QUESTION:
“How do you deal with pet rat chewing and with rats who destroy everything? I had a hammock for them and they absolutely shredded it. Same thing with their bed and a fabric covered hanging tunnel. Anything I give them that’s fabric gets completely destroyed almost instantly and the scraps are stuffed into their hide-away. I’ve tried providing nesting materials, but it’s like they won’t touch anything unless it’s stolen from outside their cage or part of something else they’ve torn apart. Any tips?”
ABOUT PET RATS’ ANSWER:
You are not alone! Many rats view their cloth beds and hammocks as “delicacies” upon which to freely chomp.
Here are a few questions to help you figure out why they’re chewing on the cloth items in their cage. The answers to these questions will help you decide your best course of action.
Do they need more things on which to chew?
If they don’t already have chew toys, offer your rats willow sticks such as Mega Munch and Pretzel Sticks. My rats also love these Bamboo Chews.
Do they need more exercise?
Many rats enjoy Wodent Wheels:
Besides wheels and/or saucers, do you give them much free roaming time in which to exercise? (Be sure to rat proof any room in which your rats roam so there’s no access to electrical cords, no cracks under doors or small holes in walls, furniture or underneath cabinets through which they could crawl without your being able to retrieve them.)
Do they need more mental stimulation?
INSIDE THEIR CAGE:
- Change up their “interior design” regularly. Several times a week place new types of “hideouts” inside their cage.
- Use cardboard boxes for a while instead of cloth hammocks and beds. Go ahead
- and eliminate all-things-cloth for at least a month. Then try re-introducing one cloth item at a time and see how they do.
- Place small treats inside their new cardboard hideouts (such as an organic cheerio broken into quarters or even sixths).
- Have you tried plain shredded newsprint as bedding material? My rats really enjoy this. (I shred it into strips by hand —-it’s quite easy to do.)
OUTSIDE THEIR CAGE:
- Give them the pleasure of learning how to use food puzzles.
- For more information on food puzzles and other ideas for mental stimulation outside their cage, read The Great Indoors…..and Why the Outdoors is Overrated.
Age-related pet rat chewing: How old are your rats?
If your rats are young, as they mature they may grow out of their fabric-chewing habit. If they’re young, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work on teaching them not to chew. It just means you need to have extra patience and perseverance while working with them.
Is there an underlying medical condition that needs to be addressed?
If only one of your rats is obsessively chewing, there could be an underlying medical condition. Even if the rat is a female, there comes a point when their activity level is noticeably beyond normal.
Medical Condition Example #1:
For example, I had a rat who was so hyper that she constantly chewed the fur off around her wrists and forearms. She looked like she was wearing short sleeves. When I took her in to be examined by a vet, the veterinarian immediately recognized her behavior was not normal.
My rat was prescribed Prozac to help calm her down. I also researched and found a brand of CBD oil to use. I believe the CBD oil helped calm down my rat even more than the Prozac.
Medical Condition Example #2:
Here’s another example of pet rat chewing likely caused by a medical condition. This is from a different About Pet Rats reader named Heather. I’m incredibly grateful she has given me permission to quote from her emails and to give information about her rat. Heather wrote:
“She chews literally everything including the inside of the cage. I’ve had to replace the cage, she chewed holes in the plastic bottom. How she managed that, I’m still not sure. I stopped providing hammocks and switched to plastic and cardboard items to hang. She chews those too including their space pod. Even the litter box has been chewed to shreds.”
After the above email excerpt was written, Heather took her rat in to see a vet. At first the vet thought her rat had an inner ear infection. However, her rat’s symptoms continued to progress and she eventually died. Based on the characteristics of how Heather’s rat declined, her vet concluded she likely had a pituitary tumor.
Heather wrote:
“The excessive chewing was I guess one of the first symptoms according to the vet. She said it was fulfilling some sort of need to compensate what was going on in her body.”
The Importance of Your Rats’ Veterinarian
This brings me to the thing we always need to consider first: We need to make sure our rats are being regularly seen by a veterinarian who’s knowledgeable about and experienced with pet rats. Just about any type of odd (or annoying) behavior can be early signs of a disease. Taking our rats to the vet after we first get them is essential. Then, having them seen by a veterinarian every 3-5 months thereafter can help us stay in better touch with each of our rats’ health needs.
Feel free to give me an update after you try out some of the above ideas. Don’t hesitate to let me know if you have further details to give or more questions to ask. I’m here for you and your rats!
Best Wishes,
Jasmine | About Pet Rats
updated 1/13/21
Hi, I was wondering if I could get some advice I have 4 young girls. I got them from a lady who had to re-home them for personal reasons. We have had them for about 5 months. They have a huge cage and are let out to free roam for a minimum of 2 hours per day. They have toys, wheels a cat tree, a digging box in their play area. Their cage also has a wheel. They are completely disinterested in us , even when sitting on the floor with them, they will smell me and climb on me but if I move even an inch they will sprint away like I’m trying to kill them. They bite alot, and hard. My fingers literally throb every day and it takes my a minimum of 20minutes just to get them back in their cage at night (it stays open in the free roam area. They are also destroying everything in our apartment and that’s not even exaggerated. Curtains, carpets, couches, wires. I’ve bought wire protectors, a play pen to wall off certain areas, pool noodles to shove under the couch so they can’t get there and every single time without fail, they spend the majority of their outside time trying to escape. I’ve bought almost everything under the sun and tried to rat proof as much as humanely possible. We live in a one bed apartment so we don’t have many options of rooms we can move them into and at this stage we are paying so much just to fix things they chew and buying new things to keep them from escaping. They are disinterested any wooden chews provided. They are just so destructive and they lash out alot no matter how hard I try. I want to give them a good life despite this and they don’t deserve a life being stuck in a cage all the time. What do I do ? I feel like I’m out of options here and feeling so defeated
Hi Sim,
I feel for you and understand how frustrating your situation has been.
First of all, I’m wondering how old your girls are. Young female rats are so much “busier” than males. They always have “things to do”. It’s not uncommon for young females to be disinterested in their humans. This is especially true in their first year or so of life. I’ve had girl rats who were so frenetic during their first year of life that they seriously got on my nerves. I found that I sometimes had to cut short their playtime when it was making me feel too frazzled. This sounds terrible however you have to put yourself first. Remember you have a huge cage for them and they have each other so you’re really not depriving them by leaving them in their cage.
That said, there are some things you can do to encourage them to want to develop a relationship with you. Have you read my article Bonding with Your Pet Rats? Point #2 in this article could be especially helpful for you: Have your girls out of their cage on your body in an area away from their cage.
Will they ride on your shoulders? If so, I’d take them out on your shoulders while you’re doing things around your house such as doing the dishes.
Can you have them inside your shirt while you’re reading or watching a movie while sitting on the couch? This is another great way to have them on you.
Ideally you want to have them out on your body in an area that’s unfamiliar to them and that’s far away from their cage. This is what will help them establish YOU as their protector, their safe zone and ultimately, their friend.
Point #3 in my article on Bonding will also be helpful for you: Have them out in unfamiliar territory away from their cage. When you read this part of my post you’ll see that bathrooms (as long as they’re rat-proofed including sealing off the holes at the bottoms of cabinets) can be good places in which to visit with your rats. Also, what about on top of a bed? Or a table? (Just make sure they can’t jump or fall off.)
When they get to be a little older they’re likely to become destructive. For now, I would limit the areas they have access to. They should only be allowed to be in areas where they can’t destroy things. Either that, or you’ll need to observe them carefully and redirect their attention whenever they start to chew on something that they shouldn’t be chewing on. It might be easier to monitor them if you just have 2 of them out at a time.
Speaking of chewing, have you tried the Bamboo Sticks? My rats have all adored these. I know you mentioned you’ve given them wood chews, but I’m wondering if you’ve tried bamboo.
I hope at least some of these ideas are helpful for you. Hang in there and take care of yourself first. You have a lot to work on. Pick one or two things to try and practice them at least once daily for a week. I’m pretty sure you’ll notice a difference once you try some of the above new ideas.
When it comes to biting, it might be helpful for you to read Pet Rat Bites: Why they do it and how to stop them.
Let me know if you have further questions. I’d love to hear an update on your progress.
Sending positive wishes for you & your rats,
Jasmine | About Pet Rats
I’m so glad I found this website!!! Super well put together and organized. My rat is super young and he’s a menace. I only have one atm. Planning on getting him a friend soon. I think that’s really what he needs. He gets plenty of free roam time but he really needs a buddy to keep him occupied at night when we’re sleeping!!!! Hes always trying to groom my hair so I think he’ll love doting on another rat. Been waiting to get a bigger cage, which I’m about to do today. I’ll try to purchase him more chews. He has tiny wood chews but he’s super smart so I’d like to give him something challenging. Do you recommend any websites to find good toys. Pet store selections are abysmal.
Hi Brooke,
I’m sorry I haven’t been able to respond more promptly. Besides having chew toys readily available, I love giving rats toys that challenge them such as food puzzles. (Purchasing information is below the video linked to above.)
There are also a number of treat dispensers where pets have to roll around the toy in order to get a treat to come out. Both of these types of toys really help them satisfy their intellectual capabilities.
You can also make treasure hunts for your rats during free range time. Don’t forget to rat-proof any room you allow them to play in while they’re outside their cage.
I’m glad you’re planning on getting your rat a friend….and a bigger cage! You sound like you’re doing a great job of looking out for and caring for your rat(s).
In the future if you have any other questions, I sure hope I can respond more quickly. I’m so glad to hear you’re finding my website helpful.
Best Wishes to You & Your Rat(s),
Jasmine | About Pet Rats
Help..
In November I acquired 2 female black/brown rats and they just won’t tame, if I put my hand in they run at it to bite me. I am unable to get them out of the cage as they are really skittish one got out of the carry cage I use when cleaning them and it flew off the sofa and took 2 hours to catch her. As consequence of this they have now chewed threw two base, I am at loss of what to do.
I have owned rats for many years but never had this problem before. I can’t shut myself away in a room as every room we have has things to chew or hide in, it would be impossible to do.
All my other rats became tame and would come out every evening but these are just to wild for that ☹️
I am seriously thinking I may have to rehome as I feel they need to be with lots of rats.
They have lots of toys, hammocks and chewing things.
Any help or advice would be appreciated.
Hi Tracey,
There are a number of things that could be contributing to your problems. Darker colored rats are generally more active and less inclined to be social with humans. This is a very broad generalization, of course, but I have personally found this to be true over the past 30 years of having rats. I believe darker-furred rats are closer genetically to their wild ancestors so sometimes they’re not quite as social.
The other factors that contribute to your situation are your rats are females and I’m guessing they’re fairly young—although you didn’t provide their ages. Females—and particularly young females—are extremely active. They love to keep busy and want to continually find new things to do. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that as females age they do slow down. Once they mature they’re more inclined to want to get to know you and to be a little more affectionate.
I’d be curious to know if your previous rats were males and whether or not they had lighter colored fur.
In any case, here’s what I recommend:
I would take them out in a rat-proofed bathroom. I know you mentioned every room has things to chew or hide in but I’m not sure if you’ve considered trying a bathroom yet. I like bathrooms for shy rats because they’re often a smaller room. This makes it easy to sit on the floor with your rats and to have them close by while they explore. Just make sure to cover over any holes underneath the sink & counters. For more information on this see Making a Room Safe for Your Pet Rats. If they do start chewing on any wood in your bathroom, you can be close by and stop them before they do any real damage. You can have some chew toys with you in the bathroom which you can give to your rats if/when they chew on something that’s off limits.
An article that may be helpful for you to read is Shy Rats Transformed: from Shy to Social Butterfly. It gives some good tips on how to work with rats who aren’t yet social with humans.
I hope you’ve found at least some of the above ideas helpful. Don’t hesitate to let me know if you have further questions or need any clarification.
Best Wishes to You & Your Rats,
Jasmine | About Pet Rats
Great information – thank you so much. It is so hard to find a vet that is knowledgable about pet rats. Many vets say that they will see rats but when I get to the office I find that they know less about rats than I do(!) How does one find a good rat vet? It took me years to find one (Dr. Raj Singh, San Jose CA) and I moved so he is 4 1/2 hours away. Any advice?
Thanks a bunch,
E. L Harriman
Hi There,
I do have a page on my website that gives some tips on finding a good rat vet.
I used to live in the Bay Area myself and am familiar with quite a few vets there. If you’d like to tell me in which city you now live, I may be able to help you find a good vet for your rats. I’ll email you separately in case you’d like to provide me with additional information via email instead of posting it here.
Thanks for asking your question and I’m glad you’re finding my website to be helpful.
Best Wishes to You & Your Rats,
Jasmine | About Pet Rats
I have 3 girls also and the amount of hammocks I’m getting thru is ridiculous I’ve just found a plastic tub ripped up a old t shirt and put some paper towels shredded so far so good..
Hi Tracey,
It’s amazing how much girl rats need to keep busy all the time. Instead of using paper towels, I’d recommend using shredded plain newsprint*. Paper towels, especially when torn, give off a lot of dust which can contribute to respiratory problems.
Do you take your girls out for “free range” time as well? As you can tell, the more activities and variety of things to do, the less likely they’ll be to chew on things you don’t want them to chew on.
Let me know anytime you have any questions.
Sending best wishes to you & your girls!
Jasmine | About Pet Rats
* Please note, when you purchase anything from Amazon through the above plain newsprint link, About Pet Rats receives a small commission at no extra cost to you. Your support is greatly appreciated!
Thanks so much for this post!! I have 5 lovely female rats, all sisters, each and everyone one is a disaster princess when it comes to fabrics. They’re still quite young (almost 5months old!) so I’m worried it’ll become a bad habit of theirs to keep chewing on the beds and fleece pockets I use so their lil feet don’t have to deal with cold hard plastic— SADLY THEY’VE CHEWED THROUGH ALMOST EVERYTHING IVE INTRODUCED TO THEIR CAGE. Even with newspaper, cardboard boxes and different scrapped fabrics for bedding, they chew through it ALL. I’ll definitely have to try giving them more play time during the evening in hopes of keeping maybe 2 beds from being completely shredded by my sweet lil demons 😂
Sounds like you have some active girls, Sam! Those girls do like to keep busy. Giving them chew toys and plain shredded newsprint should help as well as the extra playtime. Keep experimenting and you’ll find what works to divert their attention from chewing.
Best Wishes to You & Your Girls,
Jasmine | About Pet Rats