rat room needs help!

[quietann]

I'm hoping that some of my geekly/engineering friends see this.

This spring, I put a window-mount fan in the rat room window, set on exhaust. Unfortunately, the window faces prevailing winds, so in the winter I really can't use it. The room gets rather smelly, and it's not good for the rats to be in a room that isn't well-ventilated because their lungs are very sensitive.

So I need something new. One idea is to build some sort of shield outside the house, so that at least cold winds will not be blowing directly into the room.

I have also been looking at various heat-exchanger products, but they are mostly meant for the entire house, which we don't want (and can't really use anyway, as we have forced hot-water heat with no ductwork.)

There is a small heat exchange fan mounted in the wall, but it really is not powerful enough for the rat room. We'd started with a rather expensive British model but it got destroyed pretty quickly. The current set-up is two muffin fans, one pointing in and one pointing out. But it's not enough for good ventilation, and is prone to getting clogged with rat hair.

So... help?

Need number two: I like to have "lab chow" available for the rats, but can't just put it in their bowls because they grab the blocks and stash them all over the cage and tend to pee on them. It's very wasteful. I have a small number of lab block hoppers that mount inside the cages; these are boxes, approximately 7 by 3 by 3 inches, made of 1 by 1/2 inch powder coated heavy mesh, with a solid powder-coated metal back and top that lifts open. The solid metal top is especially important because the rats sit on it, and would just pee into the blocks otherwise. The feeders are a good toy for the rats because they enjoy "working" a block out of the hopper by nibbling at it and pushing it with their noses and paws.

I don't have enough hoppers for all the cages, and the company that made these has gone out of business and I have not been able to find a suitable replacement. Does anyone out there think they could (a) find a source of materials and (b) make a few of these for me? I will pay -- and if this is a successful project, I know numerous rat breeders and owners who'd love to buy them for their own rats.

Comments

[sarahshevett.livejournal.com]

If you could send me some pictures of the hoppers. I could see if I might be able to do this..
I can't quite picture them.
Also, dimensions?

[rmd.livejournal.com]

would it help to exhaust the fans out via a dryer hose and a dryer vent so that the exhaust port isn't facing directly at the winds?

[quietann.livejournal.com]

That could well be a good quick fix! Thanks!

[sunspiral.livejournal.com]

Can you send me a jpeg of the existing food hoppers?

[sensesurfer.livejournal.com]

If I recall correctly the rat room shares a common wall with the garage. Could you cut a hole in the wall and put an exhaust fan in?

[quietann.livejournal.com]

There is actually an A/C unit mounted in a hole into the carport, but the hole is near the ceiling. One thing I am finding is that the ventilation needs to be at rat-level to really work well.