There are so many ways that a Rattie Maze could be fashioned.

I have seen elaborate mazes made out of cardboard boxes with parts and walls that move (move meaning can be changed around) with the cardboad painted.
Cardboard when cut with the ribs can hold up well (of course, unless peed on LOL)

My husband made a wonderful item (see photo of my husband and his kids building it). He took a sheet of ply wood and cut it in half. The one half made the "platform". the other side of the plywood was cut into 4, 12" wide pieces. Each of those pieces was screwed to the side of the other half for sides (think photo frame on end). On one side of the platform the sides were 10" tall, on the flip side they were 2" tall. We used this item for a training table as well as a "play yard" for the littles (gerbils, ratties, mice, guinea pigs, hamsters, chinchillas).

My step sons also took 2" x 4" scrap wood and used them on their sides for making a maze for their gerbils inside this area, what fun they had!! One of the gerbils "cheated" and would jump over the pieces that we called maze walls. So we had this Plexiglas we set on top of the maze area. You could see the gerbils run the course but they could not "cheat" and jump over the maze walls.

For ratties I would use a thicker wood, like 2" x 6" just make sure the pieces are stable.

Another idea that is low cost or free is to watch businesses near you dumpsters for wooden pallets that many businesses trash after receiving shipments. You can usually get them free and pull them apart for the wood. Construction sites, if you stop by and ask, would be thrilled to give you wood pieces that could become your maze.

Or for fun you could also use a table top with rat agility equipment rather then a maze? Or both why not both. I have ideas for equipment of items you probably have around your home on our getting started page here at this website.

-- The The Agile Rat Team
Sat, 17 Jan 2009 12:08:16 -0500