# To chew?



## firstmice

Just wondering if any of the breeders here give their mice stuff to chew in their boxes?


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## SarahC

only cardboard and paper .I do think its a good idea if you've got the time and resources.


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## pauly

I always put a small block of wood in for them to chew, it doesn't always stop them chewing their box mind.


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## firstmice

Thankyou for the replies


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## andypandy29us

mine always have cardboard boxes in their ubs ..... I have friends at work who save them up for me .... they love malteser boxes and jaffa cake boxes the best and they fit wekk well with the sizes of my tubs


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## firstmice

andypandy29us said:


> mine always have cardboard boxes in their ubs ..... I have friends at work who save them up for me .... they love malteser boxes and jaffa cake boxes the best and they fit wekk well with the sizes of my tubs


Thanks Allison  Cereal boxes are not a problem,as I have 17 year old growing lad who can eat cereal for England :lol: x


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## andypandy29us

brilliant


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## firstmice

andypandy29us said:


> brilliant


  x


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## gingerdragon

I have a cache of toilet paper and paper towel tubes that they love to play with, on, in and around. They also like to chew them up. I also dismantle a few wooden clothes pins for them to munch on to keep their teeth in check. Dry dog food mixed in with their other food also helps with this.


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## Ruth

Mine get hay which they love to munch as well as fruit wood, cardboard food containers which a family member saves for me, toilet rolls and egg boxes and dog biscuits as well as the ocassional nut in a shell.


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## firstmice

Thankyou  I have loads of cardboard available , cereal boxes, toilet tubes etc,, they seem to be enjoying them, I also give them hay


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## Miceandmore64

The houses are ice cream containers 2 litres with carved door. Always toilet paper tubes and often wood


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## PPVallhunds

I normally chuck in a bit of off cut scrap wood for them to chew on


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## Cereal Killer

You need to place scraps of natural/unpained solid wood into the tank for the mice to chew on. Just cardboard is not hard enough. Peanut shells, sunflower seeds, etc are also good. The mice will not really recognize the wood if they burry it in the bedding, so I would try to get some large chunks that stand out.


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## Honeyrobber72

Bradford pear trees are everywhere here in the USA. Though these do not fruit they are a fruit wood. Crap apple are another common yard tree and the weeping type have suckers on main trunk that need kept pruned off. I like using these long sticks over large blocks. A pair of good yard pruners is all that is needed. Bradford pears tend to break in every storm so your supply need not take up much space.


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## bellamousey

Cereal Killer said:


> You need to place scraps of natural/unpained solid wood into the tank for the mice to chew on. Just cardboard is not hard enough. Peanut shells, sunflower seeds, etc are also good. The mice will not really recognize the wood if they burry it in the bedding, so I would try to get some large chunks that stand out.


I've known people to keep mice with nothing to chew but their lab blocks with no problems. Most people on here seem to mostly just give cardboard. May I ask where you got this information? Perhaps some strains need more to chew than others?


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## Cereal Killer

I am just telling from experience. Mice are very eager to chew wood and hard plastic. Some wood is too hard or too slick inside. I have a 10x10x8cm solid wood block in my main tank and they have almost gnawed it to half its volume in 6 month or so. At average there were 20 joung/adult mice in that cage though.

In my experience, that they chew cardboard doesn't mean that they do so because of their teeth. It is rather for housing/building. The rate at which they chew it doesn't influence the rate at which they chew the wood. The rate at which they chew wood does influence the rate at which they try to chew plastic though (e.g. from drinking bottle). If they have no wood and no plastic, they try to chew the metal frame of the cage in really hard-to-access locations . This is probably as unhealthy as plastic.

I don't know if there are different breeds who need to chew less, but a piece of soft scrap wood costs nothing and lasts forever, so I wouldn't take any chances.


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## bellamousey

That's interesting. My mice have never chewed plastic or tried to chew the metal. They actually seem to prefer the cardboard I give them to wood I have given in the past. I imagine it must be a difference in the lines. I know I'm lucky that they don't chew the plastic. I've never had a chew out and I use exclusively RUB type cages and plastic water bottles. I've even had them hung on the inside with no protection. *knocks on wood* :roll:


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## raisin

Hmm. My mice have only ever chewed plastic when I kept a pair in a small plastic tub for a week and couldn't attend to them- so somebody else was. They just chewed a hole out the lid and a little one escaped- got her back thank goodness. I lent a similar bin to someone to keep their three in and they chewed it out of boredom also. But they were literally just bored, not trimming teeth.

only my pet store PEW mouse really seems to chew (on sticks)- but the clerk told me their white mice tend to be a little crazy. Something about a genetic predisposition. So I would agree with the theory that chewing is genetic. Rat teeth growth certainly is, and the ones with bad teeth need something more than sticks to chew. That also applies to nails- some just have naturally stubbier nails.


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## yorke

Apple and willow sticks. 
Sometimes a little bit of oat hay or barley grass. Keeps them busy. 
Mine have (not yet) chewed their cages or other accessories.


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## Torin

Mine get regular branches of various suitable tree species. If they're small just on the floor, but usually poked through the bars/mesh to make a perch. For the very big ones I loosely fold them up, shove them in, and have them bounce out to fill the space as climby enrichment too.

Current favourite is beech.


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## mich

My mice have a tendancy to chew too much. I guess they have anxiety. I am talking about chewing the plastic food :roll: bowls, cage parts etc.


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## yorke

Yup. Small wood chews, dog biscuits, toilet paper rolls and the occasional woven willow balls i buy at a pet supplier.


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