# Nylabone Chews



## tinyspook (Mar 10, 2008)

Hi There,

I have three lovely girls named Blossom, Hester and Milo who just love to chew EVERYTHING!!!! Recently they have stopped chewing wooden toys that I put in their cage but when they are out of their cage they are obsessed with chewing the carpet! :twisted: So I bought an 'Edible Nylabone' chew from www.ratwarehouse.com and they loved it and they even seemed to be less interested in destroying the carpet. 

My question is are the non-edible varrieties of these bones safe to give to rats?  

Kind Regards

Ali Watson


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

key word here: non-edible
(kind of answers itself, don't you think?)


Can you list some examples?


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## tinyspook (Mar 10, 2008)

These are toys that are designed to be chewed by dogs. There are two varieties; one that can be digested (edibles) and one that are chewed by the animal but not consumed. This is the equivalent of a wooden toy you wouls give to your rat.... It chews it but does not digest. Do you understand? see www.nylabone.com for full list of products. 

Does anyone know anything about using this type of product?


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## ~AquaMerina~ (Mar 18, 2008)

Well if it were me, I wouldn't give them the non edible nylabone. Since there is a chance they might try to eat it. One of my dogs, Tony loves to chew. He would chew the walls if I let him. I gave him a non edible nylabone once thinking he wouldn't chew through it as fast and I was wrong. He ate the whole thing. We ended up at the 24 hour ER vet at 2 am because he was so bloated and throwing up. He couldn't keep anything down, because it had no where to go. They took an ex-ray and sure enough he had a few pieces stuck in his intestines. His digestive system had shut down because of the blockage. So after surgery and $900.00 later he was fine. My point is that a rat is so much smaller than a dog. I know they might not be able to get pieces off it to swallow, but again if it were me, I wouldn't risk it.


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

If it tastes like food they might try to eat it, so I'd stick with the edible versions, just in case.


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## tinyspook (Mar 10, 2008)

Thank for the advice guys. I will stay well away from them then... just hope my carpet can withstand the knawing!


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

good choice

I guess I didn't make myself clear earlier & for that I'm sorry. I did understand what you were saying. I was just pointing out the obvious... the items are labeled as inedible, so the research has already been done for us.

As for your carpet... have you tried offering them things to chew that won't hurt them? Cardboard boxes are your rats best friends in regards to the chewing. You can give them TP or paper towel centers, tissue boxes... I even use any box big enough for them to squeeze into that boxed food came out of. 

Cooked chicken bones once a week is good. The leg bone offers a soft nugget at the top & some tasty marrow down the center part of the bone.

I've placed milk jugs in cages to play in, sleep in, potty in & of course... chew on. The shred them up pretty good but they learned to not ingest it. 

All of these products are inedible but manufacturers go to exceptional lengths to ensure the packaging of human consumables to be in "safe for human" containers. The same standards are not applied to containers for animals.

Something to keep in mind....


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## tinyspook (Mar 10, 2008)

Yeah I give them cardboard tubes with treats in, cereal containers which they chew, sleep in and all the rest. And they love chicken bones but i try not to give them these too often due to the protein level. im just trying to find an alternative to the chicken bone that is really hard but not dangerous too them. i will keep searching.... wish me luck!


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