Rats piling shavings into corner of the their cage.

Question
This may be a stupid question because I'm sure I can find it somewhere on the internet but I am wondering something. I have two male rats that are brothers. They house very well together but there is one thing that bothers me. They pile up their shavings into the corner of their cage and it spills on the floor all the time.  I have been trying to think of something that I could put on the side of the cage to stop the shavings from going to the floor but I can't. Also I have two other questions. 1. What is the best way to bathe a rat (if I should even be doing it)? 2. I have a stick of applewood in their cage plus I bought some colored block of wood for them to chew on but they refuse to chew on them. Why?

Thanks for the help.

Answer
 It's totally normal =)  Rats, even males, often exhibit nesting behaviour and they may be rearranging their cage the way people like to rearrange furniture.  Some rats are very particular about where things go in their 'house' and will be constantly moving things to where they like them.  They also may be trying to bury their food to hide it from 'predators'.  There isn't really anything you can do to stop the behaviour, but to save yourself some cleanup you can attach some plexiglass guards to the sides of your cage to essentially make the litter pan taller.

 Rats don't really need to be bathed, as they usually groom themselves, but if they get particularly stinky or dirty it is all right, as long as they aren't bathed more than once every month or two.  I like to fill up the kitchen sink and do it that way, using a bit of baby shampoo then rinsing it off and toweling them off as best as possible.  Most rats hate being bathed and will scramble up your arms and pee and poop in the water.  If possible it's usually better to just wipe them down with a washcloth to avoid unnecessary stress.

 Rats don't actually need objects to chew on to wear down their teeth, they can do this themselves in a process called bruxing where they grind their incisors back and forth.  Rats usually still do enjoy chewing, but some rats simply aren't chewers and prefer to brux.  It sounds like your boys simply don't like to chew, or maybe they just don't like the taste of the wood.

 I hope that answers your questions, good luck with your rats!