Best food container for Rats?

[Southside Morelia]

Hey All,
I have about 30 rats and numerous mice, and am having trouble keeping their feed containers free from their bedding and the like.Every other day I top up their feed and water and am sick of having to remove their bedding from the food containers.:x:x
I keep my rodents in big tubs, obviously segregated into breeders, weaners, males etc, and have tried a few ways to keep their feed in the one spot. They are: by placing the feed elevated in containers (rats climb up to eat it OK, but always cover it in bedding), food dispensers where gravity drops the feed to the bottom of the tray (the smaller rats dig all the pellets out and climb inside:lol and just placing it in a dish in the corner (this gets covered with bedding in no time).***!!!
There must be a better way...what is it???
My rodents have a mix of wood shavings and shreded paper for those who want to know what they live in.
Please help with this frustrating dilema.
Cheers Guys, I know you experienced Rodent keepers will get a laugh at my expense...LOL :lol:

 

[mckellar007]

i keep all my rats in breeding cages, and just built a new rack.feeding from above through wire mesh is the easiest option.i used to do as you do and had a dish of food, but had the same problem. with the wire mesh they can still eat, but they cant get through to it and spread it everywhere or go to the bathroom in it. ive found the food also lasts longer. i keep mine on wood shavings also.

 

[TrueBlue]

if you make food cages out of snake and mice mesh, and just dangle them off the side of the rodent cage, they will just eat it thru the mesh. No waste, works well.

 

[Ewan]

Yes food cages are the way to go. I make mine out of 10mm mesh and so they can't get inside so they don't soil their food. I keep the cages topped up with pellets and just throw their small treats in the tub for them a few times a week. Hope this helps.

 

[thepythonpit]

i keep all my rats in breeding cages, and just built a new rack.feeding from above through wire mesh is the easiest option.i used to do as you do and had a dish of food, but had the same problem. with the wire mesh they can still eat, but they cant get through to it and spread it everywhere or go to the bathroom in it. ive found the food also lasts longer. i keep mine on wood shavings also.

top feeding is the best way togo , i found that young rat like to climb all over internal food cages and pee and crap all over it,
just cut a small bit out of your tub lids and cable tie or glue some mess to the under side of the lid . dead easy and fowl proof .. if your rats are out in the shed you will need to cover the food from the top to stop the wild ones helping themselfs...

 

[FNQ_Snake]

I have set it up with a bird feeder attached to the side of the rat enclosure. Both are on the side sitting about 150mm above the substrate. I change the water every two days and the food when it needs it. I never have any dramas with the bedding. The feeders cost $10 each and sit in the side of the enclosure. The frames stay put and the bowls are removable.

Cheers

Kris

 

[westernrocky]

clean rat food

l keep my rats [2f x 1m] per cage in 94 litre tubs, in the bottom l have [4] x 3litre beetroot tins ,one in each corner then on top of them 50 x 50 sq. mesh food and water on top of the mesh [water and food in bowls] .....no probs....WR

 

[Southside Morelia]

Hey thanks everyone, just read all the posts... much appreciated

Looks as though I have to make the mesh cages then....I have seen this method used, although I was hoping someone had another ingenious idea, like one I could just buy...lol

Thanks again...

 

[Helikaon]

could always buy the mesh coop cups, grab 2 and just clip them together so it makes a sphere full of pellets if you know the product i mean that will make sense

 

[Southside Morelia]

could always buy the mesh coop cups, grab 2 and just clip them together so it makes a sphere full of pellets if you know the product i mean that will make sense

What the.... is a coop cup Helikaon..lmao, havent heard of one of them.

 

[Helikaon]

What the.... is a coop cup Helikaon..lmao, havent heard of one of them.

coop cups are little stainless steel bowls that attach to the wire of a cage, the wire ones i am talking abotu are very similar but i think they are used for canary nests.

look a bit like
http://www.birdandcage.com/images/8201.jpg

but they are basically steel mesh

if that helped at all

 

[Southside Morelia]

Is that something you use at work?
If so, what do you do, if you don't mind me asking? I'm intrigued...

 

[Helikaon]

Is that something you use at work?
If so, what do you do, if you don't mind me asking? I'm intrigued...

lol i work at a vet clinic, we use coop cups in the animal cages, for cats mainly, but i was wondering the same thing as you are about my rats, and feeding. and i saw those mesh coop cup like things and thought of that idea. havnt tried it yet. so if you do and it works let me know

 

[niggz]

Here's how I feed my rats. Works really well. You don't have to keep taking the lid off and they just chew the pellets through the wire.

 

[Helikaon]

Here's how I feed my rats. Works really well. You don't have to keep taking the lid off and they just chew the pellets through the wire.

where did you get that little basket from? thats a good idea

 

[niggz]

It's a cutlery drying basket. $5 from the kitchen section at BigW.

 

[Helikaon]

lol well that kicks my crappy idea, lol i think i will visit big w

 

[Southside Morelia]

lol well that kicks my crappy idea, lol i think i will visit big w

Your right Helikaon, your ideas s%*t...LOL

That's the go niggz, great idea!! I think i'll design something along those lines, its great cause you don't even have to enter the enclosure! very cool!

Thanks for the help anyways Helikaon!

 

[Helikaon]

Your right Helikaon, your ideas s%*t...LOL

That's the go niggz, great idea!! I think i'll design something along those lines, its great cause you don't even have to enter the enclosure! very cool!

Thanks for the help anyways Helikaon!

i do try..... lol its not exactly my area of expertise you can only imagine what soem of my enclosures look like

 

[blackthorn]

I had the same problem, I found my breeding rats always upturned their food bowls and made nests out of them.

I got a length of pvc tubing, cut it on a 45degree angle, then drilled holes near the edge, and put thick wire through the holes so it created bars across the opening of the tube. It's a gravity fed type thing, I just fill it up from the top of the tube and they eat it from the bars at the bottom. I just drilled two holes at the top of it and made a wire loop to hook it over the edge of the tubs and the lid holds it firm in place.

Only ever had problems with one of my rats climbing in the top and sleeping in the tube, but that was the prototype and I've made the rest so that they sit almost flush with the lid of the tubs. I haven't had any problems with the rats chewing on the pvc tubes so far.