Rant about my rats

I put my chewers in a tank. I know I know, everyone says "Tanks are bad for rats!" but so far they haven't had any issues, and they can't chew glass. They have chewed the sealant out of the corners! They are near a fan, so the air has good circulation, even down in the tank.

All chewers seem to just CHEW, and they'll chew tubs, cages, you name it. Unless you've got a metal bar cage with a metal pan, they'll chew out. (or glass, heh heh)

Put some untreated scrap wood in with them,if that doesnt help then feed them off........

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Originally Posted by Kinra

Cool, something fun to look forward too. Maybe I should just gas these 4 off and start over. :(

I have a few snakes that prefer their rat pups to be alive and moving which is why I only have a few rats.



That really sucks, have you had luck with the morter tubs?

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Morter tubs have been great so far! Easier to clean, the racks give them alot better air circulation to boot. Even see alot of them using the wire mesh for excercise. They hang upside down and crawl around on it. I would have made the switch a long time ago if I could go back in time.

I have a tub I've been meaning to replace that has a little chew hole in it from a group that got fed off for being chewers. none of the other dozens of rats that have been put in this tub have expanded on the hole... there was one girl that survived from the 'chewer group' that were all part of the same tub, teaching each other the fine art of tub destruction. She survived because even when the others chewed a hole and escaped, she opted to stay in the tub and mind her own business. She still hasn't picked up on chewing or escaping (knock on wood).

I definitely agree though.. if you want to keep them as pets and they mean a lot to you, invest in an all wire/metal cage (rat manor or critter nation are excellent, but critter nation is by no means a small space-conserving cage). If they are more of a novelty pet and you don't mind feeding them off, you're not likely to get them to stop being so destructive once they've figured it out.