This is my boys cage. Hamish lives in the penthouse suite and Felix and Max live in the lower two sections. This week the cage is green and next week it will be aqua blue. I have fun coordinating the Dapper rat hammocks and sacks http://www.dapper.com.au) with the foofferdomes and towels. The boys also have terracotta pots and plastic nest boxes. All in the cage can be stripped down and washed easily. They have a litter tray in every section. Hamish has a ramp ladder to help him get to the top level of his cage where he mainly sleeps in the hammock. But when the photo was taken he was asleep in his round nest box. Max and Felix have a drain pipe tunnel to get up to their top level but they have a hammock and rock to get down to the bottom section of the cage.

Here is hamish asleep in his round nest box, he had his morning run and was tired.

In the above photos of Felix and Max's sections of the cage you can see Max checking out all the changes I made.

Reggies Cage

	This is the cage Reggie lives in. Really it is big enough for two rats but Reggie enjoys the space and he is quite the bachelor, keeping his cage very clean. It is a converted bird cage. Many have asked how to do this so in the next photo's I will show you how we did this particular cage. The size is 760cm by 450cm. Tools needed a pair of long nose pliers and wire cutters.
	This is the cage stripped down. The thing to remember when you are converting a bird cage is to make sure the bottom of the cage with the bottom grid is secure and the door is large enough. The wider and bigger the door the better. Firstly take the bottom grid from the plastic tray on the bottom of the cage. All we did was lift the bottom grid up to the level in the middle where the supports are and attach it by the hooks to the main supports. Cable ties can help to fix the grid to the main supports. In this cage we used one of the wooden perches provided with the cage to support the front of the grid. Sometimes it is necessary to take the bottom support frame out while you are modifying the cage. You may need a long nose pair of pliers for this to unhook it from the bottom supports. But do not take it out unless you have too.
	Then you carefully cut the grid smoothly to make a hole for going downstairs at the location where you would like the ladder. You can see ours is at the back. You need to cut the wire smoothly so no sharp bits are left to scratch the rats.

	Once you have cut the grid you can then use whatever ladder fits in the cage. I also use the underneath of the grid for hanging a loft.
	Here the plastic tray is back in. I would like to say though these cages once modified are best put on a secure flat surface and not moved around or carried. This one actually can be carried a little but I would not risk carry it a long distance without securing it first.
	Then we cut vinyl to cover the grid on the top level so the rats do not walk on a wire surface. It helps the cage stay clean and wipes down easily. I remove the vinyl every now and then, wash it and allow to fully dry before replacing.
	This is the cage all ready to deck out with towels, hammocks, http://www.dapper.com.au) *snuggle sacks, nest boxes, litter trays, (foofferdomes)* terracotta pots and anything else what a bachelor appartment may need. Or in the case of girls a beautiful bedroom.**

Below are some older photo's of the play area. These are photo's of the girls playing out of the cage. The rats are Forage, Terra and Pixi.

Another toy they enjoy is the Ferrari, which I found at a second hand stall at a market. The Ferrari was originally Monty's but when he passed on he bequeathed it to the girls. He left Norman nothing.

The girls here are Pixi and Genna.

Play Table (new)

Below is the latest play table. It is built around our slow combustions stove. As we live in Queensland you will know that the fire is not very often used so in the warmer weather it is a wasted space. The frame work is poly pipe fitted together and the top is ply wood halved and shaped to go around the chimney. The top is covered with contact and towels are used so they can be taken off and washed. There is a maze of drain pipe which the boys love and different toys and boxes. max and Felix can stay out all the time we are home. Felix loves his wodent wheel and so gets the best use of it on this table. Out plan is to extend the drain pipe up higher and give them a platform on top. It is all easy to disassemble and can free stand if necessary.

The ratties enjoying the play table are a friends rats. That is Rupert in the pipe and you can catch glimpses of the girls Gretel, Regina and Roberta.