# chew toys



## ukulele (Mar 5, 2007)

hi, im a newbie at rat care so i wanted to know what the best chey toy for younger rats would be. i put a mineral chew charm in the cage and i was wondering if that would work or there are any downsides to using that kind rather than wood. all info is greatly appriciated


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## DonnaK (Feb 8, 2007)

If you have a look around at your local pet store, somewhere like Petsmart, you will find all sorts of things that are sold especially for rats, ferrets, gerbils etc. Most of the toys sold for these animals will suit your rats, too.

Some people buy parrot toys. You could have a look in that section. Just be careful to avoid anything that contains cedar or pine.

One thing I always put in our ratties cages are toilet roll tubes. When they are very small they like to crawl through them and stick their heads in them. When they get too big for that, they use them as a chew toy.

I'm sure others will have some ideas, too. Have fun with it!


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## DonnaK (Feb 8, 2007)

I forgot to mention, Pixie made a great post *here* about DIY rat toys, too.


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

i've always found that chicken bones after a meal is a fav of all the rats i've ever had. its cheap and they love them! you can leave them in there for a while too (at least until next cage cleaning) as they eat off all the meat leftover within the day (most commonly an hour with my girls but i have a few that fight over it too...). just watch them and their coats for signs of icthiness. some rats are more sensitive then others when it comes to protein consumption though i've never personally had a problem with chicken bones. if they do seem to be icthy don't give them as many bones or other things which are high in protein and it should clear up on its own. if it doesn't then you probably have lice or mites. but anyway, i use the chicken bones for chew toys.


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## reachthestars (Feb 27, 2007)

My girls love to get Greenies as an occasional treat. I get the bones made for dogs up to 20lbs and ziptie it to the cage. The protein levels are a little high, but they ingest it over the course of a week or so.

I'll second the chicken bones that Twitch mentioned as well. They're perfectly safe as rats gnaw, unlike dogs who crunch. It's alot of fun to watch how quickly they can clean any leftover meat off the bones!


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## ukulele (Mar 5, 2007)

so my girls had a toilet paper roll, now its all chewed up, do i have to worry about them ingesting something like that????


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## fallinstar (Nov 26, 2006)

my rats love toliet roll tube and hamseter food lol


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## DonnaK (Feb 8, 2007)

ukulele said:


> so my girls had a toilet paper roll, now its all chewed up, do i have to worry about them ingesting something like that????


Not really, ukulele. As long as there is nothing toxic on them - like certain paints or inks - they'll be fine.


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## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

My rats favorite chew toy is their hidey hole made of wood. They love to play carpenter. Other than that I have chew sticks, and small raw hide bones as well as a hanging parrot toy that has raw hide and fruits made of wood. They love to chew XD

Occasionally I will give them a small plushy for them to shred and use as bedding. I've gotten some free ones from work that are ugly as sin and don't make it out of the clearance isle to a home, so I snag them before they are tossed and they go into my ratty's cage XD


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## DonnaK (Feb 8, 2007)

You could also give them nuts, occasionally - hazelnuts, pecans, almonds... all of them are fun to watch and give rats hours of chewing.


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## tasha (Oct 16, 2006)

yeah in the fall season we got the large bag of in-shell nuts for ourselves but we kept some and give them to our rats once in a while. they spend all night crunching on the shell to get the nut! they love hazelnuts and those big walnuts.


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## DonnaK (Feb 8, 2007)

Hazelnuts are a firm favourite with both our rats. Our eldest didn't like walnuts; I haven't tried the youngest. It's definitely a cheap and fun way of entertaining them.


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## Nazarath (Feb 20, 2007)

Something i do is if you have apple juice or some type of juice (as natural as possible) Soak the toy in the juice for a little and then take it out and let it dry a little (if it has any nylon and what not on it) and it gives them a fun treat to chew. However i've had worries about them eating to wood because of the new taste, So i supervise and so fare it looks like they end up spiting it out. 

If anyone knows if i should stop doing this let me know . I've always had that question in the back of my head but so fare it seems safe .


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## Nazarath (Feb 20, 2007)

Something i do is if you have apple juice or some type of juice (as natural as possible) Soak the toy in the juice for a little and then take it out and let it dry a little (if it has any nylon and what not on it) and it gives them a fun treat to chew. However i've had worries about them eating to wood because of the new taste, So i supervise and so fare it looks like they end up spiting it out. 

If anyone knows if i should stop doing this let me know . I've always had that question in the back of my head but so fare it seems safe .


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