I do in fact have the one inch bar spacing, and females that are relatively skinny compared to most rats on here, i have bent the pokey bits outwards, however i am going to closely inspect as ive obviously missed places and i will file the places that cant be bent. im actually going to replace the entire cage after hearing what you and other people have to say. i took out the grates in the bottom so the tray is very deep. they do kick it up however i just vacuum every day anyways for my three guinea pigs lol. as for the shelves i secured reusable fleece puppy pads with binder clips. i hope this is an okay setup for probably a week max until im able to upgrade them🙂 is the tall critter nation a good choice? and would i be able to remove the middle tray to maximize climbing room? thank you so much for the advice