# Chewing!!



## AMJ087 (Aug 27, 2008)

My female rat has started chewing on my furniture a lot more then normal. She has a lot of things to chew on in her cage but whenever shes out manages to get a hold of something before I catch her. It takes her two seconds to chew something up. I can have her out for a while and she wont even hint at chewing anything and then out of no where something is tore up. Any hints or suggestions?


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## begoodtoanimals (Dec 6, 2007)

Does she have a friend besides you? If not, giving her a few female friends might give her something else to focus on.


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## AMJ087 (Aug 27, 2008)

She has a male friend. He is neutered she is spayed. In the cage she chews on things so its not like she doesnt like what she has either.


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## Clairebert (Apr 21, 2008)

My two older rats chew a lot as well, I don't think its because their lonely... they just really seem to have fun haha. 
I remember one morning, I put my jeans on and I noticed all these holes in them haha. I tried to make it look like they were meant to be that way, but it didn't fly. 
Anyway, I don't really know how to stop them from chewing stuff...I also give them lots of wooden blocks to chew on in their cage. 
I know my parents have protective plastic especially meant to stop cats from damaging the corner of their furniture units, these could probably work with your rat. Although they'll probably love to chew the protective plastic as well haha


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## AMJ087 (Aug 27, 2008)

Well my problem is I need her to stop becasue I cant have her out if she chews my whole house adn she needs to get out to play adn exercide also. She also chews her ball so I need suggestions on how to stop it becasue i dont want to limit her out time.


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## Clairebert (Apr 21, 2008)

This may or may not apply to rats, but i'll throw it out there anyway.
When we first got our cat 5 years ago, he didn't like his food at first...and we noticed that he went around chewing the furniture. We talked to our vet, and this is because he wasn't used to the cat food we gave him, and therefore was trying to find nutrients elsewhere.
It could also be related to teeth or gum diseases, I have no idea how to detect these in rats but maybe check out his gums (if possible) to see if they look red and irritated. 
It could be related to something irritating her, like fleas or something. Or maybe stress? If she's a new ratty, she could just be dealing with stress by chewing. 

The solution really depends on the issue...it could just be a case of chewing for the fun of it, in that case... try throwing an old (but clean) rag or blanket in her cage that she could chew on. With out cat, we removed some of the pieces of furniture he most liked to chew on, and once he started settling down and getting used to us we put the furniture back in place and he didn't chew on them (but this may just work for a new ratty).


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## AMJ087 (Aug 27, 2008)

Well shes not new and shes always had this type of food, she gets the block diet with produce everyday. I check her teeth but not gums regularly so maybe Ill see if her gums looks abnormal.


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## AMJ087 (Aug 27, 2008)

Her mouth and gums looks normal to me. Any other thoughts on how to stop her or why she is doing this? Shes probally not going to stop and its jsut how she is but Im hoping not.


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## begoodtoanimals (Dec 6, 2007)

Put some safe wood in their room to chew on: branches, pieces of fire wood (no fir, pine, cedar or hemlock). Mine have madrone, maple and other deciduous wood, newspapers, carton boxes etc in the free range area.


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## Dumbo_Queen (Jul 20, 2008)

You can try what is did with my chinchillas; i put lemon juice on what ever they were chewing and added lots of other things to chew in their play area and added an apple smell to them. so they soon stayed clear of the lemon stuff as they didn't like the smell.

You may want to change the smell like garlic or something but if it smells nasty then it taists nasty and they shouldn't want to chew something that doen't taist nice!


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## AMJ087 (Aug 27, 2008)

Both good ideas I will try them, thanks.


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## Tinkerbell4579 (Jan 29, 2009)

Im having a problem with chewing as well. I have two rats that keep chewing on their cage they got for christmas. Its a huge case and they have so many toys to chew on but at night they keep me up because my one rat Izzy keeps chewing the plastic bucket at the bottom of the cage and the bars. What do i do to stop this behavior? Its driving me nuts! lol :-[


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## begoodtoanimals (Dec 6, 2007)

Check if they do it when you are not in the room by listening behind the door.
If they only do it when you are in the room, they might have learned that it gets them what they are looking for: attention, treats, playtime etc.
maybe put the cage somewhere else when it's _your_ bedtime.


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## Tinkerbell4579 (Jan 29, 2009)

They still do it when i am not in the room although my roommates always say that they seem unhappy when im not there. I hae tried moving the cage to the family room but my one roommate is not a fan of rats and tends to be over dramatic about them. I hate sharing a living area with three other girls lol. I dont know why the one does it and not the other, Misty is so loving, all she does is lick but Izzy just loves to chew. Im just not sure what to do and why she does it?


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## begoodtoanimals (Dec 6, 2007)

If you roommate would get a chance to really experience your rats and find out how much fun they are, maybe she'll change her mind. Give it a try. I have converted several friends of mine that way. Invite her to your room but make sure the cage and even their tails are clean.
Some people have a problem with (dirty) tails.
If all fails you could move and maybe find male room mates or non-drama females to live with.


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## Tinkerbell4579 (Jan 29, 2009)

yeah i know. My other roommates think they are cute, one of them loves to stop in my room and tell them hi but the one screams and freaks out, she drives me nuts. Im thinking about putting lemon juice on the edge of the cage because i hear they dont like the strong citrus taste so we will see if that works. I like how you said to get male roommates lol, my boyfriend would love that but your right men are better with animals like ours.


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## insomniac (Jan 31, 2009)

Yea one of mine bites on the cage at night and my mother isn't a big fan of them so I've got nowhere else to put them. I wish she would stop it, because I've got sleeping problems all ready so when I'm about to go to sleep, I turn off the light and she immediately starts chewing.

Almost as if she's afraid of the dark, I heard it's just because she wants attention, but I can't keep getting up and playing with her, because even if I do, she just starts chewing the minute I get back in bed.


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## Tinkerbell4579 (Jan 29, 2009)

I know what you mean. My one rat does the same thing and its funny becasue she recognizes her name and when i call it she stops and i can see her little white body looking at me and when i put my head back down it starts all over again. I have even put a ton of toys and chew things for my rats to chew but Izzy (the chewer) still likes to chew the cage.


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## XxToxicTouch1xX (Feb 2, 2009)

a rat i used to have (shes passed) used to chew the crap outta my head board, she had a sister and they were both very happy, i just think rats like to chew. You can buy these like colorfull peices of like wood from the pets store, all my rats LOVE to chew on those. its made just for that. i really think rats just love to chew, some love to lick, some love to play, some love to cuddle, and some love to chew. you just got a chewy personality rat lol

i wouldnt worry about it


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