# chewing on the cage and driving me NUTS!



## ratsoff2ya (Aug 19, 2013)

my rat marceline has taken to chewing on the bars of her cage. she did it quite a bit in her old rat manor, but when i upgraded to a double critter nation she stopped for a while. unfortunately she has recently decided it's her favorite thing to do right as i'm trying to fall asleep. i need help!!!

some background:

- she has four cagemates, none of whom chew on their cage
- they all get 1-3 hours of free range time a day, sometimes even more, and i give them additional individual one-on-one time when i can
- their cage is filled with a variety of chew toys


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## RexRat (Nov 29, 2013)

This is a hamster video, but the youtuber is very popular - and the video has lots of options. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_2-RG_UIKs


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## Pandandelion (Oct 20, 2013)

I use lemon juice to get my hamster to stop chewing on his cage but it might work for rats, too


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## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

I use bitter spray I picked up at the pet store called Fooey. I've used it on furniture and other things they wanted to chew on and it's worked so far. Be careful about actually getting this stuff in your mouth though because it is nasty and the taste tends to stay for quite a while.


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## RexRat (Nov 29, 2013)

Phantom said:


> I use bitter spray I picked up at the pet store called Fooey. I've used it on furniture and other things they wanted to chew on and it's worked so far. Be careful about actually getting this stuff in your mouth though because it is nasty and the taste tends to stay for quite a while.


I can't taste bitter but I've heard it's extremely unpleasant!


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## PaigeRose (Apr 12, 2013)

Theres bitter apple and bitter cherry. Ive (willingly) tried both and theyre both awful but I found the bitter cherry stuck around in my mouth longer. I think the brand was called Vet's Best or something similar.

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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I assume Marceline is trying to tell you she wants to get out of the cage... I'm thinking you can't blame her, I suppose you could let her out or sleep with ear plugs. I usually let the rats free range nights, they romp around at around 2 am and 7 am but otherwise sleep in their secret nests and turn up when they are hungry and want to play with us in the afternoon or evening.

There are some things that are a problem and some things that are just rats being rats, being annoying. One night when I was trying to coax Fuzzy Rat to come out of hiding and go back into her cage for the night, which she really didn't want to do, my wife uttered these immortal words... "It's a RAT, stupid!" She gave me a slice of pie and that actually worked, and after that night, right before bed time Fuzzy Rat would run off and hide, until I gave her a super tasty treat and she would go back to cage with it and sleep peacefully. Maybe your girl will settle for a bed time snack too.

Happy Holidays.


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## Minky (Apr 4, 2013)

I highly recommend you get her some hazelnuts in the shell. If she enjoys chewing, it seems cruel to put bitter stuff all over the place (and that's just where that stuff ends up - all over the place). Nuts will give her something satisfying to chew on - it takes awhile for them to get through the shell and they seem to really enjoy this activity. Then get yourself some ear plugs


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## Endgame (Dec 21, 2013)

Probably best if you got her something hard to chew, as suggested above. And also get some ear plugs!


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Seriously folks, rats don't usually chew on metal because they like to chew.... they chew on bars to tell you they want to get out of their cage. When I was standing next to he cage Max would chew the bars to tell me she wants out... Now she climbs on the bars and spreads her feet apart as wide as possible then grabs the bars with her teeth to make sure I see her asking me to let her out. It's like hey Dad, look at me, look at me... let me out!!!


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## Gannyaan (Dec 7, 2012)

Rat Daddy said:


> Seriously folks, rats don't usually chew on metal because they like to chew.... they chew on bars to tell you they want to get out of their cage. When I was standing next to he cage Max would chew the bars to tell me she wants out... Now she climbs on the bars and spreads her feet apart as wide as possible then grabs the bars with her teeth to make sure I see her asking me to let her out. It's like hey Dad, look at me, look at me... let me out!!!


Agreed! Chewers usually chew wood... Rats that want to escape , in my experience , chew bars  
There may also just me some rats that love to chew metal though , lol... 


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Yes, but in humans, for example, the desire to chew metal generally occurs only after marriage... I'm not sure how that might apply to rats which have more sense.


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## monster_paws (Jan 17, 2013)

My rat is a crazy bar chewer, so I opened the door for her to get some time out of the cage. She went right back on to chewing the bars for the rest of the night  I gave up.


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## Gannyaan (Dec 7, 2012)

monster_paws said:


> My rat is a crazy bar chewer, so I opened the door for her to get some time out of the cage. She went right back on to chewing the bars for the rest of the night  I gave up.


She doesn't venture out of the cage even if u just leave it open ??


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## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

One of my boys chews on the bars every once in a blue moon when he really wants the attention. As soon as I give him attention he settles down and naps. He also does this routinely if I don't let them free range late at night at the exact time they are supposed to be free ranged. He's always there to remind me. =P

I use the bitter apple stuff on my wooden furniture. Toast has an extreme liking for cherry oak wood, which is what my bed, dresser, and night stand are made out of. He's rather kind about his chewing places though. He only chews the wood where others can't see it.


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## ratsoff2ya (Aug 19, 2013)

marcy definitely can't have unsupervised out-of-cage time overnight. she tends to be the naughtiest and most destructive of my mischief... even if i was willing to remove everything from my room, she pulls up long threads from the carpet. on top of that my boyfriend is a really crazy sleeper and tends to toss and turn all night, and i would not trust him to not squish marceline in his sleep. she chews on her cage on the days when she gets an hour of playtime and on the days when she gets six hours of playtime. i accommodate her frustration with being caged as much as possible with my lifestyle, roommates, rental house, etc. but a free-ranging rat is not a possibility at this time, in this house.

i am loath to put bitter apple spray on the cage because all of the rats love climbing all over their cage and i don't want it to get all over their hands and thus all over everything inside the cage. marcy doesn't have a specific area that she favors. i feel like distracting her from chewing the cage is the only thing that has worked thus far, albeit temporarily, but that doesn't address the root of the problem and also i am running out of ideas because they have so many freakin toys already.


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## monster_paws (Jan 17, 2013)

Gannyaan said:


> She doesn't venture out of the cage even if u just leave it open ??
> 
> 
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She ventures out for about two minutes and clambers right back in to continue her chewing.


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## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

You could always put her in your lap or on your shoulder while you're doing your day to day activities and put her back when she's settled down a little.


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## ratsoff2ya (Aug 19, 2013)

pretty much all my time at home (save for sleeping and eating, because lord knows i can't have food anywhere near them without being bullied!) is spent on the rats.


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## Gannyaan (Dec 7, 2012)

monster_paws said:


> She ventures out for about two minutes and clambers right back in to continue her chewing.


Perhaps she's bored?? I heard for hamsters it can become a "compulsion"... Perhaps it's like that for rattie ?


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