Can I place my rat cage on the floor?

[henshens]

Hi! I’m getting my first boys this weekend, so I’m still new to this and I want to give my all and a best home possible for them.

I have few questions and this is one them:

Can I place my rat cage on the floor?

I read somewhere that the rats can get cold and sick. I obviously don’t want that, but the cage is quite high (Savic Zeno 3 empire) and I saw pictures of people having them on the floor. I will have a carpet underneath it, would that help?

Sorry if it’s a weird question.

[ScissorCrow]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

It depends on the room and cage placement - if the front door opens into a living room for example you wouldn't want the cage on the floor by the door as it would get draughty. Similarly if the cage was in a coldish room like a garage (which isn't really suitable as there isn't a lot of 'human traffic').
You don't mention other animals in the house - that would be another reason to have the cage higher up.
Floor of an internal room would probably be fine in most cases.

For the first few weeks I would have the cage on a table so I could sit by it with the door open to let the rats get used to me, if they decide to come out they would have to stay on the table, not be able to run off under a sofa or something.

[cyber ratty]

I've found rats are more relaxed if the cage is raised a bit - even if it's only by 6".