What Do Tame Rats Like to Chew On?

Rats, whether tame or wild, seem to have an insatiable desire to chew on just about anything they can get their teeth on. In fact, rats must chew to maintain their dental health. For a pet rat in a home, however, chewing can be annoying when it is at the expense of your clothing and furniture. You can help avoid destructive chewing by giving your pet appropriate chew toys they will enjoy just as much as your good furniture.

  1. Why Rats Chew

    • A rat has one set of teeth for its entire life. The teeth grow at an average rate of around 5 inches per year. In order to keep them a manageable length, rats have to gnaw on things and wear their teeth down. Sometimes excessive gnawing can indicate the rat is bored. Providing some supervised time out of its cage can give your pet rat the stimulation it needs.

    Wooden and Cardboard Toys

    • Wooden items, although preferably not pine, make ideal chew toys for rats. Wooden blocks in various shapes offer a challenge and the necessary grinding for their teeth. You can soak the blocks in juice for added novelty. Other things rats like to gnaw on include Popsicle sticks, wooden chopsticks and fruit tree branches.

      Rats also enjoy nesting in cardboard boxes and then shredding them. Empty toilet paper tubes make fun tunnels, as well as chew toys.

    Food Items

    • Some kitchen items your rat may enjoy gnawing on are cooked soup bones and shelled nuts. Try different varieties of nuts such as walnuts, pecans and hazelnuts. Chewy treats from the pet store include rawhide toys and hard dog biscuits.

    Precautions

    • When giving your rat wooden items to chew on, use only untreated and pesticide-free wood to avoid giving your rat toxins. If you doubt the origin of the wood, play it safe by getting wooden chew toys specifically made for pets.

      Avoid giving plastic to your rat, as they may ingest pieces of it. Some aggressive chewers may even gnaw their way through a plastic cage.

      Check the placement of the rat's cage. Rats will gnaw on things they can reach through the bars of the cage, so make sure electrical wires, curtains and anything else chewable is not near the cage.