Chinchilla Wood Shelves

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A

airski

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I recently bought three new wooden shelves and a wooden ladder for my chinchilla. I bought these items from ebay and they are made out of 100% kiln dried pine. After placing the shelves and ladder in my chinchilla's cage, and after he ran around on them, he began itching and biting at his fur. Besides itching and biting at his fur he went to the bottom of the cage, which is wire bottom, and he began jumping around off the cage walls like crazy and rolling on the ground. All of this behavior is abnormal. I just want to know if the shelves could be the cause of his itching, and if so is there anything i can do in order fix this itching problem. I'm not sure if it is the oil on the shelves or another factor, i already cleaned off the shelves with water. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
If they are kiln dried pine, there shouldnt be any oil to them. I would have to assume that since this behavior started after getting the new items, they'd be the most likely culprit. Maybe there was something on them you cant see, or maybe the seller didnt use pine like they said.

Do they smell like pine? Or chemicals? Or anything else really. I personally would remove them from the cage, wipe his feet with baby wipes or a damp cloth, and give him extra dust baths to get rid of whatever is irritating his skin. I'd also contact the seller, let them know the reaction he had, and ask lots of questions about the wood - what type, where it came from, maybe there was something on the sawblade used to cut the wood... Could be a million things, but I hope the lil guy feels better soon
~Barb~
 
He might have also been really excited or really agitated by the new additions. My girls run around like crazy when I add stuff to their cage LOL. I would give it a little while and see if he continues to act that way. My girls also roll when they are excited even though there is no dust in sight.
 
If he was just jumping around and rolling I would think maybe he was just excited about the new additions. Since he is itching and biting at himself I would think it's something on the wood that's causing it. I'd remove the additions and email the seller to see if the wood had been treated with chemicals.
 
Let him have a bath too. if it is the shelves that are making him act itchy that might help
 
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