rubbermaid bins - need some advice

[Wizwise2000]

I put tonight 2 of my female rats into a 70 litre rubbermaid container. They are not jumbo's and it looks like they could easily jump out. So I'm wondering what size everyones' rubbermaids are that you use in your racks.

I'll be building a rack within the next couple of weeks and I don't want the rats jumping out.

Thanks everyone!
Shane

[mice4you]

We use restaurant trays that are equivalent to the sweater box size rubbermaid. Be careful when using rubbermaid containers. In the past we have had rats chew through the grove that is found half way up the container. Rats are perpetual chewers and will destroy any part of their cage that they could get their teeth into

[Piers]

Without a proper lid rats will/can jump out of almost any container short of a garbabage can.
Piers

[sapphire_moon]

Unless your rats are extremely and absolutely terrified I don't think they will actually try to JUMP out. Climb out maybe, but not jump out. We have some rats in a 10 gal rubbermaid that is about 6-8in tall and whenever I open the lid they just kind of sniff the edges.

Be absolute sure that the inside is as smooth as possible. As well as the sides.

You could also make a "basket" out of 1/4 in hardware cloth to go on the inside so they can't chew the plastic.

I have seen rats jump straight up into the air about 3ft. So if you really don't want them to jump out then get either a really tall cage or garbage can, or fix the lid.

[Auskan]

I used a 55 gallon to begin with. It was about 2' tall and they didn't jump out of that. Then I went to one that is 90 gallon. Its much longer but only about 18" high and again, I've never had any problems with them getting out. I like to give them a lot more space than is popular here as I just don't like the idea of them being crammed into such a small space. With the additional space, I can give them things to play with and then they don't get bored enough to chew on anything.

[mykee]

I'm with Sapphire, when I open up my breeder bins, which are maybe 7" tall, they jsut sort of come up to the edges and sniff around for me. I would just use what you will, lidded of course, and wait for them to settle down; they should.

[Lisa]

i'm using jumbo kitty litter trays but the rats can't jump out cause of the hard ware cloth over the top.

[Batdad]

If you live close to the US the Home depots down there sell what they call concrete/cement-mixing trays. The small ones are about 18”x27”x6” and cost about $5US. The large ones are about 36”x24”x8” and cost about $12US. The small ones are good 1:2 or 1:3 colonies depending on how often you want to clean. I am going to try the bigger one for growing the young out to a bigger size. These things are nice and smooth on the inside and made with a ice thick plastic all round. I looked everywhere in Canada but couldn’t find them up here, go figure?

As for rats jumping, the one to watch are the juveniles. When they are at the juveniles /hopper size their legs seem disproportionately large for their bodies. This seems true of both rats and mice. This results in young that are usually skittish, not to bright (foolishness of youth), and very fast. The skittish part usually comes from lack of handling, they are after all food not pets (sorry if this offends anyone but it’s the truth). So they will jump out of a bin or your hand with out “looking before they leap”, the not to bright part. Never seen an adult do this unless really freaked out. The fast part is a result of large legs with small bodies to propel through space. I think God made them this way to give them a fighting chance at survival in the wild when they are young. These are just something’s I have observed, take it or leave it.

Bruce

[Cruciform]

I couldn't believe how fast the little ones were until a hopper got away from me :) I was sitting, my girlfriend was standing behind me, and suddenly ZIP! He shot out of my hand, up her clothes to her shoulder. In about a second, max. It was a good thing he decided to climb her or we'd still be looking for him.

I already had to transfer her pet rets from their wire cage to a rubber maid because one figured out the trick to escaping the cage.