Treat Balls

      These are one of my ratties favorites! Best of all, they're super quick and easy to make! All you need are toilet paper/paper towel rolls, some scissors, and yummy treats. Cut the toilet paper/paper towel rolls into half inch-or-so strips. Start with pushing a few strips into each other (as shown on the right side of the first picture) and add more on until the ball is nice and tight. Once finished with the ball, push your treats inside. My favorite treats to use are the Mini Milkbone biscuits and Gerber puffs. These take less than 5 minutes to complete.
       Once finished, add the ball into the ratties' cages or into their play area, and watch them go nuts! Sometimes they'll even grab the ball and hop around to go hide it before tearing into it, which is the most adorable sight!

Treat/Nesting Log

      This little nesting/treat log is a great toy to encourage foraging. It's also great to place in their cages while you're not home because it provides for a time consuming toy when packed with lots of goodies. What you need to make these logs are toilet paper/paper towel rolls, fabric scraps, rope, treats, and anything else you wish to pack into these fun little toys. Newspaper, tissues, napkins, and toilet paper are also great ideas, too. The one I have shown, I punched multiple holes all around the roll to slip strips of fabric in. I also tied mini knotted ropes that I poked through the holes, and I stuffed the inside with Mini Milkbone treats and fabric scraps. It took me about 5 minutes to make this.

Crocheted Hammock

       Crocheting takes a little time depending on how experienced you are. I have only dabbled in it, so this 8"x16" hammock took me about 1 1/2 hours to complete. They're great to do while you're watching movies or a series of any kind because they don't take much thought, and you can have your attention easily split while doing this. The yarn I used for this is made from polyester and nylon. It's nice and fluffy to keep them warm, but it's not stringy at all, so their claws won't get caught in the material. 
      If you have a rat that likes to chew, this wouldn't be the project for you, because chances are, this will get shredded. If you do notice that your rats have chewed their hammock up, and there are loose threads, immediately remove it to avoid them getting tangled or strung up.

Old Jean Accessories

      You ever have old jeans you're tired of wearing? Don't put them in the Goodwill bag! Practically a full set of accessories can be made for your ratties with one pair of jeans (depending on the size of the jeans)! All you need is an old pair of jeans and some scissors. From one pant leg, I was able to make a hide-away hammock, a tunnel, and a regular hammock. To hang them, cut little slits about an inch or two from the edges. From the other pant leg, I was able to cut it into strips, which I braided into an 18" long rope. Overall, it took me 20 minutes to cut all these out and to braid the rope.
      The best part about this is you already know they're washer safe, and extremely durable! However, if you have an extremely chewy rat, they may destroy some of these. But, hey, they were old jeans anyway, so no harm done! 

Privacy Curtain

      This is probably one of the easiest things I have on here to make. Ratties love their privacy and the darkness. To knock out two birds with one stone, give them a privacy curtain! I've seen these things go for $12 at the pet store and about lost it! It's just a rectangle of fabric that has been cut into strips. The one I have shown is about 2 feet wide and 1 foot long. If you do not already have fabric at home, Jo-Ann's is highly recommended by me. They almost always have their fleece on sale, or they have a remnants section that's always 50% off. Wal-Mart typically has cheap fleece blankets you can use too. Just be sure to remove the string on the edges to avoid your critters getting tangled!

Bandanna Hammocks

      If you're looking for another quick, cheap way to make hammocks, bandannas are the way to go. These are great because they can be used in an almost endless amount of ways, and they look great! A few I have pictured are simply having the whole thing unfolded for one massive hammock, or folded in half for a smaller, longer hammock. Having it folded in half can also be used as another level if you can stretch it out all the way in your cage. I have done that numerous times instead of having wire shelves in my cages. Another way I don't have pictured, is to fold it in half, corner to corner to make a triangle. This way it can be used as a nice corner hammock. 
      I'm sure there are plenty of other ways to use bandannas that I don't know about, or that I didn't mention. Let me know if you think of something, so I can put it on here for other people to love! I will make sure to give credit where it is due as well! 

Easy No-Sew Hammocks

Click on each picture below for step-by-step instructions!

      These hammocks work well for those who do not have a sewing machine, or the ability to sew. Most of these are fairly simple and quick to make! They're also very forgiving, and do not need to be made "perfectly."
     These work super well for critters that chew a lot more too. Some of my ratties do well with sewn hammocks, but others tend to destroy them. So, to avoid spending hours sewing for cages of critters, I mainly make these no-sew hammocks. For the critters that do leave their sewn goodies, I will make some sewn items for them.
     My degus absolutely adore the bunk bed hammocks, but tend to chew on seams. These no-sew ones hold up really well for them since they don't have any stitches to nibble.
     Many of these can be altered/added onto to make other fun creations! If you have any ideas you'd like me to add, or try to make myself, I'd be happy to give it a go and add it to this section!

Small Popsicle Stick House

      This was a quick popsicle stick house I made. It's a good size for dwarf, baby, and small female ratties. The supplies you will need to craft this house are popsicle/craft sticks, a hot glue gun, hot glue sticks, and scrap fabric (optional). You can be as simple or as creative as you want with these houses. The one I have as an example takes about an hour to do, and it requires 11 of the popsicle pallets (11 popsicle sticks glued onto 2 diagonal ones). I have made a huge tree house for my rats in the past, which took a whole day to create, from popsicle sticks. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of it. Windows can be added for additional cuteness. Although, I will warn you the ratties will be more tempted to chew the houses up if they have a place to poke their nose through.
​      Make sure the glue you use is nontoxic as well because they ratties will chew these! If you notice any sharp pieces poking off, make sure to remove the house immediately to avoid harm! Otherwise, enjoy watching your furbabies crawl in and on their new home! 

Popsicle Stick & Rope Ladders

      Here are a few ladders I have made for the ratties. The top two I used popsicle sticks for the supports and paracord for the rungs. The bottom one, I used all popsicle sticks. You will need popsicle sticks, a hot glue gun, hot glue, and rope (optional) to create these ladders. Each ladder took me about 15 minutes to complete, and the ratties love them! The larger ladder is 18 inches long, and the smaller two are 13.5 inches long. For the 18in. one, I added extra layers of support (as shown in the second picture). For the smaller two, I have the popsicle sticks, or ropes, sandwiched between two layers of popsicle sticks. To hold the supports together, I cut smaller pieces of the popsicle sticks (the ones that are bent out of shape and can't be used otherwise) and glued the smaller pieces onto the tips of the support sticks.
      Make sure the rungs are far enough away from each other so the rats cannot hurt themselves by squeezing through. If you notice any broken or sharp pieces, please remove the ladder from the cage to avoid injury.

Nesting/Digging Box

     Nesting boxes are not only good for pregnant ratties, but they also a great playtime accessory for rats of all ages! All you will need is a deep box or basket, some craft pompoms (not the sparkly ones), scrap fabric, newspaper scraps, paper towels, toilet paper, etc. You can put nearly anything that is safe for your ratties to forage around in. To entice them to dig around even more, put some unsalted, shelled peanuts, crunchy cat treats, yogies, or even mini dog biscuits throughout the box. Make sure they are treats that won't spoil, just in case all of them aren't found.
      These nesting boxes can either be placed in the cages or in a play area if you have a designated spot for them. Beware, if you do place the nesting box in their cages, you will have quite the mess to clean up! Although, your ratties will be extremely happy about all the bright colors and new comfy nesting material!

Dollar Tree Deals!

Below is a collection of some of the items I frequently buy from Dollar Tree for my ratties. 

Ropes

     In the pet section, there are several different rope options. I use these to hang across some of the cage walls, usually in the corners since they're not too long. I love getting the ones with the three hoops because those can be connected together to create a longer chain. Avoid the ropes with the tennis balls though, because these are not good for the rats to chew on. 
     Some of the ropes can be untied to make them longer or to readjust the knots. All of my rats love having their ropes! Plus, they bring color to the cage.

Baskets

     These baskets can be used as additional shelves, perches for your ratties, little hide-aways when flipped upside down, or dig boxes. You can even just use them as storage for your rat supplies! 
     Different stores have varying colors. I've seen some lighter blues, orange, purple, and pink baskets as well. 
     My rats love their baskets, and they are really easy to clean out.

Bell Balls

     I'm not sure what it is about the cat balls with the bells in them, but some of my rats absolutely love them! One of my girls will pick it up, lift her head up high, and run around the cage with it. Sometimes, she'll throw it up in the air and chase after it.They seem to really like the noise they make.
     I've bought the small ones, which seem to be the bigger hit, but I've also bought the larger ones, which they like to play with during free time. 
     I've seen some cute videos of people teaching their rats how to play fetch, which would be fun for the owners and the rats! 

Litter Boxes

     This is a great option for litter training. Rats love to use the bathroom on rocks, so making their whole litter box out of rocks will make litter training a breeze. 
     The great thing about using rocks as the litter is they are super easy to clean. All you need to do is fill up a container with warm water (a bucket, sink, or bathtub work well), and almost all the poops with float to the top. They can then be scooped out with a cup, or your hands if you're wearing gloves. I flush them, so it's easier for me to do this whole process in the bathroom. Once all the poops are scooped out, rinse the rocks in fresh warm water, fill the container back up with more warm water, add a cup of vinegar, and let it soak for about 30 minutes to an hour. This will eliminate the ammonia on the rocks.
     While the rocks are soaking, I take the time to clean out the cage and put up new accessories, or I have some play time with the ratties.
     If you do choose to use the rock litter box, it will need to be cleaned out every 2-3 days since it does not absorb like a paper or wood bedding would.