# My rat doesn't chew



## lashes (Sep 12, 2010)

So my friend had a rat that didn't get along with her other rats, so I said I'd take care of him until further notice.. I obviously became attached and he's now my rat. Unfortunately though, in the few months that I've owned him, I've noticed that he doesn't chew on anything. And I mean nothing. Not cardboard, timothy hay, wood, tree branches, deer antlers (I even tried soaking them in chicken broth), plastic, fabric... nothing. 

Is there anything anybody can recommend that I try that rats cannot RESIST chewing? or some other alternative to prevent his teeth overgrowing. His bottom teeth are starting to get too long.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

their bottom teeth are naturally very long and curve behind the top ones. it is the top ones becoming misaligned (malocclusion) and overgrowing that you need to worry about. it most commonly happens when a rat gets injured and their tooth gets hit out of place. they brux (grind their teeth together) to wear them down, no worries... if he's got a good appetite, eating hard food regularly, no foul odor from the mouth or anything... he's just a normal rat, so just be thankful he doesn't chew


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

You're lucky to have a non-chewer!! As long as your boy bruxxes that is all he needs to keep his teeth ground down and aligned


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## lashes (Sep 12, 2010)

Oh he bruxes plenty! He's a happy rat. Thanks for the replies! I'm glad to know that it's normal for them to have long bottom teeth, I was starting to wonder if my girls weren't chewing enough either.

I was also wondering about some scabs he gets on his body. I first suspected that one of my girls was biting or clawing him through the cage bars, but now he's on top of their cage far from their reach and he still gets scabs on his skin. I read that it could be that his nails are too long and that we should clip them. Is there an easy way to do this? I tried using just normal nail clippers and I was super afraid of cutting them too short. I had cats before and I remember it being much easier on a larger animal. Any tips? Or an easier way? I chickened out last night and just used a nail file to smooth out the rough tips.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

It sounds like mites to me. Its the first thing I think of and treat when I see small scabs like that. 
Do you freeze your bedding for 48 hours before using it? This is the most common way of getting mites, other than bringing home an affected rat.
Are the scabs over his shoulders, neck and head? Or more on his rump and back?


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## lashes (Sep 12, 2010)

shoulders, neck and head. I was reading about that, but I was also tossing up the idea that possibly I'm feeding him too much protein. I filed his nails and I'm cutting down the protein in his diet. If he does have mites I'll have to treat my girls too, that's 4 unwilling rats, so I'd rather confirm that it's mites first.


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## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

Mite treatment's not too bad, really. If you use revolution it is very fast- just one drop on the fur!


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Scabs from protein allergies are rare, I've only seen it once in say 150 rats. I have sadly seen mites multiple times. Your best bet as Kinsey says is get a tube of Revolution and its literally 1 drop on the back of their neck and you are done!


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