@WellThisIsShit yes lol the first thing when I got home each day my mum used to send me to the bathroom to clean them. I had one of those timers which she used to set for me to clean for 5 mins and I actually did it, I would then eat the toothpaste straight from the tube to reward myself. I went thru 3-4 big tubes a week, if got my hands on it.
The teacher thought it was me all along re crayons but colouring time was just before hometime and I got away quickly quite a bit but she was horrified to see me happily eating handfuls of crayons which had come from the big crayon box which all the class put hands in and out off.
Was moved to colouring pencils, that wasn't much better as mine had to be kept separate from everyone else, they were easily identifiable anyhow as sharpened from the top down and eaten till both ends met by me, I had little splinters removed from my inner lips esp lower one quite a few times it didn't deter me either, A new pack of pencils lasted on average 2-3 days and wouldn't be replaced for 2 weeks.
Markers - that was even worse for my teeth, I liked the "taste of the colours", if that makes sense and so used to put the nib of the pen in my mouth and suck it till the colour barely worked, then put some vinegar down the barrel of it from the other end and suck at it as vinegar prolonged the colours slightly.
Finally, I was taken away from the colouring and art sessions altogether as it wasn't working for the school from their viewpoint.
I also had a liking for bars of soap and washing up liquid (pears soap, the original recipe was lovely, imperial leather but my fave was anti disinfectang soap) I would even eat the soap from the girls toilets at school, and fairy liquid, I was always keen when shopping with mam that she would get different flavours of Fairy for me, she would only buy the original one to try deter me
Mam used to hide bottles of disinfectant from me, not cos I would drink them but because I used them literally on myself. If I got my hands on one, I could use a litre easily and more if I could lay my hands on it. Half of it was tipped in a bath for myself which I lay and soaked in Dettol basically, then I got out and used Dettol as a body lotion and the other half of the bottle with that.
Looking back I also ate toilet roll, kitchen roll, buttercups and daisies, dock leaves, grass. I was quite a weird kid in some ways
Can I give you a bit of reassurance OP that despite all this, I was between 5-8 years old when my "habit" kicked off. It carried on daily till I was nearly turning 9, Over 35 years I don’t have any interest or craving for any of these items aforementioned but have a combo of comfort food which has turned some people around me but is instant comfort. I have found my local hospital has it on their daily menus.
No stress, trauma or major life event related bar the passing of my dad 4 months before I turned 8 but as this was there before so I wouldn't link it together
I had a very stable and happy childhood even if I was/am weird in other areas of life. I use weird as a phrase that covers all my experiences, tastes and happenings in my life that is not the typical pattern amongst my friends.
I have been told by several friends who are on the spectrum that they can see a lot of traits esp over the number of years of friendships and fully believe I'm on it somewhere. It doesn't hinder me and I have never pursued a diagnosis.
It all stopped for me about 4 months before I turned 9 and the urge to eat all this went away as fast as it had arrived when I was 5, except as a 5-year-old I couldn't articulate that it was an uncontrollable urge constantly to eat the "contraband"
I basically grew out of the habit/phase in the end,
So keep an eye on wires, wrap electricians tape and may need to do a couple of layers of tape in case of seepage.so the liquid doesn't go thru to wires.
if you know of a particular flavour he hates and can make into a spray with water or alcohol base like vodka to hold the taste and spray on tape when it's covering the wires,
I didn’t even bite my nails as a child or adult, I do sometimes pick the nail with another nail.
Watch and wait, if he develops tummy pain after a session wearing headphones, check against your pre-taken photos to assess the damage or are the same as they were at X date (in the past), then they are right now (take new picky) deal with child with pain and keep an eye open just in case.