fleece vs nylon

[AndreaMD02]

so i was at a petstore today. this guy is aparently is supposed to be pretty knowledgeable about pets. I was in there to buy hammocks for my chinchilla and i asked him what the hammacks were made out of. he said they were made out of nylon, and i said "oh i need fleece cause my chin will chew right through these and..."

he says "Fleece bundles up and causes major impactions in chinchillas so nylon is better suited for them because they don't bunch up like that."

now i'm just so confused...cause i know everyone here uses fleece. i'm guessing he's wrong. but just incase there can be an interesting debate...let it ensue...

 

[Stackie]

Fleece is very durable and unlike other fabrics, does not fray as much. Little strings can come off of other materials and get wrapped around a chinnie's foot, toe, etc. which can cause some major issues. I have never heard of anyone's chinchilla getting impacted by fleece.

I have not heard of anyone using nylon and I'm not particulary familiar with it, but the only fabric I would use with my chins is fleece.

Not saying this is necessarily true of the pet store you were at, but unfortunately most pet stores are just out to make a buck and don't exactly care about the well being of the animals so long as they are making profit. If you go to Petsmart you will find tons of products marketed for chins that are not anywhere safe or healthy.

 

[alli713]

Nylon can just as easily bunch up and cause an impaction. If your chin chews it up and ingests the threads, they can ball up inside the intestines and cause an impaction.
I imagine if your chin was so inclined to chew apart fleece it would be the same issue.
The thing is, is that fleece doesn't come apart easily and if the chin tries to nibble it, a small piece of fuzz comes off. Not a large thread. So many times, if a chin taste tests the fleece and sees that it doesn't come apart easily, they leave it alone.
I have yet to have a chin chew through a fleece hammock. Some chins do. But it's always been stated that if your chin starts destroying a fleece item or won't leave it alone with chewing, then you should take it out.
It's for the fact that most chins tend not to try and chew the fleece is why it's safer. Nylon is much easier for them to bite through.

 

[Ashley]

Neither fabric would be "safe" for a chin to ingest, however, fleece is probably less likely to be ingested. It doesn't come apart as easily as other fabrics, so usually the most a chin will do is test nibble it at first, and then leave it alone. Obviously, if a chin is continually eating the fleece, it should be taken away.

 

[Terbear24]

I dont use either but i would probably use fleece over nylon

 

[InkedupTara]

I think the person you were talking to, was doing what he was trained to do, and parrotting some corporate garbage. Nylon when chewed will fray.

 

[BoundNoFtWaL]

What we refer to as fleece is not what some folks would call fleece. Some people think fleece to be lamb's fleece. The fleece most of us are using is a synthetic material 100% Polyester most of the time. Like the stuff you can get from the fabric shop. Look up fleece on Joanns: http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat3098&PRODID=prd18849.

The pet shops do sell hamocks that have a fleece material on one side and a fuzzy, also synthetic, mateiral (probably nylon) on the other with nylon straps to hang the hammock from the roof of a cage. I beleive they are marketed for farrets.

I told my dad I was going to make some fleece hammocks for my chins and he thought I meant lamb skin with their fleece (lamb hair) on it.

 

[jessica]

I used to make my own fleece things for him but I don't anymore because he was getting eye infections from the bacteria harboring in the material. When I stopped using the fleece he did not get anymore eye infections.

 

[charliebearmama]

I believe the fleece the guy was probably talking about is that fuzzy lambs wool thats on one side of the super pet brand of hammocks. I agree with him that it could cause an impaction if ingested. Most people who have fleece hammocks make them out of fleece that you buy from a fabric store. It doesn't fall apart the same way. I work in a pet store and when people ask my opinion i tell them to go to the fabric store and buy fleece and make a hammock themselves. I would get in soooo much trouble if the wrong person heard me but I don't think its worth risking someone's pet to make a couple of bucks. Better for me to give accurate advice than to tell someone something wrong and give our store a bad reputation.

 

[Anne-Lise]

I do know of a nylon fabric that is extremely extremely strong and tough. There is a company here, DaBaDoo that makes dogs item out of this fabric. I would be curious to see if it would last with a chin.