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Make a Ratty Hammock!

© Jane Adamo

If you are rich, or your rat has a recurring role on Buffy, you can go right ahead and buy one of those expensive ferret hammocks. As for me: $15 buys a lot of yogurt drops. Hey, forget yogurt drops -- I can feed myself for a week: $15 buys a lot of macaroni. Or think of it this way: for a little more than the price of three hammocks, you can order another Martin's 680 - then you'll have room for 4 more rats...

It's not just the money. What really bothers me is that - just like little kids who simply don't know the value of a dollar - those rats are not going to take proper care of that hammock which my hard-earned dollar purchased. What the heck do they know. Eating in bed would be the least of it. Your rats are going to chew the hell out of that luxurious polar fleece. Even if they're litter-box trained...well, don't kid yourself.

Here's how to make a rat hammock out of a pair of kids sweat pants. It's easy. Your rats will love it. You'll pocket $14. And the design actually offers even more than the pricey tube hammock -- a soft, cozy cave: a large main chamber suite leading to two sweeping galleries each ending in its own private exit: 3 doorways in all. All for the cost of $1. For that price, they can chew additional doors and windows anywhere they want for all I care.

Hit the garage sales and Goodwill. Look for heavy, fleecy kids sweatpants - not tights or stretch pants - loose sweats. You may have to wait for the half-price day at the thrift stores. But when you can get them for a dollar, get a bunch.

Unbend 4 paper clips a little, sew two to the waistband about 6" apart; sew 1 each on the knees. Hang it from the ceiling of the cage. That's it basically, although I'd like to take a moment to mention a few of the finer points: it's nice if you hang it so that the waistband overlaps the balcony a little bit so the rat can step into the hammock easily. And it's fun if you point the legs in different directions.

Experiment -- maybe you can figure out a better way of doing this. Sometimes, I get needlenose pliers and make cute little hooks out of the paperclips while I'm watching Law and Order. Or maybe your father is in the business and you can get real snap hooks for free. Use whatever you have and you might be able to get the cost down even lower than a buck.

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