Why does my rat chew up his tissue box bed?

Question

He's about two years old at least and has started doing this about seven or eight months ago. When tissue boxes becomes empty I cut a hole in it for a "door" and fasten it in his cage, and he will use it to eat and sleep in and sometimes sleep on top of it.
Now he just chew them to shreds and it's annoying when he does this and I don't have any spare tissue boxes left, though I could use something else.
I gave him a tissue box with nice panda pictures on it and that got chewed up as well.
I don't think he's hungry as he stores food for later, so why is he doing this?

ღѕωєєтнєятღ · Accepted Answer

All Animals Chew.  Its In His Nature, He Cant Help It.
Its Good Too Because It Wears Down His Teeth ( Rodent Teeth Grown Continually)

mikanajay · Answer

Rats love to chew and like making "escape" holes in their sleep boxes. Do you have any other small boxes? Try getting some of the small ones from a hardware store. I make paper mache boxes so theres a few extra layers for them to chew through - dont use normal newspaper or printed paper though. 

Maybe by some polar fleece and cut liners / hammocks for them to also use? With the toilet paper rolls, try twisting one end like a bon bon (or sealing another way), fill with some treats/fresh food and then seal the other end - they'll love chewing through the cardboard to get to the yummy centre. 

Also place some vegie dyed wood in their cage for them to chew.

elapsedecho72000 · Answer

My three girls do the same thing but they hate toilet paper rolls. It's probably just fun for them. Don't let it bother you so much! It can be annoying cleaning up but if it gives them something to do then why not. Does he get enough out of cage time? He should get out at least an hour a day. 

Also, this isn't related to your question but rats are social creatures and really do much better when they have a rat companion (a same sex pair or if they are fixed then a mixed pair is ok).

Lily R · Answer

rats along with any other rodents love to chew especially cardboard. this is completely normal. if you do not want him to chew the boxes then you should put some wood chew sticks in the cage. most rodents have ever-growing incisors (teeth) which means they need to gnaw on things to keep their teeth short and comfortable.

Hope This Helped!

Kendra · Answer

Rats just chew. Its ingrained in their dna. Their teeth constantly grow and your rat needs stuff to chew on. Rats love to shred things, so shredding cardboard is great fun for him!

? · Answer

He chews on it 2 keep him teeth trimmed. Put in some toilet paper rolls and other toys & it should be fine

lacynjay · Answer

rats like to chew and shred they have boring lives when in cages so i think that if i was in a cage all of the time i would shred and chew also.

Michelle · Answer

It's probably just because he likes to chew. My hamster did that all the time, and pretty much all rodents do that. He's probably just fine, and he might feel that he wants to chew more things. It's just his nature, so you shouldn't worry too much. :)

haybay · Answer

do you have those edible homes for rats?
they usually have some on sale at PetCo for $3.00.

i have 2 rats and they eat nearly anything shreddable.

tissue boxes need to be replaced regularly though, because of the urine seeping through, and they shouldnt eat their own urine.

..lilbeatch · Answer

just what rats do. my rats keeping chewing through their hammocks even though they love them. makes no sense at all but thats rats for you

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Why does my rat chew up his tissue box bed?

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