Help! My rats keep chewing through my tubs!

With the help of a friend, I built a rat rack back in February. It has been working great except my rats keep chewing holes in the tubs and just about escaping. I have not had an escapee yet, but I know it is coming. Does anyone have any tips on how to prevent that from happening? Do I need a different type of type, one that is sturdier? I am using sterilite tubs at the moment, the same size I use for my snakes, just because I had them lying around. I can change if need be, I just need help knowing what to get! Thanks in advance!

There are few important things with chewer

You need to make sure that if you are using a rack there is not gap that they can use to start chewing their way out, same applies for groves and ridges.

Sterilite tubs have groves and ridges and I would recommend using IRIS if you want to go that route or build a rack with concrete mixing tubs.

Finally any chewer or any animal in a tub that has been chews MUST be euthanized, a rat that knows he can chew his way out, will keep chewing, worse yet he will tech any rat place with him to do the same.

When it comes to chewing you need to have a zero tolerance policy.

Throw some cardboard tubes in there too, or small wood blocks for toys to keep their teeth busy. But +1 on everything Deb says.

And if you're using ventilation holes as you would a snake, instead of wire or metal mesh... you're going to have this happen. Don't give them those spots to start at.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CptJack

And if you're using ventilation holes as you would a snake, instead of wire or metal mesh... you're going to have this happen. Don't give them those spots to start at.

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The tubs have a wire mesh lid, and no ventilation holes.

I appreciate all the comments. I will plan on switching to IRIS. Maybe if my snakes produce a bunch of good stuff this year I can upgrade to a professional rodent rack!

Would like to see a photo of the rack but switch to concrete tubs and cull the chewers.

Chewers gotta go!

I agree..cement tubs and cheered need to be fed off. I've been using cement tubs in a rack for four years and no escapes as of yet.

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Chewers.....not cheered

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Yeppers, Cement tubs here as well.

I plan on changing to cement mixer tubs in the next couple of weeks (it is coming into finals week for me in vet school, so I am a little busy!). I will post a picture of the rack once I get them all installed. Thanks for all the help. I also plan on culling the chewers once I wean off their current litters. The babies will also be fed to get rid of that line of genetics.

The babies may be OK to keep actually, provided the parents don't teach them to chew before they are weaned. This could be a way to re-start your colony without having to buy new rats.

I found that even with the cement tub racks, a chewer will find the hole in the end of the tub (presumably to hang on a nail) and they will use that as the starting point to chew through the concrete tubs. I started making a little home made solution in my cement tubs using a nut, bolt, two washers and a small piece of hardware cloth and haven't had a single issue since. I can try to post a pic later if you'd like...

I pop-rivet a piece of aluminum flashing over that hole after trimming off the little raised portion around the hole. I have started doing this to all the mortar tubs when I start using them. Seems like if I don't, it will go for months without an issue, then I come down to find wood and plastic shavings in a pile with, hopefully, a couple rats staring out a hole at me. Otherwise, it's an empty tub with a hole and I now have to locate it's former occupants.