Meet My Pet Rats

Freerange playtime is so important for the ratties. First because it’s great exercise. Rats can get big and squishy and overweight pretty easily, so letting them run around a little each day helps them stay in shape. But also they’re very curious animals. Being in a cage all day can get extremely boring for them, and when they’re bored they become destructive. By giving them some time to explore and use their brains they stay in a happy mood.

Here’s what I do to give my boys some time to play in a safe, enclosed area. Everyone does playtime differently, but this works best for me. I block off the kitchen and lay random “toys” around on the floor. You can see in the picture below how I block the doors off. I got 2 sheets of “hardboard” from the hardware store and then I prop heavy objects against them to keep them from moving. The toys are mostly just cardboard boxes, other empty containers, and things that roll around. They love to crawl and climb over (and under) everything - including me. They get to run around for about 45 minutes a night before going back to the cage for dinner. Here are the two pictures: