Toys

All rats need toys, whether they are old or young. Toys keep them interested when you are not around to play with them. You dont need to go to the pet store to buy toys, there are tons of homemade ones that are simple and easy.

1. Fishing for Peas

1. Find a shallow dish or container.

Add some water, smooth rocks, and shells. *Note* don't add too much water, be sure that it is shallow.

Add frozen peas and corn.

Rats love to search for peas in the water, and it is good for days that are really hot in the summer.

2. Hammocks!!

Make a hammock out of soft fleece. Rats love to lounge around on hammocks with their buddies!

The dimensions that I find the best are 12in x 17in. This fits about 3 male rats and 4 female rats.

Take your piece of fabric (already cut to the needed length) and cut holes in each of the four corners. Thread some yarn through the holes and tie them to the sides of the cage. You can also tie the yarn to a wooden dowel and pull it tight to make a shelf.

3. Hide and Seek

Wrap a treat in a paper towel. Hide the treat in a toilet paper tube. Push the end of the tube inwards to make the treat hard to get.

Rats love to push and pry apart the tube to find the treat.

4. Digging Box

Make your rat a digging box! Digging boxes are basically a rat garden for them to munch on and frolic around in. There are many versions of how to make these:

Get a reasonably sized tub, about 12 x 12. Fill it halfway with sterilized soil (unsterilized soil can have bugs and germs that are unhealthy for your rat). Now here come the different versions.

ver.1

Sprinkle some bird seed in the soil and water. After a few days, the seeds should sprout.

ver.2

Plant wheat grass or oat grass in the soil. Wait a couple days until they beging to grow.

ver.3

Buy some seeds from a garden shop(sunflowers, spinach, carrot, other veggies) and plant.

ver.4

Toss some rat food into the soil. Believe it or not, the food will begin to grow!

All of these versions work, though I prefer the wheat grass. I suggest not watering the plants a few days before you give it to your rats, or else mud goes everywhere.

5. Cheerio Necklace

Take a piece of yarn or string and tie a few knots on the end so the cheerios wont slip off. Then string the cheerios on, like beads on a necklace. Hang it from the top of your rat's cage.

The Pushable Breakable Eatable Edible Hardboiled Egg

There is tons of fun that can be had with... an egg!!! It's really quite simple. Heres how it works.

Hard boil an egg.

Hit it gently on a surface, so that there is a small crack.

Give it to your rat.

At first you will probably have to prompt them and help them crack a bit of the shell. Soon they will figure out "Yum theres food in here!" and probably will start eating like crazy. It is a really fun treat for your rats as they pry open the shell and goble down the contents.

Rat Maze

Make your rat(s) a maze! Rats are very smart animals, experts on learning how to navigate through mazes. It really isn't as hard as it sounds. One way is to use all boxes. You can stack some on top of eachother, some beside, etc..., cutting holes making them big enough to slip one box into another(I recomend making it so that you can take the maze apart). Or you can use blocks and make a twisty mazy for them to go through. MAke sure to add treats along the way so that they don't get bored/discouraged.