Teeth grinding blocks

[RebelCue]

What do you all use in your racks for the breeders to grind their teeth on? I've looked at lava block but wanted to know people's experience with it. I also read that hard dog biscuits on occasion are good. I am using Mazuri rat and mouse food for the higher protein, does that help keep their teeth down also?

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[nikkubus]

My hardward store offers birch, so a sheet of that cut into reasonably sized pieces will last a long time and still works out to be loads cheaper than buying the tiny little balsa things at the pet store for $5 a pack or whatever they are over time. It's a lot pricier than pine, but it's pet safe. When I lived in CO we had aspen trees in the yard and I could save some up after pruning and just sterilize them after they dried. You area might have a pet safe tree, you just want to double check. I've used bricks when I had pet rats, but it's not the best for a rack system... you put a brick under the water and every time they go to drink, they will dull their fingernails a bit, and they will chew it too. I'd imagine lava block would work the same way but I haven't personally tried it.

Lab blocks will keep their teeth controlled to a point, but not quite enough on their own. Same for dog biscuits. They just aren't hard enough to shave them down enough to not need something else.

[Bogertophis]

I feed Mazuri rodent breeder lab blocks to my mice, & I would NOT rely on that- it's rather "soft" in my opinion, especially against rat teeth. I like nikkubus' suggestions.

[Lord Sorril]

Brazil nuts (in-shell). Depending upon how dedicated your rats are to reaching the nut inside they might have no teeth for a while...

[Bogertophis]

Brazil nuts (in-shell). Depending upon how dedicated your rats are to reaching the nut inside they might have no teeth for a while...

Yes, hard nuts for sure. I used to have rats, & nuts are a good distraction for them anyway- nutritious & wears down their teeth.

[BreezyB]

They actually grind naturally, no extra consideration necessary, unless the rat is born malformed which I have seen in which case they are unable to gnaw or grind them on anything regardless and require frequent trimming by hand or surgery.