when i had rats, their cage was where they went when they were tired of playing, or scared. it was their home and they felt safe there. the best hting you can do for a pet that is a prey animal is to make it feel safe and secure. they do not seek out adventure, they want to not be eaten. now imagine setting a small domesticated animal out in the wild. yes it would die, but first it could live for days in utter, extreme terror for its life. wild animals can cope because they have instincs, know the area, have made shelter for themselves and have others of their kind around them. a little rat or mouse or guinea pig would have the most miserable, terrifying few days of its life befor something finally picked it off. in conrast to that, my rats were so happy and content. they could sleep, play, explore when i was around to protect them from my terrier, go in their huge outside cage that was partially buried in the ground so they could dig, eat all they want, tease the dog and cat from the safety of their cage, recieve the best vet care, and run around on me, nesting in my hair. i dont really see how anyone can argue against that. anyway, this reeks of troll.
^you fall under the category of a loving, attentive pet owner who takes the time to play with your animals and keep their minds and bodies active and stimulated (especially rats, who are smart little buggers). I, on the other hand, know that animals in cages are not for me, so I stick to dogs and cats. I'm going by my own experience... in the past I've had hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, etc. and they all seemed to want to find (or found) escape routes and got out the first chance they got. Maybe I was just a god awful pet owner, or maybe they read the Shawshank Redemption one too many times... I don't know. I do know that people shouldn't go into acquiring an animal that will be caged lightly, ESPECIALLY the more intelligent species like rats and ferrets... because realistically, a lot of them do become neglected. Maybe the op is trolling, who knows... there are people who are 100% against it and they are entitled to their opinions.
I think this also depends on the pet... I had a rat who got out of her cage only to come back later and try to get back in. Trouble was, she couldn't get a grip on the desk and couldn't climb up, so I found her sitting under the desk where her cage was. She just wanted to explore a little bit. Didn't mean she didn't like her home. I made a point to extend her roaming time after that. After all, I was still getting to know her As far as ferrets go, don't they recommend giving them an entire room to themselves? I thought I heard that somewhere...
