Chew items

[Godofgods]

I'm looking for some new items for my chins to chew on. Alot of items in their are designed so they wont chew on them. Like the metal litter pan and trays. Metal wheel, metal tube. They have their large hut and ledges to chew on tho. They never really liked the 1 square inch pumice blocks. And their iffy with the pumice chews. I also tried some hanging toys, but they litteraly did not even last the night. Id have to replace them every day, and that would get a bit expensive.

So any suggestions on things you chins like to chew on in the cage?

 

[becky12883]

Apple twigs/sticks, a lava ledge, hay and KD pine shelves are all my boys have in their cage. They also chew on my cardboard wainscoting in my living room while they are out to play. The new guy we just got tries to chew on his ceramic stairs thingy that we put in his cage, I think he thinks it's like the Snak Shak he used to have at his previous home. I'd say try some sticks of different kinds and maybe lava ledges. I've also seen entire branches in cages, they surely couldn't get through an entire branch in one night.

 

[Anne-Lise]

Buy parts and make your own toys! Kiln dry pine blocs, bamboo, yucca, appletree, ocotillo, willow, elm, loofah, vine, pumice stones, safe wood pieces, cholla, alleluia! You just gotta find what they like and that lasts longer.

 

[ChinnyMom]

manzanita wood is a good wood to use if you want chew items to last a long time. it is very hard and dense.

but i honestly would not choose wood due to how long it lasts before being chewed to bits. my boys' 'chew budget' is one i never skimp on, because keeping those teeth worn down and keeping my boys happy and amused is very important to me. variety is also key. if you had to chew for your health, wouldn't you appreciate different textures and shapes instead of the same old thing every day?

an inexpensive solution is to get a pine board from the hardware store, a bunch of kool aid packets from the grocery store, and then cut and drill that wood to make hanging toy parts, soak in kool aid and then dry them, string them on wire or chain for toys. there are many threads and mentions of using kool aid to flavour chin wood here on the forum.

 

[kerri101]

My chin got tired with pumic so I alternate with a blue cloud chew rock she seems to like that....apple...willow....birch chew sticks she has not gotten tired of....cost wise its a lot cheaper to prepare your own wood or buy from vendors....store wood can be 4-5 bucks for 6 tiny apple sticks :faint...and since chins demolish sticks these are things to consider...bamboo shredders are cheap but they rather tear them apart lol ..hanging toys from stores get ripped to shreds in a few hours they are cheaply made....good idea to make toys too make with safe wood as other suggest or buy from vendors here is the best in my experience....
my chin does not chew on ledges/huts she rather chews on thing she can grab/pull.... sometimes I do hit the retail stores they tend to have clearance on chin safe toys from time to time

 

[Godofgods]

The hanging toys i had were ones i ordered from someone on this site iir. They do get plenty of twigs treats. I had like 6 different kinds of twigs. I shy away form using anything cardboard like, because my girls don't shred them, they eat them. I would like to get a lava ledge at some point tho

 

[Daina91880]

My chins all seem to like the same things: Pumice (but only if it's strung on a hanging toy) Loofah, Lava bites and Lava ledges, Apple wood, Manzanita wood, vine balls, and their ledges/houses/etc made from kd pine. They aren't too keen on mulberry, but if I hang the larger pieces on toys, they's gnaw on them from time to time. I want to try some different woods, but it's so expensive, I have to budget for it... then once I do, I end up buying apple because it's tried and true. One day, one day

 

[ChinnyMom]

another option is to contact organic orchards in your area and ask them for their tree trimmings. most orchards do trimming in the early spring and late fall once the sap is done 'running' in the trees.

just be sure to stress to the orchard when you talk with them that the wood MUST be 100% pesticide and fertilizer free. remember, organic in the food industry sense is not 100% free of the chemicals, it just has to be below a certain percentage to qualify.

 

[Godofgods]

hmm.. posted a reply yesterday. Not sure what happened to it.

My chins do have the poplar wood ledges and hut. (Kiln dried pine is nowhere to be found around here) Along with pumice bits and twigs. I have about 6 different kinds of 'flavored' twigs. I would be interested in getting the loofah and lave ledges tho.

I'm not sure i want to try those shredders tho. I'm assuming the point of them is to shred. Which is not something my girls can stop at. They will keep going and ingest anything they can get their mouths on. I cant even have cardboard or boxes around them cause they literaly try to eat them.

My chins all seem to like the same things. They aren't too keen on mulberry

strangely enough, thats the same one my chins arnt to fond of'

manzanita wood is a good wood to use if you want chew items to last a long time. it is very hard and dense.

hmm, I've never heard of that wood before.

there are many threads and mentions of using kool aid to flavour chin wood here on the forum.

How ironic. Getting a human drink mix for my chins, that their human cant drink lol

another option is to contact organic orchards in your area and ask them for their tree trimmings. just be sure to stress to the orchard when you talk with them that the wood MUST be 100% pesticide and fertilizer free.

Yea.. despite New jerseys 'name' its mostly one big paved area around me. I don't no of a single orchard anywhere remotely near my location.

 

[SeeleyAnne]

For me, the store bought toys actually last a long time. I just have one male chin, and he nibbles on the cheap store bought wood hanging toys and he doesn't destroy them. They could last for months. It's usually ME who gets bored of them and wants to give him something different. I just buy hanging bird toys that are wood and metal (no plastic) that go on sale from time to time for $1-$3 and they last quite a while!

 

[FionaA.]

Love these ideas. Just the info I came here for. Off to the organic orchard today for some apple picking and will check in with them about some treats for our new chin! Thanks!!

 

[becky12883]

If you do get some wood from the orchard make sure to look up the thread that has the instructions for prepping it before giving it to the chins.

 

[ticklechin]

The one best thing you can do for your chinchillas is give them things they LOVE to chew, its good for the teeth, its good for the mind. Please don't just let hanging toys that are ignored hang there, replace them with things they do chew.

 

[Godofgods]

The one best thing you can do for your chinchillas is give them things they LOVE to chew, its good for the teeth, its good for the mind. Please don't just let hanging toys that are ignored hang there, replace them with things they do chew.

While i completely understand that, i gotta wonder how some ppl keep up with those hanging toys. I bought two hanging toys for each cage. (4 total) I put them in the cage in the evening. By the time i woke up the next morning, they were all completely gone/chewed up/off. Definitely don't think i could keep up with that lol.

For now they have their poplar ledges/hut, pumice bits, twigs, and a new lava ledge which they seem to like. Also got them completely new fleece shelf liners, tube covers, and hammocks. And bearings otw to change out of their metal flying saucers. Still feel like I'm missing something tho...

 

[ChinnyMom]

The one best thing you can do for your chinchillas is give them things they LOVE to chew, its good for the teeth, its good for the mind. Please don't just let hanging toys that are ignored hang there, replace them with things they do chew.

agreed! switch up toys and other chew things on a regular basis to keep your chins interested. if it's just hanging in the cage and being ignored, it's doing those teeth no good.

 

[Lilune]

Ooh the hanging toys. Amp absolutely loves them, and we have the same issue, within a day of giving them to her, all the good bits are gone and she'll just ignore the one piece of whatever didn't entice her left on it.
We figured out a way to keep her entertained and chewing without getting bored though; we buy bulk of pumice, vine pieces and cholla, and as we live in the woods and my boyfriend is exceptionally good at identifying trees, we have a steady stream of assorted branches. We bake em and flavor em and sometimes cut em into fun shapes, and keep them all in one big glass baking pan. After a cage clean (every other day, good god the poo and the hay piles up quickly) I take out all the chew toys and pop em back in the dish, then offer her the dish and tell her to pick one. Its exciting for her every time, she'll root around the dish till she sees something she likes, grabs it and runs to her house to chew. Then ill throw in a couple pieces that have already been chewed on a bit, and the rest go back onto her supplies shelf. Every other day, every toy in her cage is new again, and since she picked it herself, shes got at least one that appeals to her. Her tastes seem to change every time, so I'm a fan of knowing whats in there is just what she wants, and she really seems to enjoy going through the toy bin. She also loves chasing the vacuum during a clean. I think the toys and the vacuuming make cleaning time as much fun for her as run time xD

 

[Godofgods]

She also loves chasing the vacuum during a clean. I think the toys and the vacuuming make cleaning time as much fun for her as run time xD

Thats amazing. My chins will panic at the mear sound of a vacume in a diffrent room. So needless to say, iv never tried to use one on a cage lol.