Attaching fleece to walls. Suggestions?

[Godofgods]

As iv mentioned briefly before, When i used to let my chins out, they would chew the heck out of the walls.

The landlord here doesnt take care of the building, and maintenance/upkeep is pretty much 0. If it cant be fixed with a coat of paint (litteraly)... forget about it.

From what iv been able to find out, its likely that the chins room (the only room i can use) was once covered in some type of paneling or tiles on the wall. When they were removed (poorly) they left that gluey stuff on their and just painted over. (yea, i know')

When the chins started chewing on it during play time, they would get into it, and it would actually rip off the wall in sheets. And my chins would try to eat it. My one girl was very adamant about protecting her claim. If you tried to stop her, she sprayed the heck out of you. And to top it off, their main chewing area was behind the cage. Very hard for me to get to normally, but add my disability into it, its not very good.

Iv tried covering it up with cardboard, but the chins did the very same thing to that until they could reach the walls again. Since i couldn't relay afford to get/try anything else, and i couldn't let them continue eating the walls, for their own health, they haven't been out to play in a long time.

Heres a pic of the one area of wall. This was all done by the chins.

You can see where they riped the 'sheets' off the wall, and where they kept chewing. (over a long period of time and from 5 chins) SO you can see why i had to stop letting them out.

----

Until today, when i was browsing through the forums in the morning as i always do, and saw one persons comment.

Just so you know, Joanne's is doing a 3 day sale on their blizzard fleece. $2.99 a yard for prints and solids! This is a great deal as it is usually $8 - $10 a yard. there is also a coupon for 25% off your entire purchase for Friday and Saturday.
Also, blizzard and anti-pill are not name brands but types of fleece.

That came as a bit of a shock. (Tho i guess it shouldn't) So i checked their site out. Anti-pill was 6~, and the blizzard sure enough was 2.99 a yard.
Getting enough for that wont be easy, but sure as heck easier then 11~ a yard lol. So Thank you mrh1980!

I went through every listing they had on their site and they were all patterns were sold out. Then i saw the solid print, and the 3rd from last one was actually available! So i got a good bit of it!!

It's enough to cover the walls in the room so they cant get to them. And then they would be able to come out again!

----

Except for one thing. Which bring me to question/suggestions part. I have to attach the fleece to the wall somehow. Now the top of it wont be to much of a problem because they can only reach so high. But i will have to attach it at the bottom to, otherwise they will just go behind it.

So i need a way to attach it at the bottom but wont be hazardous to the chins if they decide to mess with it. I'm not worried about the well being of the wall. I thought about really tinny almost pin like nails, something small so the chins relay cant get at it. But my dad said they probably wont have any/enough of a head to catch on to the fleece to actually hold it up against the wall. I also don't want to get a large headed nail, case i don't want them chewing it up.

Any ideas or suggestion on a safe and effective way to attach the fleece to the wall at the bottom?

(i apologize for the long post, but its been a while since they've been out, and with the possibility right in front of me, I'm a little excited )

 

[Dragonflye]

What about a playpen so they can't get to the walls an you can keep a controlled play environment for them?

As far as the fleece goes, the only thing I can think of is sticking velcro to the walls and attaching some to the fleece and putting them together (unless you want to staple it on)...

 

[Godofgods]

the way its layed out, their is not enough room for a playpen. Their cages are actuly in the room where they can run.

 

[Godofgods]

My dad suggested thumb tacks. They kind we still have are very flush actuly. It would be hard for them to get to. (Hard.. but not impossible) I dont realy like the idea of them getting to em tho.

 

[Kalandra]

Keep in mind I'm a hedgehog person and don't deal with chewing animals, but a couple of ideas I had, I'm not certain how well they will work, but maybe they will give you some inspiration.

What about furring strips? You could attach them to the wall and glue the fleece to them. Or maybe even wrap the fleece under the strip, and then nail the strip to the wall.

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

Stapling, tacking, and Velcro is all I can come up with.

 

[Shooper]

I would staple it every 6 inches or so.

 

[Brittany]

I used to do that in my old apartment. I used upholstery tacks (they were like big push pins) Works pretty well. Holes are no bigger then what you'd find from hanging pictures.

 

[Crabe]

I really like your idea of fleece. I've been tacking and retacking cardboard . I think since the walls don't matter I'd say staple the fleece in . I'm going to do that too actually . Good luck let us know how it turns out .

 

[wranglersarah]

My first thought was velcro. The kind that is sticky on the back....but staples, flush thumb tacks or upholstery tacks sound better and probably less expensive than velcro.

 

[Godofgods]

Well the fleece is on its way. It should be here in a week or so. They said their spools are 8 yards long each. I ordered 10. So im courious if they will send a full 8yd long peice and a 2yrd long peice, or if they actuly cut up 10 seperate yard long peices. Id rather the whole/sinlge peice actuly.

Ill probably try the more flush like thumb tacks first since i already have them. Im not even sure what these heads are made of. Its like a plastic metal 0.o But it seems more unlikly that it would chip or have any peices chewn off of it. So im hopeing they do the job well.

 

[Godofgods]

well the fleece arrived tonight. Im glad that JoAnn wrapped it all up in a plastic cover because the fed ex ppl left the box out in the rain.

Its going to be quite a chore getting it up along the walls tho. Most everything in the room will have to be removed for a little while including the two double FN cages. And considering i already have a massivly injuried back, that should be a lot of fun.

However, since i didnt get to sleep at all last night, i think ill wait before considering getting the fleece up on the wall lol.

 

[Slanginhard]

i personally would be afraid to use thumb tacks because i have seen a chinchilla trying to pull a shirt from under the door and im telling u it could of ripped 30 tacks in one good pull lol i would search the free section of craigs list and find someone trying to give out free tile and go buy some cocking for less then ten bucks and bahm chin proof but fleece could be a temp option... let us know how the fleece works out

 

[Airyn]

i personally would be afraid to use thumb tacks because i have seen a chinchilla trying to pull a shirt from under the door and im telling u it could of ripped 30 tacks in one good pull lol i would search the free section of craigs list and find someone trying to give out free tile and go buy some cocking for less then ten bucks and bahm chin proof but fleece could be a temp option... let us know how the fleece works out

HA! I think you meant "caulking", not "cocking". I needed that laugh this morning though, thank you! )

And I agree... thumb tacks definitely won't hold up long-term, but upholstry tacks or staples should work perfectly. Just make sure they're up high enough off the ground that your chins can't try and work them out of the wall. Mine have made it their life's work to remove anything that doesn't belong, so you may need to use those staples pretty liberally. Also, make sure to check the carpet and vacuum often to ensure that no one's picked up a rogue staple. The results of that ingestion would be horrific.

 

[Chub_Chub]

Staple gun was my only thought, but if the wall is sheet rock as opposed to dry wall you might have a problem putting anything up on it.

 

[Slanginhard]

I'm far from a chinchilla expert but seems like a big risk even if he stapled it to 2by4 wood I know I have seen atleast 1 chinchilla that could pull the staples out in a few pulls but i guess if you staple it like every half inch at a min it will be close to safe since it will be harder to pull and if they did pull one then it shouldnt fall out the fleece sheet unless shaken out. But I have no clue if they will eat it that where it scares me but again I'm just looking threw the glass window and not very knowledgeable to chinchillas hahaha @ cocking glad you got a smile

why not glue or caulk the fleece on the wall? kinda like wall paper

 

[Godofgods]

i would search the free section of craigs list and find someone trying to give out free tile and go buy some cocking for less then ten bucks and bahm chin proof

yea.. I'm not going to try and explain that one to these landlords. I wouldn't even try to get them to understand that 2+2=4. If you want further evidence of that, the building has to be inspected by city and state now, and every single one for the last year they have failed due to the 'cocking' on the tub. Every single time they redo it they hire some illegal and use a type not designed for water... And after a year or two they still haven't been able to figure it out. lol

And side note to that; being disabled, I probably couldn't go get the stuff anyway. And i certainly cant afford the caulking atm. (I honestly shouldn't have even gotten the fleece financially)

And I agree... thumb tacks definitely won't hold up long-term, but upholstry tacks or staples should work perfectly. Just make sure they're up high enough off the ground that your chins can't try and work them out of the wall.

Well that kinda the initial problem that started this. Them eating the paint sheets and the wall close to the ground, as shown in the pic earlier. So close to the ground is where i have to cover up. And it will have to be attached close to the ground somehow or they can simply go behind the loose fleece.

I do agree about the thumbtacks however. I didn't like that option much. But i already had some here. And i cant rly afford to get anything more.
I'm not very familiar with upholstery tacks tho. Whats the difference with them? My dad might have some heavier staples as well, I'm not sure.

-

There is no carpet on the floor, its a thin tile type stuff. And i have to sweep it up every morning when i change their cages. Also its not a large room, and I'm in their when i let the chins out. (not that it makes its ok or anything, I'm just stating)

 

[Airyn]

They're just industrial thumbtacks. Amazon has them pretty cheap.

 

[Silverrose]

Since it's just the bottom that seems to be the problem, how about just putting a brick or book, or something heavy (and chinchewsafe) to hold it against the wall. Was just a random thought...

 

[Godofgods]

Well the fleece is up. Attached using tumb tacks. Everything wasnt done as i had invisioned, but im not the one that put it up, and im not the one paying for this building, so to bad for me'

Ill be testing this out tonight hopfully. See how this goes.

In case anyones wondering, chins and drapes dont go well together'