# What toys do your rats like?



## vinigrette

Please share details, especially if you found a toy in other pet sections (cat, dog, bird) that your rats like! It costs so much money to keep buying toys that our rats aren't interested in, so it would be great to hear what everyone's experiences are!


----------



## smesyna

I was going to vote but it only lets me pick one!

I'll start out by saying you really shouldn't use the run about balls. Rats tend not to like them, they have crappy ventilation, they can't use their whiskers or sense of smell to get around which are the senses they rely on the most, etc.

Three of my five love their wheel. I have a wobust wodent wheel I got from MRR. If your rats will use them, I think it is really important to have them since so many of our pet rats get fat 

My rats absolutely love tubes. I have some PVC connector pipes and some ferretrail tubes. I hang the ferretrail tubes and put the PVC pipes on the floor for them. They're burrowing animals so they really like it. I also get cardboard tubes that they have a blast tunneling through and chewing.

My rats also love the grassy roll a nests. They pull it apart and it gets nasty after a while but they love them so much I just keep buying them, I just buy them from ozbo for half the pet store price lol.

My rats also like climbing toys like those bendable bird perch ropes and I put in the chinchilla ledges like the lava ledges or the leap n ledge. Branches are also a big hit though again they get nasty after a while being wood and all.

My rats seem to enjoy chewing toys too. I buy wooden parrot toys of all kinds, and I also buy the kritter kabob so I can add my own chews, as they sell pre-drilled apple wood sticks, fruit flavored wood, mineral chews, loofah chews, etc. One of my rats favorites has been those overpriced "sushi" rolls that are just dried out corn husks. I plan on buying a bunch of corn this year and drying out all the husks lol.

I don't know if you consider them in the "toys" or not, but to my rats hammocks are not just sleeping spots but toys to use for climbing and such too. I highly reccomend hammocks.

That's about it off the top of my head anyway.


----------



## thebofh

A few simple things that mine like are:

Wine cask boxes; make a few holes in the sides & fill it with shredded paper.
Towels; just pile a few towels around on the floor, they love exploring them.
Peanuts in their shells; they seem to enjoy chewing the shells off more than they're actually interested in eating the nuts.
Brushes; for some reason mine love the dustpan & brush, when I'm tidying up after they've knocked their litter tray over they'll chase the brush & fight with it.
I've tried hanging stuff in their cage for them to climb & putting a hammock in for them but they just seem to be happy climbing up & down the wire.


----------



## Critter Aficionado

The short answer is: almost anything that they can destroy . The girls do love their Silent Spinner, the boys aren't really using it that much (but then neither home nor shelter had wheels in the cages), except to sleep in. They haven't been crazy about chew sticks or the thick loofah "carrot" though they will occasionally chew on those; then again, they aren't as destructible as other toys. The girls sometimes enjoy throwing plastic balls with a round metal bell inside around and never chew on them. They also like homemade toys like toilet paper roll tubes stuffed with orchard grass hay.


----------



## killybutt

Lol, we got our boys one of those giant silent spinners. We've seen them use it once or twice... and that was months ago. I've noticed the things they like the most are, sheets of paper, pieces of wood or plastic, our hands, and each other  I've given them plastic cat balls before with a jingly bell inside and they enjoy biting it until there's a big hole in it XD


----------



## lilspaz68

Wheels for the runners are a MUST. LOL

I use foam shapes to make chewing toys...










but I think my favorite toy is the bird toy I get from our animal supply store. Its coloured wooden blocks with big plastic beads hanging from a chain., but the best part is the wood blocks are covered with coloured paper they can rip off...its like many toys in one!

This is the only one I can find with some of the paper still on..


----------



## RatBastard

My boys like the little fake animals. They have one that looks like a really small ferret so I tie a string around its neck and pull it along so the tail drags behind and they go wild! They look like little kernels of popcorn jumping all over, sniffing it and trying to grab it. Also the person who said the Peanuts in a shell is correct, they love the chewing them up. I also give them Almonds still in the shell too and they keep them busy for a few hours all though recently Petey has gotten pretty good at getting into the good stuff by cheating and chewing a small hole ,then using his long bottom teeth to get scrape out pieces of the nut! Hahaha, I love watching them play! Oh yea and I almost forgot hand wrestling and tickling.


----------



## distancel

I've bought my rats a lot of different toys, like the wooden chew blocks on a skewer that hang in the cage, climbing ropes and things like that. Jasmine is quite fond of the wooden bird toys with bells on them because she's worked out she can make a loud noise with them when I'm taking too long to get their dinner. 

But the things that amuse them most are houses and tunnels made of cardboard, and old sheets/my partner's old jacket. (Originally it was not an 'old' jacket, but it got left on the couch which is their playtime area. Now it is so full of holes that he has donated it to them.) They tunnel under them and chew them and have a lovely time.


----------



## ratsrulesok

Sophie loves her silent spinner wheel ((its not silent but meeh!))
Cookie loves his budgie mirror's bell and keeps shaking it.
Ceil loves his plastic tunnels/
Sebastian adores his carboard boxes stuffed with shredded news paper.
Anna likes a old plastic sweet box with holes in.

Other faves have been bits of old rope, shiny stones, silver christmas beads they go nuts for, toilet roll inners, bits of fleece, god help you if you put a sock in, also lids with turf in and sock bridges (socks tied end to end to make bridges....see easy XD)) and ....well old bras clipped to the top of the cage and used as swings or hammocks.....try explaining those to family looking at your rats...
"is that a bra its sleeping on?"
*bright pink* "maaaybe....*please god dont notice....*
"and a old box of chocolates diets not going well."
*darn!*


----------



## shooper

I have one PEW girl (Shilo) that LOVES to run her wheel!! Sometimes I wonder how she isn't skin and bones cause she runs so much!!


----------



## Janet04

I think my ladies would like a climbing robe. But I am concerned about chewing any advice on this. And also I have to say I love this place. !


----------



## Jaguar

my boys' favorite is this big clunky parrot toy with tons of ropes and wooden beads and block shapes tied on in a big clump. they chew on the wood and shred the rope for nesting. they love it


----------



## Janet04

You told me about this website for food. I bought several products there. One is apple favored chewy wood. They love them, I am afraid eatting wood can hurt their stomaches. I guess I am wrong. I know they would love robes, but eatting that ? it can't hurt them?

Thank you
Janet


----------



## LoveLivid

There's a few they like. I haven't really determined which one is the favorite yet.

One is a corn ball ( http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4193654&lmdn=Pet+Type ) . Not only do they chew on it/bury their faces in it, but they love to push it around as well. Also, it's rather amusing, because it seems like every time I walk into the room, the ball seems to alternate location between in their nest, and somewhere out of it.

Another one they like was a simple homemade one. I took a few pieces of embroidery thread and tied them together, to make a kind of tassel. I drag it around the cage with little jerky movements, and they can't resist it! They follow it around, pounce on it, bury their faces in it, bite it and try to pull the individual strings apart. It's so cute! Sometimes we even play a brief game of tug-o-war.

They also seem to like when I wrap yummy treats in a piece of paper towel. It took them a few times to learn that there was actually a treat in there, but once they did, they love it! They tear and pull and shred until they get the gold...then they seem so pleased with themselves and can't wait for another one.

<3


----------



## smesyna

Janet04 said:


> You told me about this website for food. I bought several products there. One is apple favored chewy wood. They love them, I am afraid eatting wood can hurt their stomaches. I guess I am wrong. I know they would love robes, but eatting that ? it can't hurt them?
> 
> Thank you
> Janet


They don't eat the wood


----------



## Kinsey

Mine ADORE popsicle sticks, especially those that I either soak in juice or eat the popsicle off of. They have flavors!

I put one in and the next morning it is nowhere to be found except for tiny slivers of wood on the floor of the cage. They shred them!

They also approve of TP tubes full of cheerios that are taped shut.

Mine do a lot of chasing each other, too, and sleeping.


----------



## Janet04

Thank you I ordered the corn ball. And bought some wooden apple sticks today and they love those.


----------



## LoveLivid

^^ I hope hope your rat(s) like them


----------



## noMoreFaith

They don't like toys. But they do like destroying my stuff (bedsheets, cables etc). So I voted for other


----------



## leeser

I have spent hundreds of dollars on rat toys and they still seem to love the most simplest thing. A kleenex box! Take the plastic off the top of course! They love it even more if I give them some kleenex in the box.


----------



## thebofh

Sprocket loves climbing up either my sleeves or up the back of my jumper & having a little chew on my t-shirt, I don't have a single t-shirt without a couple of holes in the back now. Rebound loves climbing on my feet & chewing my slippers or trying to push herself inside. I found an old polo shirt, put it on a hanger & hung it with the end on the ground held open with an old skate shoe with the laces mostly pulled out. They love this set up & it saves my wardrobe!


----------



## Misbehavior

My boys love those little crinkly cat balls! They'll pounce on it, throw it around, and play fight over it. Just the sound of it makes them go nuts.


----------

