# how to stop from chewing cords



## puphorse (Apr 20, 2013)

My rats were chewing the cord to my fan and I got a shock from it. We were looking at things to cover it but it is hard because many have the on and off switch in the middle of the cord. right now we just got a little plastic tubing that you can cut where the switch goes but they'll probably chew through that too. Is there any better suggestions?


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

I've heard bitter apple suggested. I would try reprimanding them every time you catch them, but you'll have to deal with it for each rat and each cord. A lot of people just unplug their appliances and hope they don't break through it -- I would combine the latter strategy with the plastic tubing.


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## Timberlee Fields (Aug 2, 2013)

I've heard duct tape. They chew, get the residue on their teeth and stop. They then start associating wires with a bad feeling and stop. I don't know how true it is, though. 


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## puphorse (Apr 20, 2013)

I have duck tape on them, but I'm still afraid they might chew. I really want something that they absolutely can not chew through.


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## Timberlee Fields (Aug 2, 2013)

I don't know you will find anything they cannot chew through. I'd say duct tape is your best bet. 


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## Mitsy (Apr 8, 2013)

Umm some people get plastic pipes I don't know what they are called from home improvement stores and put the wires through them or you could get hooks or something to hang the cords up on and away from the floor 


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Don't use any kind of tape, the glue is toxic.


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## coxbrea151 (Jun 1, 2012)

I second the plastic tubing. While the rats may chew it, it makes it A LOT HARDER to get to the wire. I know of rabbit, hamster, guinea pig, and rat owners who use it. You could also somehow secure the wire to the wall, so that it is too hi for them to reach. Ducktape would work for that.


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## roaringsnail (Aug 1, 2013)

Plastic tubing sounds good. But if you have quite a few cords, you could tape together some boxes and make certain corners of the room off limits.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I'm really good at soldering having had lots of recent practice... computer cables, keyboard cables, network wires, phone wires electric wires etc.... Every wire in my home is pretty much soldered and taped together. Fuzzy Rat could strip both sides of an extension chord without cutting through in the middle and getting fried. 

Oddly enough, I could teach my rat not to chew a wire and she would never do it again... but then she would chew another wire. Sometimes she would slice my phone, computer or headphone wires when I was busy and didn't have time for her... It's like she somehow knew which wire to cut to disconnect me from what I was doing. The day she died, she cut my phone chord one last time... Honestly, as she was very very sick, it didn't bother me at all... Somehow I'd rather her around chewing my wires than being without her... but as there's electrical tape around every wire in my home... I suppose I'll never forget her.

Amelia nipped a single wire, I said NO and she never touched a wire again, I've had other rats that never nibbled a wire... I suppose you could try to teach your rat not to chew wires, some will get it, others will be more persistent.

Best luck.


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## puphorse (Apr 20, 2013)

Thank you Rat Daddy! I'm sorry about your little ratty. I do have electrical and I put that on. I guess i'll have to try to teach them not to do it.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Like I said, I told Amelia once not to eat my cords and it was a done deal. Fuzzy Rat, who was normally much smarter wouldn't stop and practically used her last breath to snip one more chord after she hadn't done it in a long while... but I suspect she knew better, she knew it annoyed me but did it very much on purpose. As smart as she was, she was very stubborn when she wanted to be... 

She got it into her head once to dig a tunnel through the carpet, I stopped her several times and whenever I came into the room she would stop and hide... She dug down to the hard wood floor and that pretty much stopped her... she never did it again. I of course have a hole in my carpet. As long as she thought she could tunnel through the floor there was nothing on earth that could change her mind.


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