Set-ups suitable for very old and/or disabled rats

[Muskrat]

For "retirement" cages, as well as normal cages adapted to be oldie/broken rat suitable.


Ours! Currently home to a 30ish month old boy awaiting a companion. He can't climb very well so the emphasis is on floor space rather than upwards activities, though he can manage short gaps between shelves and hammocks.

The cage is a 150x80(ish)cm C&C cage.







There's some tubes on the floor under the big hammock and a couple of boxes under the shelves. The blanket on the big hammock is because he likes to burrow!

[Muskrat]

Here are a couple of old SRS set-ups for HLD boys.

[acapae_wolf]

Duetto without the middle. For a group which includes an old/ ill girl with limited mobility - still able to climb a bit, but not very far at once, and frequently falls off perchy/ rope things. The substrate is a bit deeper than usual too (although usually fairly deep) to act as a cushion.

Whole thing


Bottom from the left; the seagrass weave tube is usually vertical for a variation in vertical climbing texture. It's now at a slight angle so as to provide some climbing that's accessible to all.


Bottom left; blue bowl in the wire rack is a small litter tray.


Bottom right; extendable Marchioro shelf across the middle as Orb can only manage to climb to the height of halfway up the door before getting suck. There are little perches on both the bottom doors for the same 'breather' reason also. Black shelf is from an SRS. Small climbs between the shelves so as to encourage managable chunks of climbing. The younger/ more active members of the group bounce from floor to SRS shelf to Marchioro shelf.


Top; there's a small wooden perch and bit of Ferplast modular perch back left/ drifting into the middle that can't be seen.


Top right; the cargo net ladder from the bottom to the top of the cage. It passes over a Ferplast corner shelf, which for the active is another bounce up. Blue wire waste paper bin is a basket full of hay. Alternately used for foraging (filled with hay already) and for making nests in (hay has to be brought up by them).


From the roof door; spiral perch on one side and one end of the supported rope on the right are the only toys that fit through the weird little holes in the apex panels. Good for encouraging use of the roof - I can make it very climby as Orb doesn't want to go higher than bed (but she won't sleep lower).


Sorry for all the photos, I find it quite hard to take photos that show all the various routes and things in one.

[acapae_wolf]

Modifications on [a previous layout] for Brie (nearly 24 months, progressive brain tumour)

Bottom left


Bottom right - Esk isn't that fat really!


Side on - I've since opened the bottom of the plastic bag holder


Whole thing

[izzerie]

I did this one this evening for Horatio; he has some mobility issues but I don't think it's HLD as he doesn't have any problems walking, standing on his two back legs or balancing whilst using his front paws. When he walks it's almost like he can't get his heels on the floor. I noticed over the last couple of weeks he'd been largely sticking to the floor of the cage so I decided it was, unfortunately, time for a less challenging layout. Horatio is 28months old and lives in half an explorer with his 17month old cage mate Atlas.

Here's the layout:



And here's Horatio proving, that with a little help, he can still climb

[acapae_wolf]

I guess this can go here as well. The two rats mentioned in the above post were previously in the lower section of a Speedy. They moved as VetBed as needed (and I didn't have enough for the Speedy) rather than any other reason.

Speedy layout for 2x 28 months and 2x 21 months (one of the oldies is a buck, the other three are spayed does)

[izzerie]

This is a set up for Artie (almost 28months with limited mobility and HLD) and Oli (18months and fit as a fiddle):

Well after two and half hours, lots of fretting and worrying I think I've managed to get something. It's quite challenging but I've pulled all the hammocks as taut as possible and made sure that there is a direct route to and from everything. I've also tried to cover any long drops as well. I hope it's the right balance between helping Artie to get around, encouraging him to stay active and providing fun for Oli!

Here are some pics:

Front on view:



Left hand side with view of lower hammock:


There's two ropes right next to each other to make them thicker for him, he loves lounging on his ropes


Right hand side:


The square hammock is higher than the one on the left but the idea is he gets to it through the tunnel from the lower left hammock on the wooden ladder in the middle.


Artie's special hole in the box so he can negotiate the gap between the IKEA box and the door:



The finished article, with a chunky wooden bridge and plank hammock included (that bit is a big challenge for Artie and I may rethink or take it out if I see him really struggling with it):

[izzerie]

This is a rabbit 100 and is home to Rosie (32months), Annie (31months), Fraser and Bentley (both 30months).

Front on view:



Back left corner. Through clever use of chains, clips and cable ties, I have manage to pull the hammocks super tight:



Back left corner from higher perspective:



Left hand side. I have already moved the back of the chunky ladder down as it wasn't much use for them higher up:



Back right corner showing the ladder leading to the cheezwedge:



Back right corner, higher perspective. There's plenty of floor space for bowls of noms under the cheezwedge and only the right hand side of the cage:



View from above. Thought the hammock in the front right might be a little tricky but we'll see....



Fraser managed it!



And so did Annie!



Rosie likes her new home:



And Bentley is very excited:

[izzerie]

This is my hamster heaven, set up for the recently introduced Huckleberry (31months) and Salt (26months).

The cage front on (they had fruit tea in one of their bottles that day!). There's a sleeping area to the left, a "play" area to the right and the food and water is at the front.




Closer view of the cage. The thick branch in the middle is designed to help them into the top of the hammock but I haven't seen either of them use it yet; I think Salt could do it but he prefers to curl up with Huckleberry- it's a proper bromance . It also has rope and wood for Huckleberry to play with….




…along with this special play corner! Huckleberry can't climb anymore but he LOVES hanging toys! He loves to knock them with his paws and his head, he loves to chew them and he often uses them to pull himself up into a more standing position so he can chew higher up. He regularly visits his little corner and has a play! I've tried to vary the textures a bit, one of the toys has wood and soft rope, one has bamboo and tougher rope and another has bells on it for noisy fun! I might have caught the quiet and shy Salt playing with the toys on more than one occasion…

[acapae_wolf]

Furet XL set up for Fen (buck, 31 months), and Talla (spayed doe, 26 months). Both are very active still, to the point where I'm struggling to keep weight on Fen because despite his HLD he keeps doing things with his shoulder muscles, rather than slithering about or spending longer in bed. Talla also has mild HLD now, but not mobility-limiting inside the cage.



Fen's fur is super patchy now and so a lot of spare energy is going on warmth, thus all their beds are at least partially enclosed. The stool back-left has teabag bedding and hay in, as does the tube (which has been squashed) back right has some too. The fleecey bits in the middle have been chucked out of the cube at the front, and there's also a heatmat under the cage base in that corner (although it's not currently on). The cardboard is still really deep to maximise foraging as both of them seem to have the 'gliding over the top' form of HLD rather than the 'swimming through' form which makes loose substrate challenging.


The SRS shelf has a little bit of card on to absorb small amounts of liquid, but not enough so as to make the footing challenging. DE1 bottle is up there to encourage a small amount of bar climbing.


I've still got the intentional gap between the bamboo stairs and the litter tray as that's a full height bar climb should they wish. The pocket on the top of the plammock is quite challenging for Fen to get into, but they both really enjoy snoozling up there during the day.