Multi-level cages: a rat study is a reminder that floor space beats height
Published by Planète Pets · managing editor: Clément Lacaille · how our guides are written
Adding a level to a ferret's cage is a common setup instinct, treated as an almost automatic way to gain space. A behavioral neuroscience study in rats, run in a completely different context, is worth pausing on before doing that. Our setup guidance is gathered in the ferret bedding & habitat section.
What a rat study reveals about using three-dimensional space
Aleksandar Jovalekic, Robin Hayman, Natalia Becares, Harry Reid, George Thomas, Jonathan Wilson and Kate Jeffery published in 2011, in Behavioural Brain Research, a study of how rats explore a space structured across multiple levels (see the study). Placed in a three-dimensional course combining both horizontal and vertical routes, rats clearly favored horizontal movement: in a foraging task with food spread across several levels, they systematically cleared all the food on one level before moving to the next, rather than alternating. Given a choice of detour, they also preferred routes that let them cover the horizontal leg first. The authors propose two explanations: energy savings, since vertical movement costs more, and less precise neural encoding of the vertical dimension compared with the horizontal one in this species.
This study doesn't cover ferrets, and a rat on a lab foraging task is nothing like a ferret climbing around its cage: a multi-sector survey on domestic ferret housing documents that multi-level cages are the majority setup among owners, and that climbing is a naturally sought-after behavior for the species. So the takeaway isn't "drop the levels" — it's to never add them at the expense of the floor space available on each one.
What this means for cage setup
- Never shrink a level's footprint just to gain height: each level should stay large enough for a ferret to stretch out, turn around, and fit a bowl or a litter tray without feeling cramped.
- Multiply levels rather than narrowing them if the room's floor space is limited: three generous levels beat five cramped ones, for an animal that seems to favor moving flat once it gets somewhere.
- Keep at least one ground-level tier, easily reachable without a ramp, for litter and water — setup pointers are detailed in our article on DIY shelves for a multi-level ferret cage.
- Don't let level count replace the question of total cage size: see our concrete benchmarks in choosing a cage for a ferret and cage size for multiple ferrets.
Frequently asked questions
Should multi-level cages be abandoned for ferrets?
No: nothing in this study suggests that, and ferrets remain active climbers according to available housing data. The takeaway is to never trade floor space for height.
Why use a rat study to talk about ferrets?
No equivalent study exists in domestic ferrets. The comparison remains a cautious extrapolation between two small companion mammals, meant as a warning sign rather than a definitive finding for the species.
What are the limits of this study?
It's a one-off, three-dimensional lab task, very different from a cage lived in around the clock, and no welfare measurement is attached to it. Find all our guides on the ferret hub.
An accessory from our shop for this use: Double-layer plush hammock for rats, squirrels or ferrets (€18.90) · the whole shop
An accessory from our shop for this use: Electric pet heating pad 45 × 45 cm (17.7 in) with chew-resistant cord ($48.90, ships from the US) · the US shop
This guide is part of Planète Pets’s Ferrets universe. Our advice is general in nature: for any health concern, your veterinarian remains the only reference.
