Destructive Ratties Desperate Owner Please help!

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trihkal

trihkal

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2011
Messages
1,443
Location
Waterloo, Ontario
I haven't really seen this kind of behavior before. It started with Orchid who wanted to dig. So I got her a dig box. They do use it but they are still being destructive including chewing paint of our wall and ripping/digging at the carpet.

I know this can be a sign rats are bored but we have lots of toys etc. in the playpen. I would play games with them but no one seems interested in that.

When they come out they are in a large coroplast playpen. It's filled with toys, places to hide, etc. We have sectioned off most things such as cords, etc. We try to ratty proof as much as possible but everything we ratty proof just means they find a new thing/area to try to destroy.

I would love to let my girls out lots. I work from home so they could have lots of supervised out time but not if I can't prevent them from destroying our home.
 
trihkal said:
I haven't really seen this kind of behavior before. It started with Orchid who wanted to dig. So I got her a dig box. They do use it but they are still being destructive including chewing paint of our wall and ripping/digging at the carpet.

I know this can be a sign rats are bored but we have lots of toys etc. in the playpen. I would play games with them but no one seems interested in that.

When they come out they are in a large coroplast playpen. It's filled with toys, places to hide, etc. We have sectioned off most things such as cords, etc. We try to ratty proof as much as possible but everything we ratty proof just means they find a new thing/area to try to destroy.

I would love to let my girls out lots. I work from home so they could have lots of supervised out time but not if I can't prevent them from destroying our home.
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Try having them out on a large table instead, filled with bags, toys, etc...I found rats hated the pens and would dig and chew to get out.
 
So glad you answered. Thank you! I think it's true they may dislike the pen however they would definitely jump off a table or a bed. They're pretty young and full of energy.
 
trihkal said:
So glad you answered. Thank you! I think it's true they may dislike the pen however they would definitely jump off a table or a bed. They're pretty young and full of energy.
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I would imagine something like a tall card table in the middle of the room might work? Can you rat proof say the bathroom instead?
 
You could buy a piece of vinyl flooring just to put under their playpen to protect the carpet. And make the enclosure walls completely encircle the play area so they don't have access to the wall.
 
Any chance you can have the cage available to them when they come out? I've noticed that with mine, if they can come and go as they please, they are less destructive except for the real destructive ones. lol
 
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I thought I'd post a picture for reference.

Lilspaz my rats are crazy. They would jump off that ledge on to the floor when the cage wasn't close enough so I think they would jump off a card table or bed. BUT I do have a bathroom they could use and I will see how that goes tonight.

Joanne that might be worth a shot if I can't curb this behavior. It will take longer to chew the vinyl possibly impossible. I think though they will start chewing/etc. the coroplast.

Jorats They already have access to their cage during playtime.

And just FYI there are more toys in the pen than you see in the picture.
 
I see you have the foam mats on the floor - that is some pretty tempting stuff for rats. I wouldn't be surprised if they worked at the mats and the tape protecting the joins.
 
I'm okay with that. Eventually we will have to replace those but since we had a lot laying around we decided to use these first. They're actually good about those. It was the carpet that was the real issue. Now they like walls and coroplast lol.
 
You can either protect all the walls with a sheep of coroplast or shorten their area using coroplast so they don't have access to the walls. In my rat room, all my baseboards are chewed but I don't mind it, good thing I don't rent though. lol
 
jorats said:
You can either protect all the walls with a sheep of coroplast or shorten their area using coroplast so they don't have access to the walls. In my rat room, all my baseboards are chewed but I don't mind it, good thing I don't rent though. lol
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Won't they be able to access the walls between the sheep's legs? :giggle:
 
Lol I promise I won't. It occurred to me after talking to you guys we just needed extra ratty proofing. It seems to be going much better. Thanks again guys.
 

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