bricks in the rat tubs?

[littleindiangirl]

I read on another site that you should keep a brick in the cage with your rats to help wear down their toenails. Is this necessary? I haven't seen this in any of the pictures of rat racks on here, and it seems like it would be nearly impossible to disinfect being that most bricks are highly porous.

[jglass38]

I don't see the need. I have noticed unusually long nails or teeth on my breeders and I couldn't justify wasting that much space in a tub.

[littleindiangirl]

I don't see the need. I have noticed unusually long nails or teeth on my breeders and I couldn't justify wasting that much space in a tub.

just to clarify for myself, you HAVE noticed unusually long nails teeth? or did you mean to say haven't noticed?

[MarkS]

I don't see the need to use bricks in a rat cage, they're constant chewing (on everything) is enough to keep their teeth in good shape and I've never noticed a problem with toe nails. As you pointed out, bricks are very porous and would be almost impossible to disinfect. After a few months in a rat tub you could probably sell one on the black market as a biological weapon.

Personally, I wouldn't do it.

Mark

[frankykeno]

Well I did try that brick thing back when we had pet rats. It may well help keep their nails back a bit but it just gets nasty! We provide our colony with enough hard foods, bones, etc. that they can grasp and chew on and I think that it works just fine. We have retired breeders with us that are well on 2 years plus now and even they don't seem to have issues with overgrown of nails or teeth.

[jglass38]

just to clarify for myself, you HAVE noticed unusually long nails teeth? or did you mean to say haven't noticed?

Sorry, haven't. Typo #2 on the day...

[sweety314]

On our pets we had a couple tear a nail on the back foot b/c it was too long, but I now use ppl nail clippers very carefully if they get to scratching us/too long.

I use the pumice blocks for the babies to stand on to get to the water bottles. Chlorhex and occas. bleach soaks help keep things fresh and clean. Once they're gone, I probably won't replace them though.

[Alice]

I've never used bricks and agree with others when they say that they would absorb and be very difficult to clean. I've also not seen extra long nails in my 3 racks of rats either. Good luck and let us know how you tackle this issue.

[littleindiangirl]

I got rid of the bricks!!! woo. Ok. Update... I havent noticed anything yet. I always think their nails are sharp, but we'll wait and see...