Rats Chewing Through Bins?

does anyone else have this happen to them? (i am talking the standard wooden rack with the plastic cement mixing tubs)

and if you have had it happen to you, is there a way you can prevent it?

i had an escapee today and that was not fun trying to catch her. she ran and got stuck under the baseboard, what a pain haha

i was thinking using sheet metal or mesh for the inside of the tubs, but i was wondering is there was an easier more logical way to fix it.

I believe if you put something else in there that is safe for them to chew on it may help. I am not 100% on this so if someone else has some tips or a list of items that would be safe for their rats to chew on I would also love some other input! :)

Blocks of wood and other chewables in the tub, and feed off the ones you find to be chewers... I don't have any problems with rats chewing out of my rack...

I do not have experience with colonies myself, but a friend of mine invited me over to look at his. If the mice and ASFs (rats are illegal here for us) felt stressed about food or water at ANY point, they would start to chew their way out. This could be just not enough places to find food, or not enough access to water. One day his ASFs water bottle ran out, and they chewed holes in the tub and got out. However, all the other colonies that had food and water plentifully remained happily in their tubs.

So is it possible there is food or water stress going on with your colonies that would cause them to feel the need to 'escape'?

It can happen

Rats who know how to chew will teach other so any rats that are in a chewed up tub must be culled.

As to prevent chewing make sure there is no grove or gap allowing rats to get started, make sure they have a good food source and water and provide a piece of wood in their tubs.

All of mine are provided with a piece of 2 x 4 and there is no chewing.

I have heard that old TP rolls and egg cartons are ok too. Is there any truth to that? I have never had a rat chew through a tub yet but I would love to know all kinds of ways to keep it that way! :)

And regarding Vasiliki's post: if you have a gravitational(?) water system there is a possibility that the tube has become clogged somehow. I have heard of this happening on one or two occasions but I would imagine it is pretty rare.

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Originally Posted by Andybill

I have heard that old TP rolls and egg cartons are ok too. Is there any truth to that? I have never had a rat chew through a tub yet but I would love to know all kinds of ways to keep it that way! :)

And regarding Vasiliki's post: if you have a gravitational(?) water system there is a possibility that the tube has become clogged somehow. I have heard of this happening on one or two occasions but I would imagine it is pretty rare.

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Yes, TP rolls and paper towel rolls are fine to put in the tub, but they don't last long. Wood blocks will be much better/durable and won't have to be replaced as often.

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Originally Posted by Inknsteel

Blocks of wood and other chewables in the tub, and feed off the ones you find to be chewers... I don't have any problems with rats chewing out of my rack...

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X2 I also get wood blocks for our colony.


M

i am going to try using blocks. thanks! and it cant be the food because they always have plenty of food and water. and i can't feed them off because its my breeders doing it haha

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Originally Posted by Inknsteel

Blocks of wood and other chewables in the tub, and feed off the ones you find to be chewers... I don't have any problems with rats chewing out of my rack...

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^ this. I have a few hundred at this point and have yet to have any even try to chew the tubs, let alone actually get out. I just cut the pieces of left over 2x4 or 2x2's into chunks and toss them in the tubs with the rats. They gnaw on them and when the wood gets too nasty, I toss it and start over. It's worked great thus far, knock on wood, lol!

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Originally Posted by adam_c

i am going to try using blocks. thanks! and it cant be the food because they always have plenty of food and water. and i can't feed them off because its my breeders doing it haha

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And they will keep doing it from now own they have learn that behavior and will show other to do the same, trust me on that culling that entire tub is what's best.

There are few things very important when breeding rats

Zero tolerance on chewing.
Zero tolerance on biting.

I've had a couple who chewed out and they were promptly served to the snakes.

I give mine bones left over from cooking, which they chew just as readily as they do wood. The bones last longer too.

I agree with culling them. Once they learn to chew you usually cant stop them from doing it. They might stop for a little while but they will do it again. just wait until they chew out then chew holes in the water lines and flood the rest of you tubs that really fun.

I save most cardboard boxes (smaller boxes mostly), paper towel/TP rolls and cardboard egg cartons for my rats. They also get bones, corn cobs (both fresh and dried) and branches and other wood. If you do use wood blocks/ 2 x 4's make sure it is not treated. You can also give them most chew treats for dogs and bird toys. I give them new things to chew on when I clean the tubs, cardboard seems to be a favorite. I always make sure they have a few different things to chew and rotate toys so they don't get bored. So far I have not had any chew out. Also always make sure to have food and water, as long as they have everything they need the shouldn't feel the need to look for it elsewhere.

Generally if there's chewing it's because the tubs don't fit the slots tight enough. Try adjusting your rails.

I made a few racks right before I had my eyeglass prescription updated a few years ago and had nothing but chewouts on those few racks, which, at the time looked fine. Low and behold, new glasses came in and I was left wondering why they bothered to chew at all with the gaps I left for them to simply crawl out of.

Check your fits front and back and make any necessary adjustments. Then cull the ones who have learned to chew.

You are probably using tubs from Home Depot. I use the same tubs. They come with a hole in it :( I bought 1/4-20 screws that were only 1/4 long and nylock nuts and screwed them together. The head of the screw is just big enough to cover the hole and prevent them from getting there teeth on them. Screws are gold and come in packages of 4 for $1.18 and the nuts are packages of 2(I think).

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if i kill them all i will wipe out the majority of my colony. i am just going to try the mesh or sheet metal. i don't see how it could fail. they wont chew through metal like that. if i have the tubs lined with the mesh, wood blocks, and shims, i just don't see anything going wrong. and my colony isn't THAT big so i still use bottles. not water lines.

but thanks for all the help and suggestions! i really appreciate it!

and i have had others that made holes and i had just plugged them and nothing has happened (this was a while ago) so that's another reason why i don't see the need to kill them.

but then again, i could be totally wrong. i just don't want to jump to that solution first because like i said, i would be wiping out the majority of my colony.

Cleaning the tubs will suck if it is lined with mesh or sheet metal. Peices of pine can get in between anything! lol And so can pee/smeered poop. I'd do what everybody else is saying.

i mean yes, cleaning would be a bit harder. but still, pressured water and disinfectant/deodorizer should do the job.

i am going to try it and see how it goes, if it doesn't work i will have no choice other than to euthanize them. but they are all pregnant right now and about to have their litters pretty soon so like i said before, i don't want to jump to that solution right away.

but again, thanks for all the help everyone and wish me luck! haha

I kill off chewers. I did take some chewers and put them into tanks(they can't chew glass tanks!) and got plenty of use out of them while non-chewing replacements grew up. Now I don't have chewers, as almost all of the chewing rats have died off.

Oddly, my super friendly pet/breeder Norma had babies and one of those chewed the bin it ended up in. I culled the whole bin, just in case, but since no one else had ever chewed in the bin, I'm assuming that it was that one. Norma likes to chew on the metal bars of her cage, and I'm certain the babies see her chewing the bars, although I've never seen a baby/weanling chewing the bars. I'll be watching to see if any other babies of hers chew as well.

Here is what I am talking about.

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/v...5_083343-1.jpg

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alright thanks! only problem is, all the holes that i have had haven't all been there. i have one that's off to the side. like i said, i am going to try shims, metal mesh, and wood blocks and see how it goes.

thanks!

Wonzzer- that's a Great idea! I have the same tubs and while I don't have chewers I'm a preventer.

I would cull all the chewers. I don't use any blocks or anything like that. I don't have any issues. They do have food hoppers though so they spend time chewing their food out of the hopper.


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