Thoughts on fixing chewed tub bottoms...

I have a bunch of great birthing tubs that I love...But I notice they start chewing at the bottoms even with a ton of food, water and pieces of wood in the bottom of the cage...I loosely fixed on by using Gorilla Glue to smooth out the rough edges and fill the tiny holes that made it through to the bottom...I've read it's hazardous when wet, but nothing about when dry...Any thoughts or too risky?? Because it did what I wanted and the holes and scratches are no more, but now there is a bunch of smooth GG on the bottom that they might chew...

If you figure out the cost of the glue and time spent, toss the tub and buy a new one.

I'd agree with tossing the tubs. I've used GG around rats and I never had any health issues, however they can and will chew it.

I would get new tubs and retire/feed of the chewers.

If rats chew they will do it again and teach others as well.

sometimes tossing out the tubs and buying new is not an option. My rodent racks tubs have been replaced with a new model that no longer fits my rack. So any chew holes are fixed with 1/4 screen cloth

I have fixed many with wire and are still running strong...

What kind of tubs are they???

They are the 41 quart Steralites...I use them for my birthing quarters...Gives them more room to move and for the little ones to grow in...It takes more space but I've been lucky with a bunch of litters and 9 are down there right now...Thus, going and tossing them out and getting new bottoms gets pretty expensive...Once they are really chewed I will, but just trying to save some $$ too...

The bins are not your problem; the rats are.
Over the last few years, I decided to cull any "chewers" and now have 20 colonies of rats that wouldn't bite if their lives depended on it (literally).

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Originally Posted by mykee

The bins are not your problem; the rats are.
Over the last few years, I decided to cull any "chewers" and now have 20 colonies of rats that wouldn't bite if their lives depended on it (literally).

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yup, had a couple chewers, not anymore............the rest are cool :cool:
if you replace the tubs and not the rats they will only do it again:(

Are those tubs completely flat or do they have grooves that the rats can use to start chewing their way out?

If they are not completely flat I would suggest to replace your tubs and get rid of he chewers.

Some tubs are just not good when it comes to housing rodents.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Are those tubs completely flat or do they have grooves that the rats can use to start chewing their way out?

If they are not completely flat I would suggest to replace your tubs and get rid of he chewers.

Some tubs are just not good when it comes to housing rodents.

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Yah, they do have grooves...That's why they have the ability to start chewing...:(:(:(

And I'm not sure which ones are the chewers...many had chews in the grooves...

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Originally Posted by pandp

And I'm not sure which ones are the chewers...many had chews in the grooves...

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Sadly as I mentioned previously when you have a tub of chewer you need to get rid of the entire tub, because you do not know who the guilty ones are and because even if you did they will teach each other.

Try getting some better tubs and maybe even consider building a rack with Large Mortar tubs since you want them to have space (they are spacious and do not have any groves ;) )

This has been a very helpful thread. I just had a female chew out of a tub last week. She chewed through the corner of the tub???? Still not sure how she did it, but I have a few theories. Working on catching her. She escaped but the other breeder female and six 4 week old offspring made no attempt to leave.
I am sad to hear that I will have to cull her, but at the same time it is nice to know that being more selective will save me $$$ in the long run.

I'm gonna put down 4 potential breeder females because they started chewing one of my mortar tubs in my rack...Since I can't figure out who the culprit (if there is a single one), they're all gonna be food...:tears::tears::tears::tears:

I think I am going to need a bigger snake.....or maybe I just have an excuse to buy one now :-)

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Originally Posted by pandp

I have a bunch of great birthing tubs that I love...But I notice they start chewing at the bottoms even with a ton of food, water and pieces of wood in the bottom of the cage...I loosely fixed on by using Gorilla Glue to smooth out the rough edges and fill the tiny holes that made it through to the bottom...I've read it's hazardous when wet, but nothing about when dry...Any thoughts or too risky?? Because it did what I wanted and the holes and scratches are no more, but now there is a bunch of smooth GG on the bottom that they might chew...

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what i've done in the past is keep all the chewed tubs....i'll keep the best ones of the bunch and use the worse as donors....i'll cut certain areas of the bad tubs and patch the good tubs....the patches are held in place with chicken wire, rivets, and washers.

for me personally i have a hard time throwing away something that can be fixed or reused.....i prefer to repair verse spending unecessary money on new tubs. but to each their own, right?

and as others have pointed out feed off the occupants of that tub. if they chewed once....they will chew again! if you want i can post pics of my tubs....they are about 4-5 yrs old and chewed up like bublegum.....they are patched and still doing their job after all this time!

Pitoon

I finally caught my chewer! Note to all, metal live traps do not work on rats, at least not this one. Glue traps were a fail too. She just slipped up and got too confident :-) At least now I have a test patient for when I set up my CO2 remote.

Yah, trying to catch a rogue chewer is NO fun at all...I know the feeling:rage::rage: However, the C02 chamber will be a nice payback for you...

i think you guys are failing to understand that once one rats figures it out...the others will learn very quickly.

it's the same concept as putting a new water drinking valve in the tub....none will mess with it, until one gets curious enough to bite on it....when it see's water comes out it will continue to bite to drink....the other rats see this and learn to drink they must bite the valve......cull the entire tub, replace with a new one and go from there.

Pitoon

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Originally Posted by pitoon

i think you guys are failing to understand that once one rats figures it out...the others will learn very quickly.

it's the same concept as putting a new water drinking valve in the tub....none will mess with it, until one gets curious enough to bite on it....when it see's water comes out it will continue to bite to drink....the other rats see this and learn to drink they must bite the valve......cull the entire tub, replace with a new one and go from there.

Pitoon

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I fully understand Pitoon and fully agree...However, I have to admit I'm budgeting everything very tightly and trying to make things last as long as they can...I did cull the whole bunch of girls in that tub (:tears::tears::tears:)...and will start pulling more females out...I'm gonna try and fix and use with materials I have to prolong the replacements...Trust me, if I could I would replace, buy and add more snakes to my collection...:D:D

just buy a new one, if you try to be cheap like that with rodents, odds are they will chew through it even faster then get out. id rather spend $5 on a tub than spend hours and hours hunting down an escaped rodent thats chewing wires in my house lol

also as mentioned, they do teach each other, something to watch out for

Alright so I've devised a plan to help with chew outs for tubs that have ridges on the bottom. This is a simple fix that will cost literally nothing.

Basically you have 4 pieces of trim that are 1" wide by 1/4" thick. Frame the pieces together so that they are the same dimensions as the bottom of your tub. Cover the top of with 1/4" hardware cloth.

Now to attach it to the bottom of your tub, you have a few different options:

1. You can glue it to the bottom but this will make cleaning the bedding out of the wire mesh a pain in the butt.

2. Velcro strips on the bottom of the frame. I have no experience with velcro and bedding so I have no clue if it would get caught up in the velcro and make it become weaker over time.

3. Magnetic strips. This would allow you to take it out easily for cleaning and the bedding wouldn't stick to it. (I would personally try this method.)

After you get it attached to the bottom. You can cover it with whatever type of bedding you use.

**I just came up with this so I've never physically tested it but I would imagine that this would stop those little buggers from being able to chew at ridged bottoms.**

http://i817.photobucket.com/albums/z...f/tubpatch.jpg

I had bought an entire case of Cambro "busboy" tubs to fit the homemade rack I bought (from someone else). They're the only size that will fit, and I had to search online for weeks to find the right tub....for that reason alone, I'm at the point of patching.

8/10 now have holes.....different rats/different litters/different times (last two years). Even one of my mortar tubs got chewed, but it's not the BOTTOM, but along the top, to along the end/depth of tub, where it curves to make a "handle" on the outside.

Any ideas how to use hardware cloth to repair it? I tried Al tape (on the outside) using steel wool layered to discourage the chewing) and that didn't work for very long.

If I used the SMALLER hardware cloth I have, and used wire to patch, would that work?

Whether repair vs. replace, I don't have the money to buy new ones again, when a patch here and there will allow me 10 tubs.

To Pitoon:

Would you mind posting a pic or two of some of the tubs you've patched??? I'm a more visual person, and would like the chance to see what you've done.

Thanks!!!

bah just realized how old this post was