Squirrel cage rotor and method for the production thereof including a rotor shaft having a solid rotor portion formed of ferromagnetic material having a plurality of through-passages extending in an axial direction of the rotor shaft, a plurality of electrically conducting bar elements each received in a through-passage so that the respective bar elements extend in the axial direction. The bar elements each have a first longitudinal end and a second longitudinal end, and two electrically conducting end elements which electrically connect the longitudinal ends to form a squirrel cage is formed by the bar elements and end elements. The bar elements are received in the through-passages in such that relative movement in the axial direction between the solid rotor portion and the bar elements is enabled when there is a change in length of the bar elements and/or of the solid rotor portion.