Cage chewing

Question
Hi! I have two castrated 8 month old males, and one of them has been chewing the cage bars for weeks now. I don't understand why. I give them plenty of food, toys and chews. They spend time out of the cage everyday. I tried wrapping the particular bars he likes in twine, but of course, he just chews that off too. It's very annoying and I might have to relocate the cage so I can sleep! Any advice on behavior modification? Does that even work with rats? Thank you very much.

Answer

Sometimes rats just like to gnaw.  After all, rodent means rodentia which means "gnawing animal" so he may need something else to gnaw on that is more suited for him such as a hard low fat and low protein dog biscuit.

As for behavior modification, yes it certain cases it can work when you train them, for example, to stop biting by rewarding them with treats when they do not bite and when they do bite, you are to without the treat.  This is part of trust training.  With something that is more of a natural instinct, part of the rats nature of who he is, however, it is much more difficult and probably would be a failure to attempt any type of behavior modification for something such as this.  You can try to make an unwelcome sound when he gnaws the bars, but this may work just short term and he will be back to it in no time.

You may need to put his cage in the bathroom and close the door at night.  That, or ear plugs.  :)