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Choosing a rat cage: size, bar spacing, and safe setup
A good rat cage is more than just an enclosure with bars. Rats are social, intelligent, and active animals that enjoy climbing, sleeping in hammocks, creating routes, lying together, dodging, sniffing, and foraging. Therefore, you choose a rat cage not only based on size, but especially on usable space, height, ventilation, bar spacing, ease of cleaning, and interior design.
At DRD Knaagdierwinkel®, we view the rat cage as the foundation of daily care. DRD selects products and advice not only based on whether they are “large enough,” but primarily on product fit: does the cage suit social rats, safe routes, low-dust rat bedding , hammocks , tunnels and tubes , platforms and ladders , toilets, pee pads, and Ratscaping ? This way, you choose a cage that not only looks good but also truly works in practice.
✓ In short: the LICG recommends a cage of at least 100 × 50 × 70 cm (length × width × height) for two rats; larger is preferable, especially for a larger group.
✓ For every additional rat, the LICG recommends 20% extra floor space. Therefore, view the minimum size as a lower limit, not as a luxury.
✓ Make height safely usable with platforms, ladders, tunnels, hammocks, and multiple routes.
Quick links:
Where do you start? · Size & LICG guidelines · Bar spacing · Safe routes · Sleeping areas · Floor & hygiene · Ratscaping · Checklist · Handy shopping routes · FAQ
Specific advice
Use a minimum of 100 × 50 × 70 cm for two rats as a lower limit, and preferably choose a larger size.
Safe bars
The bar spacing must suit your rats, especially young, small, or slender animals.
Practical cleaning
Large doors, removable parts, toilets, and urinals make care easier.
Where do you start when choosing a rat cage?
Start with your group of rats and your daily routine. How many rats do you want to keep? Are they young rats, adult rats, or an existing group? Do you have room for a taller cage? Can you easily reach all corners to clean? And can you set up the cage so that your rats can safely climb, sleep, eat, drink, play, and take cover?
Therefore, you should not choose a rat cage in isolation from the interior design. A spacious cage without routes, hammocks, or platforms works less well than a cage where the space has been made truly usable. So, consider the cage, bedding, hammocks, tunnels, platforms, litter boxes, and cleaning simultaneously.
Starting questions for your choice
✓ How many rats will live in the cage?
✓ Is the cage for two rats at least 100 × 50 × 70 cm?
✓ Is there extra floor space with more than two rats?
✓ Are they young, small, slender, or adult rats?
✓ Is the bar spacing appropriate and safe?
✓ Can you easily check and clean the cage daily?
Also start with: What do you need for rats? · Rat as a pet
Size and LICG guideline for a rat cage
According to the LICG, a rat cage for two rats is at least 100 × 50 × 70 cm (length × width × height). For each additional rat, the LICG recommends 20% extra floor space. Therefore, use this size as a minimum, not as a luxury. Larger is preferable, especially when keeping multiple rats or planning to use extensive furnishings.
Do not focus solely on the external dimensions of the cage. A good rat cage has sufficient horizontal space for movement as well as usable height. Rats enjoy climbing, but they remain animals that move across the floor, forage, and need to be able to pass each other. Height is therefore valuable, but it does not replace good floor space.
Moreover, accessories take up space. Hammocks, houses, feeding areas, litter boxes, tunnels, and foraging products must fit without the cage becoming cluttered and disorganized. Therefore, it is better to choose a cage in which the furnishings fit comfortably and where there is still plenty of room to move around and climb.
Assessing size in practice
✓ Is the cage for two rats at least 100 × 50 × 70 cm?
✓ Is approximately 20% extra floor space available for every additional rat?
✓ Can your rats rest in multiple places without blocking each other?
✓ Is there room for multiple hammocks, tunnels, and routes?
✓ Can food, water, toilet, and sleeping areas be logically distributed?
✓ Does the cage remain practically easy to clean?
Bar spacing on a rat cage
The bar spacing is an important safety factor. Young rats, small rats, and slender rats, in particular, can more easily get through bars that are too wide. Therefore, always check the product specifications and choose a cage suitable for the animals that will be living in it.
Are you hesitating between two cages? Then it is better to choose the safer option with a suitably finer bar spacing. Also pay attention to the doors, latches, and any openings around the base, roof, or accessories. Rats are curious and quickly investigate what they can get through.
Bar spacing check
✓ Is the bar spacing suitable for young, small, or slender rats?
✓ Are doors, latches, and corners properly sealed?
✓ Are there no wide openings around accessories, the roof, or the bottom tray?
✓ Is the cage sturdy enough for climbing and exploring rats?
✓ Do you re-check the cage when young rats grow or when you change the layout?
Creating safe routes in a rat cage
Rats think in terms of routes. They walk, climb, jump short distances, crawl through tunnels, and use hammocks as resting places or staging posts. Therefore, create multiple safe routes through the cage so that rats do not have to use a single steep or high route repeatedly.
A good route has intermediate steps. Think of a platform to a tunnel, a tunnel to a hammock, a hammock to a ladder, and a ladder to a resting place. This way, the height of the cage becomes usable without creating unnecessary tripping hazards.
Building routes safely
✓ Create multiple routes between the ground, platforms, and hammocks.
✓ Use tunnels, tubes, ladders, bridges, and wide intermediate stations.
✓ Also hang hammocks smartly as a soft intermediate layer or a landing spot.
✓ Avoid long, steep routes without a place to rest.
✓ Regularly check suspension points, ladders, and platforms for sturdiness.
View now: Rat Platforms & Ladders · Rat Tunnels & Tubes · Rat Cage Accessories
Sleeping areas, hammocks, and rest zones
Rats like to sleep together, but they also want to be able to switch places. Therefore, it is wise to offer multiple sleeping and resting spots. Hammocks are often a favorite, but houses, baskets, cushions, tunnels, and soft zones can also be pleasant.
Use resting places at different heights and locations in the cage. This allows rats to lie together, but also to distance themselves when necessary. However, keep a close eye on fabric parts, as hammocks and baskets can trap urine odor.
Choosing resting places
✓ Offer multiple hammocks or sleeping places.
✓ Combine high resting places with low hiding places.
✓ Ensure that rats can easily enter and exit resting places.
✓ Check hammocks for odor, holes, loose threads, and wear.
✓ Keep spare hammocks ready so you can switch to clean ones.
View now: Rat Hammocks · Rat Houses · Rat Nesting Material, Cushions & Baskets
Ground cover, toilets and cleaning
In practice, a rat cage works better when the bedding and hygiene are properly addressed from the start. Rats have sensitive airways. The LICG therefore stipulates that bedding must be dust-free. At DRD, we prefer low-dust bedding for rats and avoid fine sand or chinchilla sand in the rat cage.
In addition to dust, pay attention to absorption, odor, moisture, and whether you can easily identify wet spots. Rats often have fixed urination spots. Toilets and pee mats can help to better manage these spots. This makes cleaning easier and helps to reduce odor.
Soil and hygiene check
✓ Is the bedding low enough dust for rats?
✓ Can you easily recognize and remove wet spots?
✓ Is there room for a toilet bowl or permanent toilet corner?
✓ Can pee mats be used on platforms or resting areas?
✓ Does the cage remain well-ventilated and not too humid?
Read more: Rat bedding selection guide · Cleaning a rat cage · Litter training rats
Decorating a rat cage with Ratscaping
Ratscaping helps to make the rat cage more natural and functional. You create zones for sleeping, routes, foraging, gnawing, drinking, eating, a toilet, and possibly a digging or sniffing area. The goal is not to fill the cage, but to use the space more intelligently.
When ratscaping a rat cage, safety remains paramount. Ensure that components are stable or suspended, that there are no sharp edges, and that cleaning points remain accessible. An attractive setup must also remain practical for daily checks.
Ratscaping in the cage
✓ Create routes with tunnels, platforms, ladders, and hammocks.
✓ Create multiple sleeping and resting areas.
✓ Add foraging spots where you can hide small rewards.
✓ Use a rat-suitable digging box as a separate sniffing zone, not as a sand bath.
✓ Always keep cleaning, ventilation, and safety practically feasible.
Read more: Ratscaping for beginners · Ratscaping products · Rat burrow selection guide
Checklist: Is this rat cage right?
Use this checklist before choosing or redecorating a cage. This way, you consider not only the size, but also safety, usability, and daily care.
Rat cage checklist
✓ The cage for two rats is at least 100 × 50 × 70 cm.
✓ Additional floor space is available for more than two rats.
✓ The bar spacing is suitable for young, small, slender, or adult rats.
✓ The height has been made safely usable with platforms, ladders, tunnels, and hammocks.
✓ There are multiple sleeping places, resting areas, and alternative options.
✓ There is room for low-dust bedding, a toilet, pee pads, and cleaning.
✓ The cage remains clear enough for daily checks.
Good to know regarding safety
✓ Regularly check the suspension points of hammocks, tunnels, ladders, and platforms for sturdiness.
✓ Avoid high fall points without an intermediate station, hammock, or safe route.
✓ Watch out for sharp edges, broken parts, loose strings, and damaged coatings.
✓ Place the cage in a quiet place with good ventilation, away from drafts, direct sunlight, or heat sources.
✓ Do not use chinchilla sand or fine sand as a sand bath for rats, as rats have sensitive airways.
Useful shopping routes for a rat cage
A rat cage is only complete with the right setup. Follow these routes to build the cage logically, step by step.
Read more about rat cages and setup
Do you want to be sure that the cage suits your rats and your care routine? Then also read the additional information pages on basic necessities, Ratscaping, bedding, and cleaning.
What do you need for rats? · Rats as pets · Ratscaping for beginners · Rat bedding selection guide · Cleaning a rat cage
Frequently asked questions about choosing a rat cage
What is the minimum size a rat cage needs to be?
The LICG recommends a cage of at least 100 × 50 × 70 cm (length × width × height) for two rats. Additional floor space is required for each extra rat. Consider this a lower limit: larger is better, especially if you want to properly furnish the cage with hammocks, platforms, tunnels, litter boxes, and foraging areas.
What should you look for in a rat cage?
Pay attention to space, height, ventilation, bar spacing, doors, ease of cleaning, and whether you can safely furnish the cage with platforms, ladders, tunnels, hammocks, and resting places.
Is height important for a rat cage?
Yes, rats like to climb and actively use height. However, that height must be safely usable with routes, intermediate stations, hammocks, platforms, and ladders.
What is more important: floor area or height?
Both are important. Floor area provides basic space, and height offers additional possibilities for climbing, sleeping, and routes. The best cage combines sufficient horizontal space with safe, usable height.
What bar spacing is suitable for rats?
That depends on your rats. Young, small, or slender rats need a safer, finer bar spacing than larger adult rats. Always check the product specifications.
How do you set up a rat cage safely?
Create multiple routes with platforms, ladders, tunnels, and hammocks. Avoid high fall points without intermediate stations and check suspension points regularly.
How many sleeping places do rats need?
It is better to offer multiple sleeping places. Rats like to sleep together, but also want to be able to switch or move around. Combine hammocks, houses, baskets, and tunnels.
What kind of bedding belongs in a rat cage?
For rats, choose low-dust bedding that suits your cage, group, and cleaning routine. Pay attention to absorption, odor, dust, and whether you can easily remove wet spots.
Do rats need a sand bath in the cage?
No, rats do not need a sand bath like chinchillas or degus. Do not use chinchilla sand or fine sand for rats, as fine dust can be harsh on their sensitive airways.
How do you keep a rat cage clean?
Use low-dust bedding, litter boxes, pee pads, and daily spot cleaning. Wash hammocks regularly and check for wet spots, food residue, and sources of odor.
Choosing a rat cage at DRD Knaagdierwinkel®
At DRD Knaagdierwinkel®, we help you choose a rat cage that suits pet rats and daily use. Not just big on paper, but practical, safe, easy to furnish, and logically combined with bedding, hammocks, tunnels, platforms, litter boxes, pee pads, and Ratscaping.
✓ Selection aid for LICG size advice, bar spacing, routes, resting places, and cleaning
✓ Direct routes to rat cages, hammocks, tunnels, platforms, and bedding
✓ Extra attention to low-dust choices, ventilation, and sensitive airways
✓ No sand bath or chinchilla sand positioning for rats
✓ Specialist since 2011
✓ Delivered from our own stock
