Making Toys

[faeryvamp]

I wanted to try making some wooden toys/hide boxes for our chin (and rat).  I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this, and/or could offer advice.  My thought was wood pieces from a craft store, and those places you can get un-finished wood for larger projects.  I'm sure most craft glues would be harmful, and nails/screws could be

Comments

[paincushion]

The wood we use for our chinchilla houses is pine. It's fairly thin, and we use tiny, a few tiny nails to fasten it all together. The nails are checked over and over, as the gals round out the corners, we just hammer the nails in more. The chinnies that are singletons have relatively narrow houses because they have a love for squishing themselves into small places :P ... the chins that are cage-mates have a double-sized house with two doors in the front.

As for ratties - I've had some really bad experience in using pine. Pine shavings or just pine wood causes at least one of my ratties to go into athsma-like wheezing and coughing. I think that the wood in craft stores is pine, but now I'm not 100% certain.

To be on the safe side, I would suggest using aspen instead of pine. I think it might be cheaper in the long run (though I can't guarantee it), but most of the hardware/wood/etc stores that I've encountered charge by the cut.

If you have a saw at home, you should be able to make your own smaller cuts later on.

[skadiwolf]

Yes, most soft wood bedding is terrible for small animals. Aspen is a fantastic alternative though. :) Just avoid wood that produces oils or aromatic scents and you're probably good.

[skadiwolf]

I second the PVC pipe suggestion, they make fantastic hides and you can buy covers for them! My friend makes some fantastic stuff that's specifically for chinchillas and washable which is awesome!!!

[neumeindil]

I've been told Elmer's white glue is safe to glue together wood pieces for a chinchilla house, but the thin pieces from a craft store won't last very long. On the other hand, a 6' long 1" thick by x 8" wide piece of kiln dried pine runs in the neighborhood of $4.00 (in my area at least), and from it, I can make at least 2 hides 8" long by 4" deep by 8" high (assuming I don't screw something up). If you know the size you want the house(s) to be, most home improvement stores that sell lumber also have a chop saw and operator on site to cut it for you, so you can take a stack of short pieces home, but pay the same price as you would for the long board. (Heck, I'll even talk you through how to figure out how much wood you'd need if you want. I've done this sort of building a lot at my theater job

[skadiwolf]

Unfortunately, lots of wood is toxic to chinchillas but there are some great resources online. Just be careful to get untreated wood exclusively and make sure you know exactly what types of wood it is. I wouldn't recommend a craft store because I doubt they have the kinds listed. Just be careful.

One thing to consider is that wood is also often toxic to parrots so a lot of wood that's safe for them is also safe for chinchillas. However, this isn't a guarantee, so again, be sure to do your research thoroughly online. The money you save making toys can never replace a lost friend. :(