All the fences on this page are simple standard fences that all are used in beginners classes.
To build fences for agility rats can be really fun! You need a few things to make good fences. A made to use with wood, a drill, some screws (not too few), sandpaper, glue made to use with wood, non-toxic water-resistant paint and lots of imagination. You might need a few friends around too, to share the laughter...
I've added some measurements so you will know how big the fences are.
This photo shows my rat Ismo jumping over a simple jumping fence. When the rat jumps a simple fence like this the rat is allowed to touch, and even sit on the fence (not for too long, hopefully). The rat is of course supposed to jump up on the fance from the correct side and down to the correct side of the fence, otherwise the rat has not done that fence, and may try again.
It is not that easy to see from the photo that this fence is buildt from 4 small pieces of wood; 2 rektangular pieces of the same size, each at one side, and a larger rektagular piece plus a round piece that is the same length as the larger piece. Use a drill and some screws to attach the 2 end pieces to the 2 longer pieces so the fence looks like the one in the photo. You will probably need to smooth down the edges a bit (sandpaper) so there will be no rough edges. Then paint the fence all over at least 3 times with a water-resistant non-toxic paint. The paint will need to dry inbetween.
This fence is about 10 cm high and 20 cm wide. In fact all the jumping fences are about 20 cm wide, with varying heights.
Here is a photo of another simple jumping fence, made from 5 pieces of wood. One piece of wood to jump over, 2 pieces sticking up and showing the rat where to go, and 2 pieces laying down to give stability. This fence is perfect for a beginner.
I made this fence and Sonja Cygnel made the fence above, that Ismo jumps over. Sonja painted this fence, I can't really paint fences so I leave that to the ones who can! The fence above is really the bottom piece of a seesaw-fence, that is supposed to be used either as part of the seesaw-fence or as a stand-alone simple jumping fence.
Here is another fence made by Sonja Cygnel, that is made exactly the same as the first fence on this page, and it also works both as a part of a seesaw-fence and as a stand-alone simple jumping fence.
It is good to have several of these simple jumping fences since you can have more than one in a competition. All these jumping fences are also very nice fences to start training rats on at home.
Here is a simple jumping fence that I buildt but Sonja Cygnel painted, you can recognize her little rattie paws walking all over the fence, I like those! She sure is good at painting rat agility fences!
Here's another simple jumping fence I made, this one is made from a bit thicker material than most of the others but it still works fine at competitions. This fence is also in the background in the photo of the X-fence on this page.
This fence is a bit higher than most of the simple jumping fences, about 15 cm high.
Here is a photo of an A-fence. The A-fence is a simple fence, the rat is just supposed to walk (preferrably run) over the fence, up one sloping side and down the other, just like the same fence for dogs. The rat is not allowed to just jump down from the fence, it is supposed to walk a beforehand decided way down, just like in dog agility. The A-fence is a kind of contact-fence, meaning that the rat has to put at least one paw on the contact zone (the lower third of the fence) on both the way up and the way down.
This fence is rather large, a bit bigger than the A-fence below, and I used a 2 cm thick plank to build it from. You need 2 big pieces to put together as in the photo, and something to hold the pieces together underneath. Then you need some smaller long bits of wood to put on the sides to let the rat walk easier over it, so the rat will not slide down. Also the lowest piece may be supposed to mark how far down the rat is supposed to go before it can jump down.
This is the only agility fence I still have, the rest have been sold to use in rat agility competitions all over Sweden - time to build new ones! This A-fence is buildt from much thinner wood than the first A-fence above. Note how badly I painted it - Sonja wasn't around when I painted it so I got no help... The big red thing is supposed to be a strawberry...
This fence is about 20 cm wide, 23 cm high and 45 cm long. The lower thirds (contact zone) ought to be painted in another colour, so it is easy to see if the rat puts its feet on it, or not, since the rat should walk or run all the way - not jump! I have buildt much bigger A-fences, real pretty ones too.
Here is a fence we call a slalom-fence. You might just call it a weave-pole-fence. This fence works just as the same kind of fence for dogs in dog agility. It is buildt from a long piece of wood and several smaller rounded pieces (I used a saw to cut up a longer piece into these shorter ones). Use the drill and screw from underneath. You can have more of the rounded pins if you like. Decide before the competition starts if the rat has to start by going to the left or the right of the first pin, or if that uninportant.
I have made more slalom-fences than this one, but I obviously forgot to take photos of them before I sold them. This one is rather nicely painted, the best rat agility fence painting I have done so far... Well I just stuck to simple dots, can't do much wrong then!
This fence is rather long, I think I measured something like 13 cm between the screw holes for the drill, if I remember correctly.
Here is a simple balance-fence, it is made from 3 pieces of wood and a piece of plastic net used in gardening. The rat is supposed to walk or run along it from one end to the other. The rat has to take this fence in the right direction and if the rat jumps off before it has finished it has to go back and start anew.
This fence is rather long, and has to be wide enough to let a big male
walk along it, so I think it is about 6 or 7 cm wide. It is supposed to be easy - these are the simple fences.
Here is the same fence up-side-down, and it is supposed to be used in this way too, as an even simpler balance-fence.
On this fence I managed to paint a simple pattern that didn't look that awful... I can build good rat agility fences but I'm not that good at painting them!
A more difficult balance-fence should be higher and have sloping sides that go up and down, and contact zones.
A tunnel-fence is a bit of a must in the simple classes, it should not be too long, since then it will be hard for the owner to call the rat out of it. Many new agility rats prefer to stay inside a tunnel, since that is a safe and cosy place for a rat!
Tunnels are easy to build. You only need three pieces of wood, and they are easy to put together. A smart way to make this fence easier for the beginner's classes is to paint is very light inside, as you can see in the photo. And also to make it a bit short.
To make the tunnel harder you need to make it a bit longer and to paint it dark inside.
This tunnel-fence on the photo is about 25 or 30 cm long. A big rat can sit snugly in there and refuse to come out!
I have also tried to build a collapsed chute, a tunnel made of fabric that is open in one end, like opening of the tunnel, and sort of closed in the other end, since it is made of lose fabric. I made that from a a part of a pair of old jeans - and soon learned that it didn't work. Rats pee. And the next rat will stop and sniff on the peed message instead of running along the course... Such a fence can be buildt from plastic instead, so it can be cleaned between every rat.
Copyright and written by Eva Johansson.
Last update: 11th of August 2006.