# Homemade Rodent Toys



## Nic123100 (Jun 13, 2009)

I'm looking for ideas on toys and boredom busters I can make for my rodents. I keep hamsters, rats, guinea pigs and mice. 

I made them little hammocks and a few forage tubes but am wondering if anyone ha some really good ideas for things I can make out of normal everyday things?

I've got the day off work today so thought I'd spend it making a few things for the small furries


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## Raynor_NFFC (May 1, 2010)

Have you got any pictures of stuff youve created already? Im picking up 12 Rats at the weekend im also looking for ideas.


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## Rach1 (May 18, 2010)

here's some ideas i used...
popcorn string... what it is...a string of popcorn.
flowerpots...fill with shavings etc..they love digging around....
loo rolls...hang them and the rats will unroll them and make lil nests...
general cardboard boxes and loo rolls etc...

pea fishing... shallow container..fill with water pop some peas in...they will fish them out.

branches to climb on...


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## sooty (Dec 31, 2009)

toilet roll tube and sheet of paper and treats,
wrap paper around the tube,twist close one end and fill with a few treats,twist close the other end.
so it looks like a xmas cracker,
and let them enjoy opening it up:2thumb:


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## AnnB (Jun 7, 2009)

I have to confess I didn't actually make any of these, most of them were car boot sale finds.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

String Cheerio breakfast cereal onto a length of string and tie it to the cage bars, so they have to stretch to a maximum or climb to reach them. Dougal demonstrating:










Buy rats a coconut and give it to them whole. They can chew through the 3 holes at the top to get at the milk. You might find, until they learn that there is something inside, that you have to punch through one of the holes, but once they get the hang of it they'll chew through it. Once they've broken through, chop the coconut in half and remove the flesh (which can be chopped into small pieces and frozen then either defrosted for them later or fed frozen in really hot weather). Then mix up their usual food and any bits of treats with honey press it into half the coconut and leave it in the fridge to set, then thread string through the holes and hang the half coconut up in their cage for them.

And my boys demonstrating pea fishing - which they love!!!


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## Rackie (Jan 30, 2011)

This site has some good ideas 

Rat Toy Ideas


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## Nic123100 (Jun 13, 2009)

Just an update, thank you everyone for your idea's managed to make the coconut treat no problem and they LOVED it, thanks Feorag was certainly a winner with my boys :2thumb:

We also did a little bit of pea fishing, and I made a couple of dig boxes, along with smaller ones for the mice 

Love the website Rackie, am loving the look of the clubhouse! Think that will be my next challenge just need to find some boxes.

Will post up some photo's of the little terrors enjoying themselves as soon as I manage to find my camera lead


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

I also have some of the oblong mesh baskets that you often see stuff stored in on shelves in shops.

Some days I put their food in the bottom of that and then put loads of shredded paper and substrate on the top so they have to work to find the food - they love that too! :2thumb:


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## Nic123100 (Jun 13, 2009)

feorag said:


> I also have some of the oblong mesh baskets that you often see stuff stored in on shelves in shops.
> 
> Some days I put their food in the bottom of that and then put loads of shredded paper and substrate on the top so they have to work to find the food - they love that too! :2thumb:


Will have to try this, with my boys, they normally don't do your generic pet shop 'toys' they need to have an incentive, ie, food, to play with things haha. So any ideas like these are brilliant. They normally see something, have a sniff and if theres no food involved they look at me as if I'm stupid :lol2:


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

The one specially made toy that my rats do like is the boredom buster toy as in this video of them ‪The ratty boys and their new boredom buster‬‏ - YouTube

They chew the small treat balls when they are empty, but this toy, once they've eaten the food they just leave it alone - not that I leave it in the cage for any length of time.

Another thing I often do is buy them a small wholemeal or seeded loaf and put it in the cage whole - they love to munch their way through that.


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