bad ratties, bad bad bad!

[Petunia]

My girls have a rat room to play in, and they've been really good for the most part, not damaging anything, of course it's mostly all rat stuff in there anyway

but they've decided that the edges of the carpet are very tasty :roll: :gaah:

I didn't realize it til there was a fair amount of damage done (will get photos in a bit)

but now what do I do?

ok what I mean is, how do I protect the carpet- they are very strong little buggers and very persistent and have moved the things I"ve tried to use so far to block these spots (apparently some carpet corners taste better than others)


that's question number one

the second question is, how do I keep them happy and entertained til I can figure out what to do and do it? (I"m in a bad way physically so this could take a little while)

will moving their cage into another room for a change of scenery and letting them out on the table and maybe the bed be enough to keep them from getting bored?


I feel like tellin them, it's your own fault, girls :scolding:

:giggle:

 

[Eolith]

Hmm, this is going out on a limb... but if you could find something carpet-safe like the bitter spray they sell in pet stores, it might make these certain areas less appealing for gnawing. Or even something that smells bad to a rat? Apparently cats don't like the smell of citrus or lavender.

 

[Dahlas]

I was thinking that as well Eolith...maybe even vinegar or bitter apple (that you buy to deter dogs from chewing)

If there is anyway you could block the areas off that is probably the best idea.....maybe making them a coroplast playpen area...instead of the whole room?.....I am really not sure...it is a hard one and I know when they make up their minds to chew something they are very determined.....

 

[jorats]

I wonder if buying carpet remnants to put in the corners might help? Get them to eat the remnants as opposed to the good stuff.

 

[Petunia]

I wonder if buying carpet remnants to put in the corners might help? Get them to eat the remnants as opposed to the good stuff.

er there's no good stuff left
:laugh4:

I ve tried covering these spots with heavy things but apparently a rat who is determined to chew something can move just about anything
:shock:

is it safe to use Bitter Apple with rats? I suppose I could get some of that....

I tried walling off a section with coroplast but they can jump it so easily and think it's there for that reason, something to jump up on and use a launch pad to get somewhere else :giggle:


I wish I had a room with no carpet that they could play in......

but there is no safe room like that here. bathroom is tiny and horrible, I dont even like to go in there LOL

I"ll come up with something, but in the meantime will they be ok not having any free range time in a big room
just on tables and the bed?
(dont have a sofa)

I can picture them getting bored very quickly....

 

[Dahlas]

I am not sure if Bitter Apple is safe for rats...I would ASSUME it is.....but would have to look into it more...

 

[temblabamomo]

I have always wished for a carpet free room for this reason. Fortunately, my current rat room was inherited from my brother when he moved out, and the carpet was already stained and worn. The rats don't chew it, but they do sort of dig at it and create little fuzzballs for nesting.

 

[mamarat]

You could buy those heavy plastic runners and put them where they chew. I know they will chew the runners too as mine did but it did save my carpets.

 

[Moon]

I know SQ has put stick down linoleum tiles right over top of her carpet in the past, and they can be got pretty cheaply. Even if you only put them along the edges.

 

[M0onkist]

Spray bottle. Good ones have a nice 4 foot range, so you can be sitting at a desk and still hit them square on. It doesn't hurt them at all (it's just water), and then they get all huffy and clean, thus forgetting what it was they were doing.

 

[crumbilina]

I've heard that you have to be careful with bitter apple because if you don't get the right one for the right animal, the animal may find it more appealing and chew more.

I have no idea if this is true or not... but it is something to keep in mind when researching what to get if you go the bitter apple route.

I like moonkist's idea of a spray water bottle.... works for all types of animals!

 

[Petunia]

great ideas everyone, thanks!!!

I'll see if I can find those stick on tiles and/or the heavy plastic runner...


I don't know if I could spray the girls to get them to stop- funny, I have no trouble doing that to my cat, if needed (usually I just point the spray bottle in her direction and she gets the message fast! have only had to really squirt her that one first time LOL)

but spray my cute little innocent rattie girls, I dunno, I"d feel so bad........

but I guess til I get something to protect those corners (so far it's only two corners, the one behind the door, and one opposite it) it would be better to squirt them IF I have to, then to keep them confined to the cage, or the table, or a bed, for playtime

 

[jorats]

I spoke to my vet about using a spray bottle. She said it's not a good idea, you don't want any water going into their eyes or ears... they have such sensitive respiratory track, it's like asking for something to flare up.

 

[Petunia]

I spoke to my vet about using a spray bottle. She said it's not a good idea, you don't want any water going into their eyes or ears... they have such sensitive respiratory track, it's like asking for something to flare up.

oh good point!!

well I took some of the bricks that I was using for hold something else together :roll: :lol: and put some of those on top of the spots that they like to dig up- I put down several layers of scrap paper and then cardboard first, because my girls think bricks and rocks are for peeing on (well that's what they have in one of their litter boxes, a "pee rock"- I need to find a couple more for them, my how they love to pee on rocks :laugh4: )


hopefully this will do the trick til I can come up with something better.


Now, if they start to chew up other corners of the carpet, I may have to stop letting them out in the room,
I'd hate to have to do that, but I rent and even though this carpet is going to need to be replaced when I move anyway, I don't want to have to try to explain what happened to it

(the landlord does know that I have rats, of course, but I don't know if he knows that they are allowed out the way they are...)

 

[crumbilina]

I spoke to my vet about using a spray bottle. She said it's not a good idea, you don't want any water going into their eyes or ears... they have such sensitive respiratory track, it's like asking for something to flare up.

Good point! Never thought of that...