Do you have a webcam to check in on your pet rats when you’re away? I’ve found that having one satisfies my curiosity and the peace of mind it gives me is priceless.
You can use a pet rat webcam to…..
….keep an eye on your rats during free roam time. (This helps especially when you have to briefly step away from the room.)
….see what they’re doing while you’re away from home.
….know when they’re awake and ready to play. (This is handy when you’re in another room of the house.)
….monitor sick rats or rats recovering from surgery.
….make sure they’re not fighting.
….see how newly introduced rats are getting along.
….see who finds the hidden treats while you’re away.
….learn which rats groom which rats.
I currently have 2 pet rat webcams:
Wyze Cam V2
I love that this camera can pan, tilt and zoom. I don’t like that this camera needs to be plugged in. It’s not desirable to have extra cords in my rats’ room. Cords must be covered with hard plastic tubing. (You can learn more about making a room safe for your rats here.) The other thing I’m not happy about with this camera is you need to buy a subscription to view recorded videos of movement.
Note: There is now a newer, very affordable, version of this camera: Wyze Cam v3 ($39.98).
My other camera is made by Vision Well. This webcam has a feature I love that the Wyze Cam doesn’t have: It’s rechargeable (meaning it doesn’t need to be plugged in!) The advantage of this is that you can place it inside your rats’ cage. It’s so amazing to be able to see from a rat’s point of view from inside their cage:
The other thing I love about this webcam is you can view videos of movements without having to pay a fee.
The Visionwell camera is waterproof. Since it’s also cordless, I also often place this one outdoors on my deck so I can enjoy the wild animals that come to visit both day and night. During the day I enjoy seeing squirrels drinking from the outside water bowl. At night I’ve seen raccoons, neighbor’s cats and even wild rats!
Webcam Features
New benefits and features are being added all the time. I keep wanting to buy a new webcam so I can get one that combines the capabilities of the 2 cameras I have. However, if I bought every camera that has more options than my current ones, I’d probably end up with at least 20 cameras!
These are the features I recommend you look at when choosing your perfect pet rat webcam:
- Pan/tilt/zoom – This makes it so much easier to see what’s going on.
- Motion activated – This feature comes in handy because it allows you to see when your rats are moving around. If you don’t have this feature, every time you look in on your rats, they may be sleeping. Motion-activated cameras allow you to automatically know when they’re active.
- No subscription fee – Some companies charge money for storage which, I believe, is unnecessary.
- Cordless/rechargeable – As mentioned above, I love the ease of not needing to plug in the camera. This makes it simple to even place inside their cage when you want to do some extra close monitoring. (However, I don’t advocate doing this all the time. I’d rather be cautious about the wireless rays possibly jeopardizing my pet rats’ health.)
- Image quality – Most are 1080p but some are now even 2K
- Cost – You can find high quality webcams for as little as little as $29.99. Most are in the $30-50 range.
- All cameras nowadays have night vision. Night vision in color is an excellent feature to have.
- All webcams can be viewed through an app on your phone.
In the above webcam video, I could tell that Dahlia was awake and ready to play.
3 Great Pet Rat Webcams on Amazon
Here are 3 cameras on Amazon that I’d consider buying (as of 9/26/23):
The GMK Security Camera
Currently 41% off: $37.99
List Price: $63.99)
VIRTAVO Security Camera
Currently 40% off: $29.99
List Price: $49.99
Rockspace Battery Powered Security Camera
Currently 21% off: $29.99
List Price: $37.99
As you can see, having a webcam is super helpful for keeping an eye on your rats when you’re not around. Now you know the various features and have an idea of their cost. I hope this post helps you choose one that’s perfect for you and your rats. Always be sure to check out the reviews and ratings before purchasing.
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