cage for rats?

[alm_nin]

I have a cage I'm thinking about trying to sell on craigslist, and I was wondering if it would be suitable for rats. I used to keep my degus in it, but they have both passed on. It is 3 ft. tall x 23"x 34" and has three levels. Some of the bars are slightly rusted, will this be a problem? I also have no idea how much to try to sell it for. Opinions?

[Tserisa]

If there's rust, then the cage is probably not safe without sealing, due to what it's made of. Is it a galvanized cage? Galvanized wire is toxic, as if the pets chew the wires or walk on them and then lick their paws (as rats do), they can get zinc and heavy metal poisoning. Galvanized cages will need a non-toxic treatment -- usually sandblasting or some other treatment to get the rust off, and then powdercoating, to be safe and last a long time.

If it was treated, there are other things that would determine whether it was safe for rats. What's the barspacing? What are the shelves made out of? For the size, several rats would be quite happy in it.

[alm_nin]

I found a link to the exact cage I have:
4 Story Ferret Cage

and there is a statement towards the bottom of the page that says they use no lead or zinc and that there is no possibility of metal toxicity. So if I just scrub the rust off the cage do you think it would be ok?

[Tserisa]

Yeah, it should be safe.

The bar spacing is too big for some rats -- they'd just squeeze right through -- but big bucks should be fine in there. Be sure if you do sell it for rats that you tell them the wire shelves have to be covered. Rats can get bumblefoot on wire, like pigs, and they also can break their legs in spacing like that. The shelves can be covered with something like pieces of ceramic or slate tile, or fleece, or coroplast, etc.

It could hold half a dozen rats, if space is used wisely, with lots of hammocks and so on!