rat cage. They are surprisingly incredibly strong, and can even withstand heavy chewers for some time; With plastic hoops and a very thick metal bar at the hook, this is a very safe and very effective cage filler and fall breaker for rats! These are one of my favourite things to use in a rat cage, they can be seen in almost every single one of my set ups.
Knagglig wooden baskets
These come in two sizes, the smaller of the two make for a fantastic addition to larger cages like the Midwest Critter Nation cages; Made from treated pine and extremely durable, these are also very pleasing and can feed a naturalistic look without costing too much. These also have a much less strict cleaning regime, as you are to soak these every 1-2 weeks and simply replace nesting materials/liners as needed (daily/every few days).
Hutten wine racks
These are large fixtures intended to be used to hold wine bottles (though I wouldn't trust them for such a fragile purpose) but can be used and are well loved in rat cages across the globe! The design allows for the wine rack to act as an amazing climbing structure for activity and texture variety purposes, and these can even be used to hang other items off of (half inch to one inch circular shower hooks are safe when used in a way in which the rats cannot get their head through them) such as tie hangers and seagrass mats! Overall, a very good choice, most especially if you are looking to fill your cage quickly.
Pennfisk baskets
While small, and seemingly flimsy at first, these are actually great if you can hang them up with wallet chains! My young males especially love lounging in them and eating their snacks in them; Otherwise they hold nesting materials like hay and shredded newspaper and also offer a more natural texture.
Byholma whicker baskets
Very large and very well made, this is a great addition to your cage if it can fit inside the layout! Perfect for replacing plastic bins/baskets as they don't need wiped down daily and rather soaked and washed on a weekly/biweekly basis. Line with nesting materials or offer a blanket inside for comfort and your rats will likely enjoy snoozing inside!
Veriera plastic bag dispensers
Unconventional, but extremely durable and a great size for rats! This plastic bag dispenser allows for smaller and younger rats to crawl through the small holes and will act as a great climbing accessory and space filler (you can also attach various accessories to this as well, once again using carabiner clips or circular shower hooks) and is best used on the cage top or sides. Do not worry about them getting stuck, if they cannot fit through the holes then they will learn!
Ostbit plate racks
Best used on the side of the cage alternatively to small pet perches, these offer great texture variety and activity to any cage layout. Smaller and young rats will love zooming across these and using them to reach other areas of the cage!
*Some of the items above list clear lacquer as a material; Please note that this is poisonous only when it is consumed/swallowed in large quantities. If your rats are extremely heavy chewers, it may be best to consider 100% natural materials.
*Never use unidentified wooden items inside the cage!
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