Marble or Ceramic?

[Mishkavi]

In the past I have always bought the chin-chillers which (correct me if I am wrong) but I am pretty sure are marble. I like them because I can keep one in the freezer and one in the fridge.

Anyhow I have two new girls and a 4th on the way and I know it is dangerous to keep anything heavy like huts and slates on the upper shelves but I may not have quite as much floor space in the cage for 2-3 slates. That being said I was looking at Simply Chintastic's shelves and saw the shelf with the ceramic tile. Now I know I can't freeze one of those shelves, but my fiancee said you can refrigerate them (he works with marble and tile companies a lot).

Does anyone here use ceramic and marble or at least ceramic for cooling tiles? If so, what are your thoughts on it? I am sure it cleans just as easily, but does it stay nice and cool like a marble slate? Do you find one to retain the cold better than the other? Please let me know what you guys think

 

[cindyv3737]

My chin is not a fan of chillers. Now I cover frozen water bottles with fleece and she just loves them. If you need to save space the bottles might be a decent idea for you

 

[alli713]

Marble or granite holds the cold much better than ceramic. I wouldn't go with ceramic if you're looking to use tile. And you can freeze or refrigerate whichever you prefer. Sometimes though if it's warm out, if you freeze them then they do get condensation on them, so just be careful of that.

 

[Jazicat]

Edgar has a granite tile we got from the hardware store that we use for a chiller. While it's not our primary way of cooling him down he seems to like having it. I am planning on getting another tile soon and cutting it in half since it's cheaper than buying the actual chinchiller.

 

[Mishkavi]

Yeah I wish I could cut them down..apartment life prevents that. My original girl Tonks likes her chillers...I don't use them much...we keep it pretty cold in here, but if we have the door shut for long periods of time it gets a little warmer. She just likes to put her paws on it, only every so often does she actually sprawl out on it. In fact as i write this she is sitting on it. She might get upset if I eliminate it...when I take it out to switch it with a cold one from time to time she looks for it.

Thanks for the suggestions so far

I wish one of my hardware stores sold just one marble slate, that would fit 2-3 pretty easily haha! Instead they sell them in packs of 5.

 

[AZChins]

I like the ceramic better because they can be run through the dishwasher hundreds of times and not fall apart like the granite seems to do. I don't use them for chillers, I just keep them in the cages to give the chins something to sit on besides their ledges.

The tile is a whole lot cheaper. And, there are many times that it is on clearance special because there may be one box of close out tiles left. The last tiles I bought were $0.30 each and I can score them with a tile cutter and make two out of each one.

 

[alli713]

check out and see if they have any as-is sections at the hardware store, many times you can find either broken ones or single ones that are left over.

I can find them singularly at Home Depot, do you have those by you?

 

[Mishkavi]

That is where I checked...they only sell them in groups of 5, at least mine does anyhow...

 

[mishellyshel]

michelle--i went to the home depot in princeton and got a gorgeous 12 x 12 marble tile for i think 3.99 and since they have a wet saw there they were able to cut it in half for me for 1 dollar. i had them do 2.

they are now 6 x 12,, which is a litttle longer than the chinchiller and i paid less for 4 pieces than i did for 1 chinchiller!

check your local lowes or home depot & see if they have a wet saw, if not, the one in princeton is less than 1/2 hour from where you live. OR i could get it for you and we could meet up. i can take a pic of what i have if your interested. they had white & black marble. i got the white.

 

[mistywaterwoman]

I use granite and marble tiles all over in my cages as extra cool spots, because I worry about the fleece liners holding too much body heat for my girls. They all prefer to sleep on the tiles than on wood or anything else.
:thumbsup:

 

[proudmom25]

I tried using the ceramic as a chillin' block and it didn't work well. When I placed it into the cage after it had been in the freezer it sweat. That would definitely not be good for chin fur. I have since purchased a chin-chiller...as there are no stores in town that sell marble tiles. And Allie loves it. Now I need to get one for Jade & Pearl.

 

[Mishkavi]

Michelle...Thanks for the Princeton suggestion! My Home Depot wouldn't do it, and the girl said none of the PA stores near me do, but I called Princeton and they still do it. I went out there today and got two tiles and had them cut...total was roughly $12 for 4 chillers...what a steal! They are the same size as the chin-chillers I have, but that was all I needed

Thanks for the suggestions everyone on the ceramic and marble...I will stick with marble...I want something that retains the cold longer

 

[mishellyshel]

glad i can help! anytime you need anything, just ask. did an older guy named Bob help you? he was a real sweetheart and was telling me that they may not have the wet saw much longer because they hardly use it. so maybe between a few jersey/pa members we can get them to keep it!

btw....i think they are actually a little longer and thicker than the chinchiller!

 

[Mishkavi]

I forgot...I got my chinchillers from Chinworld...maybe they have the marble cut at a hardware store as well...I just put them up to each other and they match size for size on the length, width and thickness. Still Chinworld charges $8 a chiller...I basically paid $3 lol.

And the new girls absolutely LOVE the new chillers...so ended out on a pretty good note