By something to chew on I mean something that wont harm her, I love my rat!!! I've been noticing that she grinds or jitters her teeth together so I figured it was because her teeth were getting to long. I bought her the chew sticks and she wont use them at all...what else can I get her that she might like more and that will help her teeth???
This is my baby...too cute I know!! lol
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f75/leilani675/13-04-07_2128.jpg
2007-08-03 17:47:33 · 18 answers · asked by Leilani 2 in Pets ➔ Rodents
I bought her the bright colorful chew sticks that are supposed to be flavored but she doesnt like them
2007-08-03 17:59:57 · update #1
You might need to try a few different kinds of chew sticks before you find 1 your girl likes. Besides wood in various shapes, there are fruit-flavored mineral blocks shaped like ice cream, chews made fron dried gourd & many other materials. Our guys get bored with 1 type very fast & we have to keep changing chew treats in order to keep their interest up. Our hairless girl is especially finicky with food & toys as well as chew treats.
Also try dog biscuits or nuts in the shell. Our rats love peanut butter flavored biscuits. Some rats enjoy gnawing on uncooked pasta but none of ours does.
Although rats really enjoy chewing & gnawng, they don't *need* to do this, since they are able to keep their teeth in shape by grinding them together. Giving them fun things to chomp on is just one more way to show them we love them.
2007-08-03 19:19:22 · answer #1 · answered by Catkin 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lab blocks, sticks or mineral blocks from the pet store. However, her teeth may be fine, as long as her food is hard. Many (almost all) rats grind their teeth at some point, sometimes just because, and sometimes because they are bruxing (grinding their teeth together) because they are happy. It is the rat equivalent to a cat's purr or dog's tail wag, and is sometimes accompanied by eye boggling, in which the eyes seem to pop a bit in and out of the socket (hard to describe, that makes it sound gross, but it's not).
I suggest you check the teeth. Here's a link about trimming rat teeth that will give you a good idea of how long they should be. http://ratguide.com/health/figures/malocclusion_figure_1.php The second picture shows a rat with healthy teeth. You'll note that the teeth are quite long. The first picture shows a rat with a badly maloclused tooth.Typically, the action of gnawing on hard foods is enough to keep the teeth at a reasonable length, unless the rat is old, and no longer eating hard foods, or has suffered some trauma that causes a tooth to become maloclused.
2007-08-04 14:52:21 · answer #2 · answered by SJ 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
-grins- I had the same problem with my boys Pug and Luigi. The only thing they'd chew on were Greenies (dog bones) They're these hard, dark green bones that you can buy in all sizes. The smallest were about as long as my pinkie finger and fairly cheap. These shouldn't be harmful to the rat's health. Don't give one to the rat more than once a week though! (too much of anything is not good!)
Don't get twigs and stuff from outside! They could be infected with parasites!
Do NOT use a toilet paper roll unless you slice it so it can be opened up. (I had a full grown rat try to squeeze through and it suffocated itself. Rats can get into VERY small spaces on account of their flexible, multi-jointed ribs!)
2007-08-04 02:34:55 · answer #3 · answered by ferrisulf 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Wood. You can get a pack of 4 chew sticks at walmart for 88 cents.
Make sure you hold the stick for them! Also you could try stuff from busybunny.com Rats like those too.
2007-08-03 19:01:33 · answer #4 · answered by Cheez Doodle 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you are going to have to buy a LOT of fleece. The people I know who use fleece as bedding keep tons of it around, so they can change it out and wash it as often as they want. Some people keep the fleece in place by using clips - clipping it to the outside of the cage. I'm not sure exactly how that works, or even IF it keeps the rats from getting under the fleece. Since it seems to work for you, I suggest you just buy fleece every chance you get. Some people find baby blankets of fleece at dollar stores or Goodwill, places like that. Please DON'T spray the fleece! Good luck!
2016-04-01 17:26:58 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get bright chew sticks made of wood the plain ones are the ones that dont get their attention!
2007-08-03 17:52:36 · answer #6 · answered by ally_hollywood 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What a little cutie pie. Ok, my rats didn't like the color ones either. We get them the ones that look like real bark and they love them. Also, we've put stuff like chopsticks in there and she's chewed them up. They like paper too! You best bet is the bark chew sticks.
This is the brand I get.
http://www.epetpals.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=045125611984
2007-08-04 10:03:32 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yeah maybe try flavoring the wood or buying the flavored chew sticks. they seem to like that better. and your rat is just adorable. anyways.... cardboard boxes work good to like kleenex or cracker boxes. hope this helps
pics of my ratties at
http://elmochinnie.blogspot.com
2007-08-04 04:57:30 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
some fruit tree wood (apple etc). its soft enough so they won't hurt their teeth but is hard enough to keep their teeth down. Get a nice branch and put in her pen they love it.
2007-08-03 23:19:51 · answer #9 · answered by maggie 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Paper towel roll, toilet paper roll, wood blocks in the pet department at a pet store.
2007-08-03 17:55:24 · answer #10 · answered by Jules 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋