Drug Treatment Table 'B'

A commonly asked question for many new rat and mice owners is "what sort of cage is needed" and "how much room is necessary".

Three types of cages are available - wooden cages, e.g., bird breeder boxes; glass/plastic cages, e.g., aquariums; and wire cages, e.g., bird flight cages. Any wire on cages should be half an inch square mesh to prevent escape. Narrow wire mesh may cause broken feet. Wire shelves are not recommended as these can cause sores and infections on rats' feet (shelves can be covered in thick paper towels, lino, unprinted cardboard or butcher's paper). Wire should be powder coated or stainless steel. Galvanised wire can poison a rat. Wooden cages may smell and rats may chew this type of cage. Plastic and glass cages have poor ventilation. Aquariums should have a wire top for ventilation. Poor ventilation can lead to respiratory illness.

Mice require housing with a minimum of 70cm square of floor space (2 foot square) is a good size to aim for. This, in fact could house 2 to 8 mice. It is not necessary for the floor space to be on one level so that cages with a smaller base but several levels are also good. Longer and thinner cages provide more room to run. Mice like to be able to reach up on their hind legs and so a minimum height for a cage is about 20cm.

Rats being larger, of course, require a greater space. The minimum space required for 1-2 rats is 90cm by 30cm by 30cm (3 feet x 1foot x 1foot). Again, as with mice, multiple levels are fine, so a cage may have a smaller base and multiple levels to give good floor space.

With both rats and mice the cage sizes given are adequate, however it is often relatively cheap to give them a little more space. The animals will enjoy the extra space - it gives them room to get away from other animals and have a little peace. A larger cage allows you room to put extra toys and "furniture' to increase your pets entertainment. Both rats and mice love climbing so the cage type and the use of multiple levels can allow them to do this. It also keeps them fit. Be careful to place cages out of cold drafts as this can have bad effects on the animals health.

The size of your pets cage can be less important if you allow your pets some "out of cage" time. It is fairly common for rats and mice to be allowed some out-of-cage time to run around in a room or apartment/house. In fact some owners will let the animals have access out of their cage all the time.

There are some considerations that must be thought about before animals are allowed to run freely in a house. The most important of these is the attraction that mice and rats have for chewing electrical cords. This poses a safety problem for both you and your animal: electrocution for your pet and an increased risk of an electrical fire for the owner. The easiest way to overcome this problem is to remove electrical cords (and telephone cables) from the animals access. Another possibility is to buy corrugated split conduit from an electrical store to cover wires. This conduit cost ~$2.50 per metre. These electrical dangers may also be encountered in the motors of fridges and freezer which have openings at the back. These should be covered with mesh. Rats and mice are chewers and will gnaw just about anything given time. Owners with free range animals must expect some damage to possessions such as linen, furniture, carpets etc if the animals are left unattended.

The area animals can access can be confined by placing the cage on a tall table or dresser or by keeping a door closed to their room. Owner's may worry about droppings and urine being left behind when animals are allowed out. I have personally found that very little is left outside the cage. The droppings also are fairly dry when dropped so they can easily be disposed of and do no usually stain. There are three main types of cages available for rats and mice. These are Wooden, Plastic, Glass & Wire. All have disadvantages and advantages so it is really up to the owner to choose what best suits their situation.