I've been looking at some ferret cages and would like to know what kind of cage I should get. And ones that you would recammend or use yourself?
Right now I am using a double Ferret Nation cage (you can get Critter Nations as well, with smaller spaced bars) and it works really well for rats. For a cage, you basically want as big of a floor space as you can find, with additional levels (or the ability to add your own levels, if you're handy enough for it). For males you can usually get away with the larger inch spaced bars, for females you want to err on the side of caution and get the smaller spaced bars.
I need to know all the supplies I will need beside a cage and food dishes. I want my ratties to be comfortable.
Rats are all wildly different in what they like and what they'll use. I've never had rats interested in hammocks, but they love just great big piles of fleece they can gather up and make little nests out of. You'll want to give them things like large boxes, baskets, typical pet store houses, and each of them needs to be large enough to fit all of the rats inside of it. (I made the dire error of buying a small-ish house once, my five girls piled inside and one didn't quite fit so half of her ended up hanging out the end!)
Rats are really, really fun to get items for. I often go into thrift stores looking for solid plastic toys for young children, things like large barns, doll houses, boats, etc. They'll climb inside of them and you can hide things inside of them. I have a dollhouse with a bathroom, I put treats inside of the toilet and they just flip the lid up and take the treat out. (it kind of makes me sad, I had the most perfect dollhouse and a castle as a kid, they would've been perfect for my rats to play in!)
I find that most rats do not enjoy wheels. I keep one in the cage anyway for the one or two that do enjoy it, but it gets a few minutes of extreme running and then they go about their business.
Basically, for toys, anything they can shred and destroy are a plus. Try putting treats inside of cardboard tubes/boxes for them to rip apart, or maybe putting a full box of plain tissues inside (so messy, but they love it!).
What type of bedding do you use should I use regular bedding and which kind or can I use fleece like with guinea pigs.
I use fleece, but they will go through it fairly quickly. They will chew the smallest of holes into their fleece and eventually it will be more hole than blanket. It's a good idea to buy cheap fleece blankets when you can to stock up for when they ultimately destroy your sets of liners. I put fleece down and then I'll keep unscented baby wipes around to wipe down the base to help keep it fresher longer. I'll still end up changing everything out every few days, and don't expect any of your fleece to stay where you put it.
I don't personally like using any kind of paper/wood based bedding. I'm sure it would work out fine if you do like it, I just don't like the mess of it and buying giant stacks of it to keep hidden around the house.
I also use a litter box, I have the typical small animal corner pan for my girls and they actually do use it quite a bit.
What kind of food should I get? And what other treats can I give them and do they need hay.
You're going to want to find a plain pelleted food. I use Oxbow's adult rat formula and I really like it.
As for treats, well, a lot of the things we can eat they can typically eat too. I'll give mine vegetables (usually whatever I'm feeding the rabbits/guinea pigs), meat (like chicken, turkey, boiled eggs), cooked brown rice, dog treats, dog food, Cheerios, mealworms, dried bread with maybe some olive oil or a tiny bit of peanut butter on top. I do not feed any kind of seeds or any kind of additional mix. They get their pelleted food 24/7 and then they get a small treat twice a day.
They do not need hay. I don't give mine any hay at all. I give things like newspaper, tissues, toilet paper and fleece to nest with instead. Mine don't seem all that interested in it, and would really rather just have paper or fleece in their nests.
) Rats will nest with the hay and its a very great thing to give to them (They may chew it a bit too)
