Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok this is probably a better question for some kind of rodent forum but i can't find it... so here goes;
We breed our own rodents for our ball pythons but for some reason our rodents have been chewing out of the containers, we clean every week, they have the watering system, and the only thing is that we dump the food in the container.. there is no food hopper. our racks are home made and we have bins from lowes.
i just would like to know what you all use for your rodents and so we can stop having chew outs

thanks and if more information is need just ask,
Jake
-----
Home

are they chewing out of the corners?
if so, i had the same problem. what was happening was the rats were chewing any corners that were raised slightly(dented in) they were able to get ahold of it with their teeth and once they made a small hole the easier it was the chew all the way through......
So what i had to do was get flawless tubs (look at all of them at lowe's and make sure there is no dents at all) and add more bedding, so if there were any dents in there, its out of sight out of mind!

and if they weren't chewing out of the corners, i don't know what to tell you, LOL

hope that helps ; )

I have a friend who also raises rats and he has had the same problem with any kind of a place where the rats and ASF could get ahold of something. Chew their way out. I dont know where he got them and I am sure they are not as cheap as the plastic bins but he uses Stainless Steel trays now and of course there ain't no gettin outta those by chewin your way out..
-----
JEM from sunny AZ.

2.16 Normals
6.6 Pastels
3.5 Spiders
0.4 100% het for Albino
1.2 100% het for Clowns
1.2 Cinnamons
1.2 Mojaves
1.1 GCR Black Pastels
1.1 BumbleBees
1.1 Super Pastels
1.1 Lessers
1.1 Fires
1.0 Pinstripe
1.0 Butter
1.0 Albino
1.0 Enchi
0.1 het for Pied
1.1 Brazillian Rainbow Boas
0.1 Vietnamese Blue Beauty
0.0.1 Sulcata Tortoise
80 Tarantulas
2 Leopard Geckos
1 Scorpion
Last but most Important 2.2 Children

Try using the bus tubs sold at Sam's Club, they are gray and found in the food service section. They have no seams and they work pretty well for us.

Whatever you use, it has to be totally seamless because anything they can get hold of...
rodents will chew it!
Good Luck!

Susan
SSNAKES Reptiles

bigappleherp.com

Jake,
I am not sure if putting the food in the tray encourages the chewing or not, but would suggest modifying your set up to accomodate keeping the food out of the tray.
As for chewing. I have about 300 female breeder rats that I keep in home made racks using the mortar mixing tubs from home depot (I can't remember for sure, but I think they are better/heavier than Lowes). Anyway, as long as the rats have food and water I have very little trouble with chewing. I will also tell you that once they learn how to chew, they get wise and are prone to be repeat offenders. For that reasons when I do have a tub where they have chewed through, I feed the whole tub off.
Good luck
Grant

they are right...mortar pans...need thick plastic and smooth bottoms....

.....food IN bin doesn't hurt...

........and as for repeat too....they are smart....

..

...good luck......find THICK pans.....

...(EBN has plans for racks on his site..)...
-----
......
..........
......this will only hurt alot..........

LOL......

Thanks i'll try to get some better bins they are really all starting to chew and i don't want to feed all my rats and start over but i might need to we are planning on buildin a new rack so we will find some new bins. Thanks for all the help from everyone.

thanks very much,
jake
-----
Home

Its not 100% but put a piece of wood in the bin for them to chew on seems to help. I just use 4" to 6" of 2x4.
CM

As Grant said they are smart and once they learn to chew they keep on doing it so its best to feed them off, I do the same with biters. Just make sure they have plenty of food and water.
-----
Damian Macioce
www.strongholdreptiles.com