Wall trim chewing: any solutions?

[grrrayson]

I did a search here and was surprised to find little on it, as it seems to be a rather universal tendency amongst chinchillas to chew on wall trim.

He didn't do it in my old apartment hardly at all but the new one he seems to think is a delicacy and went on a wall trim chewing frenzy when we first moved in. The way the apartment's laid out it's not possible to block off all the walls.

Is there some kind of paint you can use the will deter them? Has anyone come up with any effective solutions that look good? Is there some way to better train him? He's doing it less than he was (upon getting swiftly shooed away each time) but still does it if left to his own devices long enough.

This apartment is brand new... seeing it all chewed up is rather disappointing. He's still worth it, though—alas!

 

[missyjre]

I think your only options really are either a playpen to restrict his access to the trim completely. Or to cover it. Before I got my playpen my girls had playtime in the bathroom and I just used cardboard to cover the trim and bottom of the cabinets to keep them from chewing and I took it down every time when playtime was over.

 

[Sandi]

There isn't anything that you could put on the walls as far as a bitter, paint, etc. that would be conidered chin safe. If you can't block the walls then he should have play time in a bathroom or playpen, supervised of course.

 

[mercynursie]

Buy stock in cardboard!!

 

[Jenn]

I used to let my chin run free in my master bathroom when I first got her, but she did chew on the wall trim and cabinets. She now has a playpen to play in, which is attached to her cage, so she can come and go as she pleases. But her cage and playpen is in a corner of the room, and the playpen has gotten too close to the wall and she has been able to reach the wall from within and still damage it. Same with the carpet. I make sure the playpen doesn't get too close to the wall now, but cardboard is still probably the best to use to cover any and all exposed areas.

 

[mishellyshel]

my chins ruined my bathroom. even with me sitting in there! there was no stopping those gnawing teeth at both my trim and my sheetrock!

Best investment i ever made was a playpen. well it was a gift from my fiance' and not my first choice. there are much more sturdy ones than the one i have. but honestly i put a jointed pvc tube, a cardboard box, their dust house and a couple other things. i put them in at night while refresing their cage. only 1 has figured out how to escape so when he is in there, i cover with a fitted sheet and clamp the sheet with two of those potatoe chip bag holder thingies....chip clips??? whatever they are they were 2 for 1 dollar! and they work very well. he is very smart and has been able to jump out thru the small open space so i have to watch him like a hawk. they do actually sell fitted covers as for some of the playpens.
use the search function again and type in play pen or playpen and you will see lots of different examples.

 

[dayofhope]

I have my "chin room"/office lined with cardboard. She hasn't tried chewing since. It took me about a half hour to line it and it doesn't look very great, but it keeps the walls safe. I just used duct tape on the tops of the cardboard where my chin can't reach. Honestly, it doesn't hold very well, but it's good enough for now.

 

[caiti]

There probably isn't a lot of info on it because there's really only one thing you can do--separate the chin from the trim. Either block the trim from being chewed or block the chin from reaching it. That's really the only solution I've ever found.

 

[Sesame]

Buy stock in cardboard!!

I totally agree!! I also rent an apartment and I have this issue. The only easy fix I've found is to use cardboard to cover the wall trims, walls, door frames, and doors from my chinchilla. I move about every two years or so, so I've found this to be the best/easiest solution.

 

[PetoftheDay]

Sometimes covering the trim with aluminum foil will work, as some bunnies/chinchillas (bunnies are as notorious about this, too) just don't like the sensation of chewing foil. We doubled it over and then just taped in on.

Mind you, we owned the house so didn't care a whole lot, but when a certain bunny decided that the (old, completely disgusting) horsehair plaster corner of the wall at the top of the stairs was tasty, foil did the trick.

It's not the most attractive thing ever, but better than paying for replacement baseboards!

We, by the way, just referred to all nibbled edges as "bunny beveling!"

 

[chinchatcomics]

I agree with the cardboard, we tape it to our walls, but in general our chins no longer chew on the trimmings.

When they did I tried shaking the treat jar (which always gets any chin's attention!) and they'd get distracted and run to me and would be rewarded with a tiny treat. I did this for a few days and after a while, they no longer chewed.

And yes, supervision is the only way of preventing them from chewing.