How to stop him from chewing?

[Brooke]

Hi, I am a new owner of a chinchilla and it's been great. I love letting him out of his cage but he loves to chew. When he runs around the kitchen he chews my wall corners, cabinets, table and chairs. If I have him in the bathroom he chews the cabinets and wall corners. I have bought him chew toys that I only bring out when he is out of his cage and he might give it a nibble but he still tries to chew other things. I try and distract him when I catch him, which works but eventually he always finds another place to give a nibble. How can I stop him from chewing my walls and furniture? I appreciate any advice you can give me. Thanks!

 

[tunes]

That's just a typical chin. They are rodents and they will chew anything you put in front of them. The only way to stop them is to block it off. You might consider putting him into a chin safe playpen where can only get at the toys you put in there for him. Some people also block things with thick cardboard boxes, but I think a playpen is a lot less hassle and safer.

 

[akane]

Drywall is just one big calcium chewy. People use it as platforms for rabbits in wire cages to sit on and eat especially breeding females that need more calcium. Dirt cheap. That's why some animals find wall corners to be tasty and we know how chins are with wood. So far ours haven't decided to eat the bathroom but there's only one edge in there where the partition between the sink and bathtub ends. The whole condo is odd shaped without square rooms but walls that slant towards doorways making the bathroom the center of a half hexagon with mostly just corners. They do try to eat the door if left in there too long but that was already damaged when my husband had cats who wouldn't let him be in a different room than them. I figure if it's noticeable when we move out we can afford to replace a standard interior door.

Ours have their dust bath and everything in the bathroom though. They spend more time spreading dust everywhere and jumping on things than chewing. They especially hang around the toilet with their dust bath between the toilet and bathtub and that's a tile corner so they are surrounded by ceramic. Dust, hop on toilet, dust, hop on bath tub, dust, run behind toilet, dust, hop on log house, dust, and repeat infinitely..... Except Aime who sits and falls asleep in the dust bath when she's done rolling in it. Katsu travels farther than anyone else but he'd rather bounce off walls and doors than chew on them. Aika is usually found under the log house waiting if left beyond the interest level of the giant dust bath. The young boys are probably the greatest risk but they usually pick something they can't actually chew to mess with. I guess they like a challenge.

 

[gizandcharlie]

My first chinchilla was such a good boy and never chewed on anything, but after I got him a friend they turned into little terrors. They would go under my bed and eventually ripped open the box spring and would hide in there! It drove me crazy, so I put cardboard all around my bed to stop them from going there. I think cardboard works wonders for blocking off things you don't want them to get to.. Granted, they might start eating the cardboard instead, but that's better than the wood or in my case my box spring.

 

[Narcissus]

im not to sure about feeding rabbits drywall, I guess that is a personal preference. The rabbit breeders I know dont do it. But, chins chewing on drywall in a house is not good. There is paint and primer on the drywall. You can stop the chin from chewing but you can make a play area that doesn't allow them to get to the walls.

 

[akane]

It's just gypsum. Calcium and a sulfate. CaSO4·2H2O . So long as you get the stuff mined in new mexico and not imported from china that's all it is squashed together between 2 sheets of brown paper. No Idea why they import when there's supposedly enough gypsum in new mexico to fulfill the drywall industry for the next 1,000 years. Maybe they just don't want to allow enough mining in a national park where the biggest deposit is found. I did hear reports of contaminated chinese drywall a year or 2 ago. Can't remember exactly what was wrong with it.

 

[Narcissus]

I was mostly just pointing out that dry wall in a house will have been primed and painted. Which isnt good for chins. I was just stating that I had never heard of it before. What you feed to your bunnies is totaly up to you.

 

[Narcissus]

"A wallboard panel is made of a*paper*liner wrapped around an inner core made primarily from*gypsum plaster. The raw*gypsum, CaSO4·2 H2O, (mined or obtained from*flue-gas desulfurization*(FGD)) must be*calcined*before use to produce the hemihydrate of*calcium sulfate*(CaSO4·½ H2O). This is done in kettle or flash calciners, typically using natural gas today. The plaster is mixed with fiber (typically paper and/or*fiberglass),*plasticizer,*foaming agent, finely ground gypsum crystal as an accelerator,EDTA,*starch*or other*chelate*as a retarder, various additives that may decrease*mildew*and increase fire resistance (fiberglass or*vermiculite),*waxemulsion or*silanes*for lower water absorption and water. This is then formed by sandwiching a core of wet gypsum between two sheets of heavy paper or fiberglass mats. When the core sets and is dried in a large drying chamber, the sandwich becomes rigid and strong enough for use as a building material."

I personally wouldn't let my chins chew on sheetrock of any kind.

 

[ticklechin]

You have to be careful of any drywall-most of the paper is treated to repel mold growth. That and some of the drywall now has added fillers to make it lighter, its not something that should be recommended as a chew toy or put in a cage where the chin can reach.

 

[akane]

I'm not telling anyone to feed drywall. I"m telling you why they find it so interesting.

 

[jess32247]

To come back on topic, chins will literally chew on everything they can get a hold of like other's have said. I can't give much good advice, but I cover my chins chewing spots with old towels, sheets, or even just cardboard.. but she usually starts eating that as well, which is a downfall from using it. I also try to keep her distracted by actively playing with her when she gets into one of her chewing moods, or even kacking at her to show my disapproval which usually works.

It's a constant and on going thing, after almost five years of having her there's been very few days where she's not interested in trying to tear apart my room in some way or another.

 

[Brooke]

Thanks for all the help I love the idea of putting cardboard around areas he may chew. Love my little guy, Milo and just want him to be safe along with not chewing my house when out of his cage. Thanks again!