We have devoted an entire room in our house to the rats. It is conveniently called "The Rat Room." The Rat Room is located in our finished basement. Each of our rats are housed in Martin's Cages. The young girls are in a R695 and Older Boys in a R690. The majority of the rats are kept in R670's and R685's as they are easier to carry around and clean. The larger cages are nice but can be difficult to handle for one person.

Each Colony (Cage) is it's own Rattie Family. We are very careful to monitor each rat's personality and behavior in the colony. Some rats just don't like other certain rats. It is crucial to watch each grouping and find their own individual "pecking" order and special quirks.

We use shaved aspen bedding for the Rat Room. This bedding has worked the best for odor prevention, dust and overall cleanliness. It is also available in larger quantities than most other bedding types available in Central Ohio.

Enrichment is a very important part of a fancy rat's life. Life in a cage can only be so interesting and stimulating. We do many enrichment activities to keep the rats happy and healthy. Special Treats and toys can spark a rat's intelligence and imagination. As in Zoo's enrichment programs, change is also important. We rotate the toys used in the cages (and disinfecting them in a mild cleaner) and the treats. Here are Lavender Haven we have personally witnessed the joyful expression on the rat's face and their overall better health, emotional and physical due to enrichment exercises. Check out the enrichment activities used at Lavender Haven.

Our rat's most favorite pastime is sleeping in hammocks. We make our own hammocks. At first we purchased the expensive store-bought ones but soon realized that they can be easily chewed and may not last long. After purchasing a grommeting tool, we cut hammocks our of purple fleece (of course, they are purple!) and put grommeted hole in each corner to help prevent or delay chewing. Every hammock is laundered during cage cleaning with no dye, no aroma mild laundry detergent.