Thoughts on fixing chewed tub bottoms...

[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

[alohareptiles]

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

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 ()...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...

[BAMReptiles]

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

[ericzerka24]

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.**

[sweety314]

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.

[sweety314]

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!!!

[BAMReptiles]

bah just realized how old this post was