Chinchilla chew toys

[JellytheChin]

I need some ideas for chew toys for my chin. Ive had him for 3 weeks now. He is roughly 3/4 months of age. I bought a package of willow sticks and hes hardly touched them. I also bought a package of apple sticks which he will eagerly eat the outside off but that is all. In his cage he also has multiple "all natural multi color wood chews" which he hardly has chewed on. Ive also boughted pumice chews ands other various cage accessories that are safe to chew. But ultimately he does not seem very interested. I know the importance of chins needing to chew to grind down their teeth; so I am looking for suggestions on all things chew toys for chins.

 

[Jawramik]

It's pretty typical for them to lose interest in the sticks once they strip the bark off. I usually toss and replace my chin's sticks once she's stripped them.

Have you tried hanging toys? Sometimes it's fun for them to chew on things attached to the ceiling or walls/doors. Just make sure they're strung with metal wire and have metal clips, as string and plastic aren't safe. You can even buy your own stainless steel jewelry wire and make your own hanging toys!

I usually like to make sure my girl has a nice variety of both hanging and loose chew toys. She mostly seems to prefer the loose toys, but she does still chew on the hanging ones. And every chin is different, some seem to prefer the hanging ones.

Some other safe materials my chin likes to chew are bamboo, coconut shells (with all the outer husk/fiber removed) seagrass braids, pear sticks, blueberry sticks, and chola wood. Just make sure anything you give them is organic, pesticide-free, and properly dried. Anything you buy should meet those requirements, that's mostly just something to be aware of if you make your own.

Some good places to buy this stuff are Where Every Pet is Unique- Safe Handmade Pet Supplies by PandamoniumPets on Etsy and Farmer Dave's pet supply: Homepage

Is your boy eating both his pellets and hay? If he's not eating well, then his lack of interest in chewing could be due to an issue with his teeth. If he's eating fine, then maybe he just hasn't found anything that strikes his fancy yet.

 

[JellytheChin]

It's pretty typical for them to lose interest in the sticks once they strip the bark off. I usually toss and replace my chin's sticks once she's stripped them.

Have you tried hanging toys? Sometimes it's fun for them to chew on things attached to the ceiling or walls/doors. Just make sure they're strung with metal wire and have metal clips, as string and plastic aren't safe. You can even buy your own stainless steel jewelry wire and make your own hanging toys!

I usually like to make sure my girl has a nice variety of both hanging and loose chew toys. She mostly seems to prefer the loose toys, but she does still chew on the hanging ones. And every chin is different, some seem to prefer the hanging ones.

Some other safe materials my chin likes to chew are bamboo, coconut shells (with all the outer husk/fiber removed) seagrass braids, pear sticks, blueberry sticks, and chola wood. Just make sure anything you give them is organic, pesticide-free, and properly dried. Anything you buy should meet those requirements, that's mostly just something to be aware of if you make your own.

Some good places to buy this stuff are Where Every Pet is Unique- Safe Handmade Pet Supplies by PandamoniumPets on Etsy and Farmer Dave's pet supply: Homepage

Is your boy eating both his pellets and hay? If he's not eating well, then his lack of interest in chewing could be due to an issue with his teeth. If he's eating fine, then maybe he just hasn't found anything that strikes his fancy yet.

Thank you! I do have a few hanging toys. But based on what you said it sounds like he hasnt found something he likes yet. And yes he is eating his pellets and hay.

 

[Jawramik]

Oh, I forgot to mention that most or all of the Farmer Dave's hanging toys are strung with string, not wire, so they're not really chin-safe. But their sticks and perches are awesome. I think most of the stuff on Pandamonium is chin-safe, but it's still good to look closely at the pictures and description before buying anything. Don't just assume something is chin-safe just because it claims to be. Sadly, a lot of people are misinformed about what is and isn't safe for chins.

 

[Amethyst]

Another option then using wire, is to get toy kabobs and that way you can quickly and easily change out hanging toys. You can get the small animal ones but the bird ones tend to be a lot bigger.


Also try to mix and match different materials on the toys, for example mix of harder material like wood and lava bites with some softer material like loofah and palm leaf. Or even just mix and match hard and soft wood, it can encourage the chin to chew on the harder material to get to the softer more fun to shred stuff. Some chins also like certain items better as toss toys then as hanging toys or the other way around, so if they aren't interested in something try put it on a hanging toy if possible or removing it and see how he likes it as a toss toy. I know some of these things have already been mentioned but safe chew materials include,

- Bamboo crunchers/finger traps
- Bamboo balls
- Palm leaf shapes and ribbon/shredder (I like to weave a chunk of palm leaf shredder into the bars so he has to chew and pull to get it out)
- Willow balls and other shapes (chins can have preferences on what they like, for example my boy doesn't like small willow balls but loves big ones)
- Coconut shell (as mentioned just the hard shell not the fibers, I use a shell as a treat holder "bowl")
- Loofah
- Rattan balls and shapes
- Seagrass rope and shapes
- Timothy hay shapes
- Lava/pumice stones (including Lava ledges to attach to the cage and Lava bites that can be used in hanging toys)
- Sola balls
- Hay cubes
- Wood shapes, sticks, and chunks

Here is a list of safe wood, different chins have different preferences

 

[Jawramik]

Those toy kabobs are a great idea, I may have to get some of those!

And I completely forgot about loofah! My chin LOVES those. They're also really easy to string onto wire (or kabobs) and hang on the cage. I like to string them up with apple wood slices, chola wood, and sometimes pumice stone.

 

[Nan]

Thank you! I do have a few hanging toys. But based on what you said it sounds like he hasnt found something he likes yet. And yes he is eating his pellets and hay.

Hi, new chin owner! I just wanted to mention Forever Fiesty, a chinchilla rescue that also sells lots of great chew treats to help support their rescued chins. They have a great selection of hanging toys, simple twine balls, wreaths, etc. all devoted to chins and therefore safe for your pet. Good luck to you!

 

[ritachick]

Another option then using wire, is to get toy kabobs and that way you can quickly and easily change out hanging toys. You can get the small animal ones but the bird ones tend to be a lot bigger.
View attachment 21654

Do you have a source to buy these "wire kabobs" so we can make our own...I"ve done some googling and haven't found a good source yet

 

[Amethyst]

Do you have a source to buy these "wire kabobs" so we can make our own...I"ve done some googling and haven't found a good source yet

You can get them at pet stores (petland, petco, petsmart, etc), or on sites like Amazon, Chewy, and bird sites. Here is the Kaytee brand small animal ones for example
Kaytee Small Animal Ka-Bob Chew Dispenser Toy, Large
Kaytee Small Animal Ka-Bob Chew Dispenser Toy, Small

The bigger ones like the one I posted a pic of are the bird ones (I guess they are called "skewers" for the bird ones), https://www.amazon.com/s?k=bird+toy...rd+toy+ske,aps,758&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_12

The specific ones I bought were from a Canadian bird site (because I am in Canada ) Things for Wings Canada's Largest Original Online Bird Parrot Store Organic Parrot Food, Pet Bird Supplies, Freeze Dried Parrot Bird Food but there are US sites that sell them too, I just don't know one off hand.

 

[ritachick]

Thanks so much! Amethyst!

 

[Jawramik]

You can get them at pet stores (petland, petco, petsmart, etc), or on sites like Amazon, Chewy, and bird sites. Here is the Kaytee brand small animal ones for example
Kaytee Small Animal Ka-Bob Chew Dispenser Toy, Large
Kaytee Small Animal Ka-Bob Chew Dispenser Toy, Small

The bigger ones like the one I posted a pic of are the bird ones (I guess they are called "skewers" for the bird ones), https://www.amazon.com/s?k=bird+toy+skewer&crid=2KZYGMXI4CRHJ&sprefix=bird+toy+ske,aps,758&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_12

The specific ones I bought were from a Canadian bird site (because I am in Canada ) Things for Wings Canada's Largest Original Online Bird Parrot Store Organic Parrot Food, Pet Bird Supplies, Freeze Dried Parrot Bird Food but there are US sites that sell them too, I just don't know one off hand.

Yup, the large-sized small animal ones are what I got. They come with a few wood chews on there, but you can re-use the skewers and string whatever you want on there. They're pretty awesome!

 

[Sabrina]

we have the kabobs too. our chilla loves them and it keeps toys clean as none of ours will touch a toy after it hits the floor. But... just a few things... the sweet beastie we have now has figured out how to unscrew the piece that connects it to the cage, and was playing with the screw, which came off, so we took it off and replaced it with a Large carabeener. it also came with a bell which she promptly disassembled and we had her x-rayed to find the dinger for the bell, which would fit down her throat if she wanted. she didn't eat it, but we replaced that with a piece of fleece wrapped around a key ring so she wont chew it... then we warned the petstore which immediately pulled and called kaytee... they are now perfect and chilla proofed!

 

[ChinsForLife]

The specific ones I bought were from a Canadian bird site (because I am in Canada ) Things for Wings Canada's Largest Original Online Bird Parrot Store Organic Parrot Food, Pet Bird Supplies, Freeze Dried Parrot Bird Food but there are US sites that sell them too, I just don't know one off hand.

I know im late, just thought this would help others. allbirdtoybuilders.com is a great place for chinchilla toy parts in the USA. Just stick to the natural material section and stear clear of leather, corn, sisal, coconut, sushi roll, (idk what that is) and cork products as well as anything you've never heard of/know isn't safe. Mainly stick to the toy materials listed by @Amethyst