Gnawing at the cage

[RuBear]

Hi.
I have two rats and one of them seems to be gnawing all along the top of the cage.
The other one doesn't
They have lots if toys and etc, and I do change the cage round every so often.
If I'm at work I get them out before and after and I ask my mum to get them out for a play whilst I'm at work.
When I'm not at work they're out too.
I've tried that bitter apple spray and it worked for a while, just think she got used to it :-/
Xx

 

[M0onkist]

Do you go over to the cage every time they chew at the bars?

I had one rat who had me trained to do just that. Princess particularly enjoyed doing it right as I was going to bed, or right after I'd turned off the light.

::CHEWCHEWCHEW::

I'd get out of bed, turn on the light, take her out of the cage, tell her "no chewie the bars!" and put her back in, turn out the light, back into bed.

::CHEWCHEWCHEW::

I tried just ignoring it, but extinguishing that kind of behavior can take hours and days of not reacting to a very irritating sound (especially irritating when you're trying to sleep!). Finally I got a water spritzer and put it on its stream setting, turned off the lights, and crept to a couch a few feet away from where she was about to

::CHEWCHEWsquirt!::

Didn't hurt her at all, just got her coat a bit wet, so she cleaned herself off and probably wondered from whence it came. Repeat this a few times, and she stopped chewing the bars entirely - she wasn't getting any interaction out of me by doing it, and there was just a hint of a negative outcome whenever she chewed the bars.

Your rat could also theoretically be chewing to wear down her teeth or because she finds it amusing in and of itself - you can buy sticks of applewood or various hardwoods at the store and hang them up in the cage. Some rats will chew those, but others won't - it's a very personal decision.

A far more universally beloved chewtoy though is actually the Ecotrition Snak Shack Hide-away (though I just noticed you live in Manchester and I've no idea if you can get these in England):
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... lInCA%2FNo
Ecotrition Snak Shack Log:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... lInCA%2FNo

In both cases, don't get the smaller sizes as they don't fit rats, but the large sizes can be eaten for months on end. They're made out of alfalfa and honey that are pressed together into the mold until it's very hard and unbreakable - but VERY chewable for rat teeth and probably tasty to boot. I've always had a tiki hut or log (and sometimes) both in my cages and it's really funny to see where each rat chooses to chew - some will chew protrusions, while others will just widen the door.

 

[user 2700]

Just a warning: My rats get a snak shack log too because I also have bar chewers, but I have to take it out at night. I can't sleep when several of my rats all decide it's a great time to chew the log.

 

[M0onkist]

LoL, I hadn't thought about that! Oh dear, that really would make a noise still!

 

[Cinderwolf]

mine used to do it when thye were in the smaller cage but once I swapped it for the big cage they stopped entirely. used to the horrible! Right when I go to bed lol

 

[SQ]

My rats love their snak shack logs and do not chew the bars ....
Years ago when I had bar chewers, it was because they desperately wanted to get to other rats they had not yet been introed to.
As someone previously mentioned it is important to have a large cage.
If you decide to spray water (and I certainly would not recommend it), do not spray water at their faces

 

[Cinderwolf]

I use to bang the side fo the cage lightly . it wasnt hard or anything but ti made a metal clang soudn that usually got them confused a bit but eventually they learnend to deal with it. best waya roudn ti woudl be to ignore them I think. mine definitley did it to get out of the cage and it worked.

 

[user 2700]

I have a very persistent and obnoxious bar chewer. His cage is plenty big, he has toys and hammocks and there are no other rats for him to meet outside of his own group. He bar chewed for two reasons, one was if his wheel was out of the cage and the other was for attention. I started keeping small slices of carrot or other veggies on hand so if I walked by and he wasn't bar chewing I would reward him. He soon learned that by not chewing he got attention and by chewing he got ignored. He still bar chews on occasion, maybe once a month (usually less), just to see if it will work but the behavior has basically stopped.