RAT-PROOFING
Room Checklist
Room-by-room guide to making your home safe for free-roaming rats. Your progress saves automatically.
Living Room
0/6The most common free-roam space. Lots of hiding spots, cables, and chewable surfaces to manage.
Use cable covers, spiral wrap, or run cables through trunking. Rats can chew through a cable in seconds. electrocution risk is real.
Rats will squeeze into any gap they can fit their head through. Use rolled towels, cardboard, or purpose-made blockers.
Move or remove these common toxic plants from any room rats can access:
Remove fragile items from high shelves. Rats will reach the top. They can also squeeze behind shelf units and become trapped.
Rats chew leather and fabric enthusiastically. Cover with throws or old blankets during free-roam time, or keep the room off-limits.
Even small gaps can lead to wall cavities. Block with steel wool or expanding foam if needed.
Once the room is safe, add enrichment to make free-roam time rewarding. Browse our rat accessories for tunnels, bridges, and climbing toys.
Bedroom
0/5A popular free-roam choice. rats love bed tunnels. But chargers and small items are easy targets.
Phone and laptop chargers are the number one casualty of rat free-roam. Wrap in cable protectors or move them out of reach.
Rats will nest under beds and are very hard to retrieve. Use bed risers with built-in storage, or block access with foam boards.
Jewellery, hair ties, earbuds, pens. if a rat can carry it, a rat will take it. Move everything above rat-reach or into drawers.
Rats can open slightly ajar doors and will explore (and nest in) your clothes. Magnetic catches help keep them shut.
Rats will burrow into duvet covers and chew pillow corners. Use old throws over the bed during free-roam to protect your bedding.
Give them something better to chew. Our rat accessories include chew toys and tunnels that keep rats busy and away from your stuff.
Kitchen
0/4Kitchens have too many hazards for unsupervised free-roam. Only allow rats in this room while you are actively watching them.
Rats can chew through cardboard and thin plastic. Use glass or heavy-duty containers. Don't forget pet food bags too.
Behind the fridge, washing machine, and dishwasher are warm, dark spaces that rats find irresistible. and very hard to retrieve them from.
Under-sink cupboards are not rat-proof. Move all chemicals, detergent pods, and cleaning sprays well above floor level.
Even after cooking, surfaces stay hot for a long time. Block access to the hob area or wait until fully cooled before allowing rats in.
Kitchens are risky even when supervised. Consider setting up a dedicated free-roam area instead. Our rat accessories help you create a safe, enriching play space anywhere.
Bathroom
0/3Bathrooms are one of the most dangerous rooms for rats. Open toilets pose a drowning risk. Cleaning chemicals are everywhere. Slippery tiles offer no grip and cold floors are uncomfortable for small feet. Choose a living room, bedroom, or dedicated rat room instead.
If you must use a bathroom (for example, for carrier introductions in the bathtub), complete these safety checks first and supervise the entire time.
Rats can climb up the outside and fall in. A closed lid prevents drowning risk.
Bleach, bathroom cleaners, shampoos, soap bars. all toxic if chewed or licked. Move everything to a high shelf or out of the room entirely.
Tile and lino floors give rats no grip. Lay old towels or a bath mat so they can move safely without sliding.
General Safety
0/5These apply to every room, every time you let your rats out.
Doors to other rooms, exterior doors, and any door to an unproofed area. Use door draft excluders to block the gap underneath.
Get down low and look for escape routes: under doors, behind radiators, around pipes, and any holes in walls or floors.
Rats have extremely sensitive respiratory systems. Strong scents, aerosols, and essential oil diffusers can cause serious respiratory distress.
Cats and dogs are predators. Even a well-behaved pet can injure a rat with a single swipe or bite. Keep them in a completely separate space.
Everyone in the house needs to know: check before sitting down, watch your feet, close doors, and never leave food where rats can reach it.
Once your space is rat-proofed, make it fun. Our rat accessories collection includes enrichment items perfect for free-roam play.