I am wondering why it is necessary to scrub, boil, and bake wood? I had read that it might mold if it isn't baked. I don't mean this to sound rude but chinchillas have lived in the wild so they were around natural woods. So why can't they be around regular wood? Thanks.
why prepare wood??
- Thread starter chinny
- Start date
Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:
GorillaJTA
That guy.
Our chinchillas are nowhere near "wild." Scrubbing, boiling, and baking removes any bacteria, mold, bugs, etc that might be hiding on the wood. There is also the factor that no matter how careful we might be about using unsprayed wood, there is pesticide drift, and that needs to be removed.
I didn't mean it rudely as I previously stated. I understand they are not considered technically wild. At one point though they were and I thought that they would have been around different woods that were not treated and they survived just fine. Just like they were around water that they drank that didn't have to be purified.
I do see though that NOW that they are more domesticated that they may not be immune to what they once were or there could be insecticides on the wood that there wouldn't be out in the wild. I also see that the water they would have drank would not have been run through our systems and such to have bacteria. I do understand that now that I have further thought about it.
Well of course they need A/C but that is because we are taking them out of their regular environment which is suited to them. I imagine if you lived in an area that was more specific to their needs you wouldn't need A/C like you do in other areas. Taking them out of their natural environments at one time has made it to where we need to make exceptions to meet those needs. I get that. I just didn't see where it was translating to the wood. I meant to only inquire as to the reasoning and opinion of others. I did not mean to offend.
I do see though that NOW that they are more domesticated that they may not be immune to what they once were or there could be insecticides on the wood that there wouldn't be out in the wild. I also see that the water they would have drank would not have been run through our systems and such to have bacteria. I do understand that now that I have further thought about it.
Well of course they need A/C but that is because we are taking them out of their regular environment which is suited to them. I imagine if you lived in an area that was more specific to their needs you wouldn't need A/C like you do in other areas. Taking them out of their natural environments at one time has made it to where we need to make exceptions to meet those needs. I get that. I just didn't see where it was translating to the wood. I meant to only inquire as to the reasoning and opinion of others. I did not mean to offend.
It's okay to ask questions, that's how you learn! I know a man who has two chinchillas and he has never boiled or baked his wood. They are 11 years old now and have never really had problems. He has used the same apple trees for years. He knows they have never been sprayed with anything. I don't condone doing this because it's better to be safe than sorry. It only takes one time of your chin getting infected with a parasite/bacteria and it could be over. 
I have never prepared my own wood, I purchase from Rhonda or various rescues that offer safe wood. I don't have time to mess with cutting wood and preparing it. Plus, I would probably mistake the wood anyways.. lol
I have never prepared my own wood, I purchase from Rhonda or various rescues that offer safe wood. I don't have time to mess with cutting wood and preparing it. Plus, I would probably mistake the wood anyways.. lol
Amy555
International Luffa Mogul
The way I think of it, is the 'wild' chinchillas from ye olde days of yore lived high in the mountains of Chile, right? And there have been lots of studies on their 'native diet'. But it's cold up there, so natural air conditioning. It gets warmer, just migrate to higher climates. And I'm sure mountain spring water has a lot less bacteria and crazy stuff in it than our municipal treated water. And the kind of grasses and bushes up there are probably very dry and brittle, not full of moisture, so that is the way the chinchilla evolved.
So even if you were to argue that in the wild they weren't coddled to, they weren't exactly living in our type of environments. It's not like they're from an idyllic forest meadow nibbling green grass, eating young plant branches, frolicking in babbling brooks, eating fallen apples and foraging from the raisin vines. They come from a cold, harsh, dry environment and so have adapted to that type of roughage.
So even if you were to argue that in the wild they weren't coddled to, they weren't exactly living in our type of environments. It's not like they're from an idyllic forest meadow nibbling green grass, eating young plant branches, frolicking in babbling brooks, eating fallen apples and foraging from the raisin vines. They come from a cold, harsh, dry environment and so have adapted to that type of roughage.
That makes sense. So naturally we can't provide what their natural environment calls for. I suppose it doesn't matter because if ours were living in the wild they wouldn't be living here and so wouldn't be resistant to the things around our areas. Makes sense.
So if you are to scrub bake and boil how do you do this to a longer branch?
So if you are to scrub bake and boil how do you do this to a longer branch?
Twilight Chinchillas
Zookeeper extraordinaire
If it's a large branch and to big for an oven, and or pot to boil, some will scrub it down real good and then go back with boiling water and scrub some more, then air dry it. Some even use their cars as outside ovens!
