two questions

[lola]

the first is this house safe? http://www.amazon.com/Super-Pet-Woodland-Large-Guinea/dp/B0009WH8Z4 i got it from petco and recently i found a list of all safe pet store items and i didnt see this on it. i bought it from petco and cant find it on the website anymore. she started chewing on it a little on top so i want to make sure its safe.
Also she hasnt been going crazy on her willow wood lately and i gave her dustbath. she took a stick in with her and it came out in half and covered with dust! is this healthy?

 

[Brittany]

Those houses have nails, so no they are not safe. If she chews down to the nail, she could hurt her mouth, or accidentally swallow it.

Yes, if they ingest a little bit of dust it wont hurt them. Chins chew on blue cloud rocks.

 

[lola]

well looks like she'll be homeless for awhile

 

[ChinnyMom]

a large cereal box works for a temporary house - that's what Guss had when he first came home, a big mini wheats box.

 

[lola]

i only have regular sized boxes........ any other ideas?

 

[lola]

any house ideas

 

[Brittany]

I believe Christine, twilight chinchillas, is making houses on a regular basis.

 

[lola]

ok thanks i recently ordered the flying saucer wheel so unfortinutly im going to have to wait a little

 

[ChinnyMom]

a regular cereal box can work, just bend it a little to make the space inside bigger. so make a bend on each of the longer sides to make a hexagonal shape.

 

[lola]

do tissue boxes work?

 

[LoveBug]

you could make your own outta wood.
it's pretty cheap. all you need is the wood and nontoxic glue.

 

[menagerie]

Those houses have nails, so no they are not safe. If she chews down to the nail, she could hurt her mouth, or accidentally swallow it.

They don't have nails. Those houses are put together with wooden pegs.

 

[lola]

so it is safe?

 

[Sandi]

so it is safe?

Yes. The wooden peg construction is fairly new. 2 years ago I had one that was constructed with nails so it's only used in the playpen when the chins are supervised.

 

[lola]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO i threw it out already! :banghead::tantrum:

 

[Brittany]

If you read the product features, and product description, on the link the OP posted it doesn't say anything about being held together with wood pegs. If you zoom in on the photo in the link those look like nail holes. The image is blurry, but they also look dark like nail heads, not wood pegs. Again, it could be the quality of the image, but those do appear to be nails.

I think it's fantastic if they are changing their designs, but based on the link provided, there is no indication that they have changed the design. I was just in a local pet store two weeks ago looking for a cheap house, as I had been contacted about taking in a rescue. They only had houses with nails, perhaps some stores still haven't updated their inventory?

 

[Shooper]

Any cardboard box should work until you can get a wooden one that is safe. Just remove any tape on the box.

 

[cherie18]

There is a wooden house I have for Cherie from petsmart it has no glue or nails & it took 2 seconds to put together it was around 13 dollars- she doesn't use it but your chinny might here is a link
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753297

 

[Carleigh]

Those houses don't use nails or wooden pegs. My chinchillas have recently exposed the glue holding them together!
Unfortunate that you threw it out already. Those are the only houses I use for my chinchillas. Recently, the Petsmart by me stopped carrying them.

 

[ChonchoMom]

I've used tissue boxes and shoe boxes, they both worked fine at least for awhile.