# Deterring chewing of fleece liners?



## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

A question for those of you that use fleece liners and have chewers. What do you do to deter chewing? I had switched to aspen in the past because my girls destroyed their fleece (and also they never litter trained very well). Now that I'm getting a DCN, I want to try liners again and see how it goes. 

One thought that I had was to use bitter apple spray around the edges of the fleece. I have used it on the plastic pan in my boys' cage so that they would not chew it and it has seemed to work. After a few applications, they did not seem to chew at all so I have not had to spray it in a long time. Could something like that work on fleece?

If you have any other suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them. Thanks!


----------



## dguizzy (Jun 9, 2014)

I've had this problem with my girls and I've tried everything. I literally right now just have a flat piece of fleece that lays over top the pan. I don't pin down any of the sides, so that way they can't chew anything. It's working so far, I just know i'm going to have to be cleaning the pan more then twice a week since they move the fleece around.


----------



## hrl20100 (May 1, 2013)

I have heard they don't like the taste of peppermint extract because its too strong smelling? Could try that?
Or vinegar?

I actually have no idea. But I will be following this thread. I have a chewer! Its driving me mad! 
Oh the joys of rats


----------



## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

I used it on my boys' plastic pan and they never chewed (that I saw) but I don't know it it was because of the spray or they just didn't chew period. The girls are in a metal cage so this wasn't an issue. I will put a liner in the cage before I put them in it and spray it, let it dry, then put them in and I will document the results. The cage is coming this week, so hopefully I'll be able to give you results soon. The spray tastes horrid and I think it lasts for a while after spraying it, so we'll see (it is sold for dogs, so it is non toxic, etc.).


----------



## EmilyGPK (Jul 7, 2014)

One thing to do would be to try and give chewy stick and nesting material so the reats can readily find what they need in easier ways?


----------



## dguizzy (Jun 9, 2014)

Artgecko, let me know how it goes. My girls are now chewing their shelf plastic pan, still chewing the fabric as well. Trying to figure out solutions still.
I did however not clip my fleece on my lower pan, and now my girls aren't chewing it - but they do move the fabric around alot more so the bottom pan gets dirtier quicker, and I've noticed that the fleece is smelling alot faster now.


----------



## jlhummel (Oct 23, 2014)

My girls didn't chew it so much as they dug at it until there was a hole. I tried not pinning it down and now it's constantly in a ball somewhere in the cage. *sigh* My girls are mostly litter trained so I'm debating if I jsut want to deal with the constant rearranging of the fleece. LOL


----------



## mimsy (Jun 8, 2014)

hrl20100 said:


> I have heard they don't like the taste of peppermint extract because its too strong smelling? Could try that?
> Or vinegar?
> 
> I actually have no idea. But I will be following this thread. I have a chewer! Its driving me mad!
> Oh the joys of rats


Mine love both peppermint and vinegar.  If they know I have salad with vinegar they will lick it all off. Anything with peppermint gets them excited. I use dr bronners peppermint soap so I get licked a lot after a shower. I heard those things too though...when I was trying to get rid of wild rats....and I thought well..that certainly won't work. lol Live traps is all I've came up with so far.


----------



## Kelseyrawr (Jun 12, 2014)

My girls love to chew up the fleece and chew on the plastic pan underneath. Something I found that works is to put an different piece of fleece over top of the one thats clipped down. This way they think they are pulling up and chewing the fleece I put down, but are instead falling for moms evil trick to get them to stop being fleece eaters  Works every time for me. The clipped fleece stays firmly in place and the decoy gets ripped to pieces. Since it doesnt get clipped down, I use them until they start using the pieces theyve ripped off for nesting. lol


----------



## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

Thanks for the ideas guys! My cage won't be here until sometime this week and I plan to set it up asap once it arrives, so hopefully I'll have testing data for you by the weekend  

EmilyGPK- When I had them on fleece before, they had scraps of cloth, old dishrags, and paper / paper towels to nest with and bird / rodent wooden chew toys... They still ate the fleece. I'm hoping this time will go differently. I bought some cheap fleece from Joann's when it was on sale last week ($2.99 yd) so you can bet that I'll be using the cheap fleece for the first go round. I'd love to make them pretty cage liners, but can't afford to have them chew up fleece that is $5-7 a yard.


----------



## spysquid (Aug 23, 2014)

I don't know where you live but around fall/winter here they always sell cheap fleece blankets in regular stores that are 50"x60" usually for $3-$5. If you can get those (especially towards the end of the season when they start to mark them down) that has been a way cheaper option for me 
They're the perfect size for my critter nation, you can make 2 main floor covers with one blanket, or a main floor cover + a platform cover + scrap fleece for snuggle boxes


----------



## Rat love (Aug 30, 2014)

I was thinking about using a bathroom mat for the bottom of the cage, because its plastic backed it would be heavy enough to stay in situ without clipping. My girls do chew their liners but because of the door size it's hard to clip them down. Any hazards with using the mat?


----------



## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

The only issue I could think of is if they ingest any of the rubber whether it would hurt them or not... Not sure. 

Thanks for the suggestion spysquid. I've never seen fleece throws that cheap, but I'll keep an eye out. I *think* my cage was delivered today (the fedex tracking info says it was but I'm not at home yet to see). If so, you may have testing data by Friday. I'll probably put them in tomorrow if I set it up tonight.


----------



## Rat love (Aug 30, 2014)

I found a bath mat that didn't have any plastic or rubber matting so have put it in their cage and we will see how it goes


----------



## dguizzy (Jun 9, 2014)

Rat love said:


> I was thinking about using a bathroom mat for the bottom of the cage, because its plastic backed it would be heavy enough to stay in situ without clipping. My girls do chew their liners but because of the door size it's hard to clip them down. Any hazards with using the mat?


I tried the bathroom mat and of course my girls chewed it, even through the bottom part where its like that rubber material. But they haven't had any problems because of it.


----------



## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

Just got the cage assembled and the cage liner has been sprayed. I'll let it dry overnight and put them and the rest of their stuff in the cage tomorrow afternoon. I'll give you guys a report Friday about how things go. I sprayed around the edges, focusing on the clipped areas and raised sides.


----------



## Rat love (Aug 30, 2014)

So far the bath mat is doing well. They haven't chewed it or pooed on it ( its white- litter training can be a bit hit or miss)


----------



## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

Rat love- What kind of mat are you using? Is it one of those terry cloth ones (with the fringe like material that sticks up) or a flatter one? 

I have their cage mostly setup. The rest of their items have not come from amazon yet (climbing ropes and another space pod) so I'm hoping they will come today and I can put them in.


----------



## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

UPDATE: They've been in the DCN since Saturday. So far, no chewing. They have pulled up some of the fleece at the edges, but haven't chewed it yet. I am disappointed with how fast the fleece is starting to smell (so may go back to bedding anyway), but I'm hopeful that the bitter apple stuff is helping. I have the fleece clipped to the pans with bulldog clips at the corners and have the excess tucked under the pans. I also have some loose fleece aaround the edges of the pan on top of the liner.


----------



## jlhummel (Oct 23, 2014)

artgecko said:


> I am disappointed with how fast the fleece is starting to smell (so may go back to bedding anyway)...


Did you wash the fleece before using it? I find mine starts to smell more quickly if I don't wash it first. The longer you use fleece (more washes) the better it gets at wicking away the moisture. I generally put a puppy pad under my fleece. The fleece wicks away the liquid from the top and the puppy pad soaks it up before it can smell too bad.

Right now I'm trying out *Kelseyrawr*'s trick and have the bottom layer clipped down and a decoy on top. Seems to be working so far. No chewing.


----------



## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

The fleece was washed before use, but thanks for the tip.  I have a uhaul pad underneath with is very absorbant and washable as well. I will give them a couple more liner changes before I decide anything (in terms of going back to bedding). I'm loving how there is NO bedding being kicked out, so I guess it's a tradeoff. 

BTW, still no chew marks on the fleece. They are still pulling it up at the edges, but haven't chewed yet.


----------



## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

Update 2: 
After a couple weeks in the cage, I have to say my plan seems not to have worked so well, lol. The first set of liners went mostly unchewed, but such is not the case with the more recent sets. The main problem with the spray is that you need to apply it to the stretched liner over the pan, then let it dry before putting it back in the unit. It takes too long to dry during a regular cage clean, so is not very effective. 

I have resorted to clipping extra pieces of fleece over the edges of the liner but they seem to be pulling them up and still going for the liner underneath. 

I can say that I will definitely be ordering metal pans and most-likely switching back to bedding, at least for one of the levels of the cage. The fleece looks great, but I can't justify the cost of replacing it if they constantly tear it up. 

To all those that I gave false hope to, I am sorry.


----------



## jlhummel (Oct 23, 2014)

Awww. So sorry. I was really hopeful for you.


----------



## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

yeah, me too. I think my plan would have worked if I had been able to pre-treat the liners before applying them. Keeping the extra cloth clipped over the good cloth seems to be helping, but not enough to deter one girl in particular. As cute as the fleece looks, I see aspen bedding and deep pans in my future lol.


----------



## jlhummel (Oct 23, 2014)

Aaanndd... the method of the fakeout layer of fleece failed. *sigh* they were doing so good and it seemed to be working. Lastnight they must have gotten bored. I woke up this morning to literally the entire cage setup (hammocks, fleece cage liners fleece shelf covers, cardboard boxes etc. EVERYTHING) demolished into tiny little bits and stuffed into their wooden house. Sigh. I'm currently contemplating not giving them any bedding whatsoever and just wiping the cage down every day So frustrating.


----------



## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

Sorry to hear that.  Mine chew worst underneath their wooden house, so I had to remove it... We'll see if that helps in my case. i am hoping to get the metal pans soon and switch back to aspen. I love the way the fleece looks, but with them chewing it, I don't have much choice but to switch back.


----------



## dguizzy (Jun 9, 2014)

My girls still are chewing the fleece even with two layers of it. I'm honestly about to try just using bedding - I bought a second litter pan that didn't come with a grate on top and they've been kicking the bedding out of the pan, so i'm hesitant to fill the whole cage with bedding. I wish there was a trick to stop them chewing!!


----------



## spysquid (Aug 23, 2014)

The best thing that worked for me was putting heavy bricks or tiles over the edges, I don't have to do it everywhere though, just in favorite chew spots. The corners are guarded by snap-in litter pans.
Sucks they're being so persistent! It's the ongoing war of using fleece-liners, I guess.


----------

