# Rat chewed off fur on arms



## Hamsterific (Jan 14, 2013)

Hi guys..
One of my rats chewed off the fur on her arms (I know she did it to herself because I noticed she was grooming her arms a lot). The skin on her arms is all scabby now and seems sort of dry. Why would she have done this? Is it something she should see a vet about?


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Barbering is usually done out of boredom or stress. 


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## Hamsterific (Jan 14, 2013)

Thanks for the reply. That's worrisome... there's no reason why she'd be stressed, but maybe she's bored. I do take them out every day and let them have free run of my room for an hour at least but I think putting them back in the cage upsets them. The only thing they ever wanna do is come out and seem sad when they can't  *is upset*

I'm gonna post a photo in the rat homes area later to ask if their cage is suitably stimulating.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Rats are really intelligent and can get bored unfortunately easily. Remember, the only reason the problem and what causes it is known is because it's happened to others. It doesn't mean you are a bad owner. 

Try to look up things to create for the cage, and start rotating things in. It can be as small as a cardboard box or something bought. Rats are really had to buy for, so don't get discouraged. 


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## Hamsterific (Jan 14, 2013)

I'm in a tough situation because I live in close quarters with roommates and the last thing I want is a smell complaint.. I try to keep the cage as bare as I reasonably can so it's easy to clean frequently. They also pee on the very top level and it filters down to everything on one half of their cage, so anything on that side of the cage starts to smell very quickly. Plus the cage itself isn't huge to begin with (Petco Rat Manor). I'm going to do a whole overhaul of the cage setup, try to find a solution to the pee issue and just devote more time to cleaning if it means they can have more stuff in there.

Thanks again


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

For my cage, I used peel and stick vinyl to create a solid boundary between levels. If you couple this with fleece, it should help. Lots of stuff also helps hold down the fleece. 

As for trying to keep the smell down, try sticking to cardboard or plastic for houses. Invest in a plastic wheel. Get diaper trash bags, and you can create hammocks and swipe them out weekly into a smell-free laundry pile. While they dirty the others, you can clean those. 


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