Eating non nutritive substances.

[jorats]

I was searching around one of my favourite sites, ratbehavior.org and I came across this tidbit of information. It is often asked why do rats eat their bedding or other non nutritive substances, well, here's perhaps the reason why...

Rats cannot vomit; they respond to nausea by eating non-nutritive substances (an activity called pica) like clay, dirt, and sometimes even bedding (Mitchell 1976, Mitchell et al. 1977a, b, c, Morita et al. 1988b, Clark et al. 1997) ). Pica may be an adaptive response to nausea because nausea is frequently caused by a toxin: the non-nutritive substances (especially clay) may help dilute the toxin's effect on the body (e.g. Philips et al. 1995, Philips 1999, Sarr et al. 1995

Found here: http://www.ratbehavior.org/norway_rat_ethogram.htm

 

[LA]

WOW that's fascinating. That explains why they sometimes eat the YN. Thanks Jo.

 

[MumsyRat]

But that would imply that we are giving our rats something toxic..... :sick2:

 

[jorats]

When you think about it, we are surrounded in toxins. It wouldn't take much for the rats to eat a toxin like older lettuce, a chip of paint...

 

[Cityratt]

I think that behaviour is also termed Geophagy and is commonly seen in monkeys that may incounter toxins in the plants/fruits they eat...
just thought id throw that out there...

 

[Godmother]

People sometimes do this, too, although nobody is sure why.

 

[Willow Bean]

People sometimes do this, too, although nobody is sure why.

*pops a Combo pretzel into her mouth* Nope, no idea why we would eat a non-nutritive substance at all, *guzzles a soda* :laugh4:

Seriously, though, thanks for the info, Jo! I always wondered about that! *slurps up some soda again*

 

[Dewi]

Oh no! Ginger's been doing this a lot lately.

 

[jorats]

I wonder if they also do it for feeling ill, nauseous. Is it always caused by toxins? Could it be caused by being sick or reacting to medicine? I've got a baby doing this too.

 

[Cait]

I've heard of pica in people, not in rats, though. Interesting!

 

[mamarat]

I find when some rats are in pain they will chew and swallow paper napkins and cloth.

 

[Cityratt]

Moose also are known to eat Willows which have ASA precursor in it (the stuff we make tylenol out of)

Its pretty phenominal the way some creatures have adapted

 

[SQ]

Could it also be due to habit?
Debbie self barbers terribly ... and has always done so.

 

[G~Ratified]

How can you tell if they are actually eating or just chewing things.. My girls, one in particular, is always tearing up the cardboard boxes that we use in their cage. But the pieces are lying all over the cage. She also chews up her blankies put in for bedding. Is this just teeth grinding , or???

 

[jorats]

I think chewing up items is very common and doesn't necessarily mean they are ingesting it.

 

[Kat]

yeah, my rat loves to rip the fabric off her hammocks, i buy new ones all the time lol