Stop rats from chewing?!

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S

Sami

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2007
Messages
53
Location
Pennsylvania, USA
Hiya,
Well I just spent 2 weeks making a hanging cube for my rats. I bought the fleece (polar fleece to line the inside even!) and foam to line the bottom of the cube. It has been in the cage for less than a day and there are already several large holes in it, I doubt it will last throughout the week. I'm disappointed because I spent so much time making it :(!! They tear up anything like that that I put in their cage! Before that, they shredded several hammocks. I am not going to be able to afford to keep replacing these hammocks every week at $10 each!
So my question is...can I get them to stop destroying these expensive beds and whatnot? Or am I going to have to just stop putting hammocks and other fleece materials in there?

Any help??

Thanks!!
 
Of course chewing is natural rat behaviour and is essential to keep their teeth in control. Some rats chew more than others, and chew different things to others (my last rat chewed nothing except the strings that hold hammocks up :wallbang: ). Do they have other things to chew? My eldest rat at the minute has just gone crazy - sinkin his teeth in to any piece of wood in his cage, but he also chews the things he sleeps in (no other material) and its always around where his butt is (?)

The chewing is just an annoying (our opinion) habit of theirs we have to deal with. You could try filling their cage with wooden blocks, chewable flavoured vitamin blocks etc. and pray it takes their mind off the material. Maybe you should make quick make-shift hammocks out of old towels or t-shirts, socks etc. Just keep the hooks off the hammocks they are destroying. It might be cheaper than fleece ones?
 
Well I won't be making one of those cubes again, that's for sure! :( I give them dog biscuits every so often to chew on, but I guess I will have to buy something else that will last longer! I've seen Nylabones for sale on several rat-food sites--are these good? Can you buy these at a pet store (are they really dog chewies?).
I just looked up some hammock tutorials and I think I will start making my own (if I can remember how to sew.. :gaah:

Do you guys think it is worth it to buy homemade hammocks and whatnot from people online? Like, don't they just get destroyed in a week anyway?
 
Mine chew through anything. I just hang old t-shirts or make my own simple hammocks because they destroy all of them. Might as well do something cheaper.
 
Yeah, the homemade ones will just get destroyed anyways. I made a hammock the other week out of a towel that was torn and about to be thrown out. It was washed, and then i simply cut it into a rectangle, folded it to make a square, cut four holes in the corners and put some hooks off an old Rat Cargo Net through it. Took no sewing what so ever and made a comfy, very cheap hammock.

I've seen a few people on here with those Nylabones but i've personally not tried it. I saw some in a shop the other day and wanted to get one but i've already spent quite a lot on my rats lately (got new toys being delivered this week :D). I don't know what kind of toys and stuff you have for your rats already, but theres some ideas on this website for chewable things:

http://www.equinecaninefeline.com/catalog/small-animals_rats_rat-chews.html
I think it's a UK based store, so i'm sure someone on here can direct you to a place local to you.

I recently bought a Willow Wicker (spelling?) tube thing as a new bed/hideout for my boys and they destroyed it within a week, after not being interested in chewing anything for a few months ><
 
Some kids are sure worse than others for chewing. Sounds like you hit the chewer lottery.
If you can't get them to chew other stuff instead like ryelle suggests you could always buy a blanket pretty cheap from a 2nd hand store and you'd be able to cut it into lots of disposable hammocks. You can put holes in the corners pretty easy with a single-hole punch from a buck store, I've used mine on fairly thick fabric.
 
All great ideas! I had some leftover fleece from the cube (wah) that I used to make a cheap hammock. It's not even square..took me about 2 minutes..but hey, it works!! I just wish I had a bigger cage to be putting my new obsession in, hehe! :happydance:

Thanks for all the good ideas!
**What kinds of things can I buy at Petco for my rats to chew?
 
dogs chews, dog rubber toys, wooden bird toys, cat balls, ferret tunnels, hamster balls, chinchilla coolers and dust baths. just about any toy for any other pet or small child can be used in a rat cage or for free range and anything that they can get their teeth on can be a chew toy.

for the same toys but for less you can go to your local hardware store for tunnels nad wooden doles, your grocery store for chews, rubber toys and cat balls (if not the dollar store), your second hand store for hamster balls, small kid toys and cheap blankets and yard sales for everything else.
 
My chewers love cheap stuff like kleenex boxes and toilet rolls, as well as wood toys. That keeps them occupied for the most part, and it helps, but the hard-core chewers are not worth wasting nice hammocks on.

SQ finds cheap dish towels in the Dollar Store for her gang of eleven super-chewers, doubles the towels over, pokes holes in the corners with the shower hooks, and voilà! Another thing she does is to make a double-decker hammock with the towel by attaching it so that the rats can lie on the top or inside.

Some people attach plastic 4" diameter PVC or plastic tubes inside the cage. Rats love them and can't chew them as readily.

Good luck!
 
I feel for you my boys arent nearly that bad but I was able to distract them from chewing fabric (for the most part) with colourful wooden toys. A few of the toys I have are actually made for birds. But if you are looking for something for your ratties to cuddle up in mine love brown paper bags then when they get sick of the bag they rip it up and use it as bedding. I was also able to take a wire shelf thing I got from Ikea that is supposed to hang from underneath a shelf and attach it to my cage (after adding a cardboard floor so little ratty feet done fall through). My boys use the shelf more than any of their other hammocks especially when I attach a piece of fleece for them to cuddle up in. Its all about finding what works for your ratties. Good luck!
 
Wooden Aphabet blocks, nylabones, booda bones, wooden bird toys, fruit tree twigs, greenies....my rats love that stuff. Lily is my chewer and completely destroys every hommock I have ever given her. I got her a special stuffed log cabin bird hidey things-it was so cute. Then I came home to a cage full-FULL of cotton stuffing. But-she loves to sleep in the holey shambles of what was once her cabin so I let her keep it. My other girls don't chew hammocks luckily.
I wonder if that stuff people use for dogs who chew would work, it is called Bitter Yuck and their is another called Bitter Apple-you spray it on whatever you don't want them to chew and it makes it taste so horrible they won't want to chew it. Have no clue if it would work on rats though.
 
Some of my rats love chewing everything, others no so much.
Nothing you can do except don't buy really expensive hammocks for the chewers.

It isn't difficult to make less expensive hammocks for the little chewers.
Also, many rats will chew holes in their hammocks to customize them? but the hammocks can still be used for a long time.

My ratties like wooden chew toys and the logs you can buy for rodents to chew and to climb on and in. Pet stores and pet supply stores probably sell them. They also like cardboard boxes to play in, chew and customize.
 
Do you have a fabric store near you? We have one here called Joann Fabrics and I go there every couple of months...but I do not buy the nice fabric! I go to the remnant fabric area (really its just a small shelving area), anywho I get A LOT of fleece for soooo cheap (like 2-4 yards for $10) and I don't even sew hammocks I just tie them at the corners and we're good to go....This way your not wasting a lot of money or time.
 
And keep in mind that many rats prefer their hammocks pre-softened and nearly destroyed. As long as they hang, they are great and comfy!

Almost none of my hammocks are in good condition, but they still get hung and very happily used.
 
I agree toilet paper rolls and kleenex boxes are the best and so are paper bags and flyers lol They go crazy ripping them apart to build their beds. It's true the ratties sure love their hammocks when they have made their own modifications. Another great item is milk carton's our girls love to sleep in them and chew on them. Those snak log things are amazing too! I think everyone should have one or two of those! The girls go nuts for it. Need to get another one so Griffin can have one lol
 
moon said:
And keep in mind that many rats prefer their hammocks pre-softened and nearly destroyed. As long as they hang, they are great and comfy!

Almost none of my hammocks are in good condition, but they still get hung and very happily used.
Click to expand...

MINE TOO! As long as they can still hang, you bet I put them in the cage!
 
I guess my OCD comes in to play here! I like my rattie cage to be neat looking...however that's never really the case! Even 5 minutes after cleaning it looks a mess. Drives me crazy but guess I have to deal with it :D

Also, does anyone know how to/where I can find out how to make an easy cuddle cup?

Thanks!
 
ryelle said:
ooo whats a cuddle cup? Id like to know also :D sounds like fun
Click to expand...
http://www.martinscages.com/images/full/ac-cc00.jpg
You can see one there ^^
They are like little beds, I bought one from Petco for my 2 girls when I had first got them. Well, it's been 5 or so months and they have outgrown it. They love it so much I just have to replace the old one so they won't have to squeeze in there like Pringles in a Pringles can :)

I guess they are more common for Guinea Pigs, but my girlies sure do love theirs!
 
Ah its like a little bed. Cute :D

Do rats tend to cuddle up in a 'cuddle cup' more than a hammock or tube hammock? I'm gunna take a look, see if i can find out how to make one of those things. I'll let you know if i find anything, unless someone else posts :D
 

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