# Baby rats WON'T chew anything?



## CindrDoLLy (Oct 3, 2012)

Hello everyone.

I've had two baby brother rats for a week, they're four weeks old now. It was time to clean their cage for the first time today. The good news is, cleaning was extremely easy...the bad news is it's partially because they're not chewing anything!

I have plenty of things in their cage for them to chew. I have wood blocks, a special hard chew block, an edible hut, card board scraps, a piddle pad that I use for cage lining, and an old t shirt I lay in their hammock for bedding. There is not a single bite in anything! They also don't pee on their plastic shelving, and only poop on their shelving once in awhile. They mostly poop in their own hammock and in the bedding on the bottom floor. I guess maybe I shouldn't complain, because I didn't even have to remove the shelves to clean them, and all of their toys and accessories are completely clean....but I don't understand why they aren't chewing. They're rats! My old rats I used to foster would chew all the things I didn't want them to chew, but at least they were chewing. I'm worried my littles guys are going to let their teeth get too long if they don't start grinding them on something.

Is this abnormal behavior, or do rats this young just not really like to chew on anything yet? Is there anything I can do to encourage them to chew? I assumed putting yogurt on stuff I want them to chew on might help, but they don't even seem to like yogurt that much. (Are my rats crazy, or what?)


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## Babs (Jan 26, 2012)

I think that's okay. Give them time and you'll probably be sorry you ever asked! Out of all my rats, only three of them are real "chewers", and they only started to be after a couple of months. When I first brought home two baby girls last October I bought this beautiful little wooden house for them and it was lovely for the first three months...and now one year on it has been destroyed. Chewed, peed on, nested in, you name it they have done it to this poor mini log cabin. It was actually tragic. 

But yes, I wouldn't worry too much! They're more than likely biding their time, but some rats just don't same as inclined to chew on things as others.

I used to buy these things http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/rodents/snacks_supplements/cracker_food_sticks/133629 they've got a hook on the top so you hang it from the bars. Hours of chewing fun!


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## BlackCat99 (Oct 9, 2012)

What kind of food do you use? I use lab blocks and most of my rats don't really chew on things either. They have been given all sorts of things and mostly leave them untouched.


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## Pixxie (Jun 3, 2012)

Tissue boxes and other small boxes are utterly irresistible to my rats. They don't really chew anything else aside from 'modifying' my hammocks to their whims . The stuff you have may not be destructible enough? Unless it is able to be shredded (think balsa wood, paperboard boxes, leather bird toys), my boys are uninterested. I'd try those sorts of things.


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## unlikelyfather (Sep 11, 2012)

Not at all strange. I've been hand-rearing a baby wild rat (and you'd think wild rats are supposed to be determined chewers) for the past month or so. When he was introduced to solids, he was tentative - and your babies will have just been weaned. What I see with Ras is that he test-bites a lot, and when he isn't sure whether or not he wants to chew on something, he shies away from it. It seems that rats have to learn how to chew on things, and since they're not with their mother any longer (I'm assuming) they're probably not picking up on the behavior from her. 

Chewing may be a socially learned behavior, in sort of a "monkey see, monkey do" sense. I have a feeling that they look to older members or peers in order to determine whether or not something is chewable or should be put in their mouth. Without that influence, they can be shy about setting out and chewing on things. But, make no mistake, if you have something delicious that needs bite force or they really, really want to try and get out of something, they're going to chew as much as possible. 

Rasputin digs into his Oxbow like it's no big deal but he'll test-bite pieces of wood, glass, or plastic (bowls, chew toys, whatever is around that he wants to chew but isn't sure about) before deciding to ultimately leave them alone. The only things I've seen him chew with any kind of determination have been the bars of his brand new cage when we decided to give it a test run.

So, in my experience? Normal.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

Generally speaking from my experience the following equation is true

amount of chewing damage = The expense of the item x the amount you love it and don't want it destroyed

Saying that i wouldn't worry about them not chewing anything, it's a popular myth that rats need items to chew to keep there teeth down. Rats brux, this is how they keep there teeth short and sharp, anything else they do to satisfy there natural love of destroying things. Offering stuff to chew is important to keep them happy, but not important in keeping there teeth short essentially.


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## CindrDoLLy (Oct 3, 2012)

Thank you all for the info. I'm glad I don't have to worry about their teeth growing too long, I was worried about that the most. For now I think I'll try to enjoy the lack of chewing while it lasts.


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## Sara00 (Aug 23, 2012)

Isamurat said:


> Generally speaking from my experience the following equation is true
> 
> amount of chewing damage = The expense of the item x the amount you love it and don't want it destroyed


Far too true! The lovely fleece cube hammock I spent a week sewing by hand - destroyed in a matter of days. The toys I make out of empty boxes & toilet rolls, designed specifically for them to chew up - still in one piece. Little so-and-so's!!


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