'Mini Stick Munchies'

[corley]

Anyone know if these are safe for chinchillas to chew on? I cant find anywhere that says what type of wood it is...

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10536107

The wood has no smell at all so no help there..

 

[AZChins]

They probably are safe, but then again they're probably pretty expensive for what you get. You could actually go to Home Depot and find wood to cut up for much cheaper. The chins can go through so much wood, and buying those little sticks may end up getting a bit pricey.

 

[corley]

Yeah well they were only like 70 cents at walmart so my girlfriend just bought a few boxes of 'em... haha..

 

[AZChins]

That's not too bad...I guess for one chin it isn't so awful. I would never be able to afford that with these guys here! Still, you can get a 8 foot long piece of wood that would give you about 20 times the amount of wood for $1. I guess it depends on if you want to cut wood out or not.

The other thing...where are these sticks made? I don't like to buy things that are dyed that come out of China because you just never know if what they used is really safe.

 

[corley]

Eeek.. Taiwan.. Not so sure anymore huh? Haha... Also, while we're on the topic, if I go to lowes/home depot whatever and buy kiln dried pine .. then I dont have to bake it or do any of that, I can go ahead and make shelves, chew toys, etc. right?

 

[Riven]

Yup, it's already baked.

 

[AZChins]

Already prepared and ready for usage.

Taiwan...I am not so sure about that wood. At least with the Home Depot/Lowes wood it is probably grown and milled in North America. Although I noticed that some of the dowels and square stock will sometimes say it is produced in China, that's usually the hardwood stock though...

 

[brekai722]

I have used them before and had no negative problems. The chins love them. Never thought about being from China.

 

[tunes]

The fresh cut wood that places like AZChins and Pet Products By Nature sell is so much better than any of the store bought stuff, just like (to me) a home cooked meal is so much better than fast food. Pecan and willow has this nice, thick, crunchy bark that the chins absolutely go nuts over. Apple has the freshest smell and, I assume taste, since the chins go insane over it. You can get nice thick pieces and whirlies to make toys with that will last 10 times the amount of time that those twigs from Wal-Mart will.

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

The one thing I have found with these, is that they tend to splinter when my chin Herby chews on them, so I stopped giving them too her after I saw that. I figured that the last she thing she needed to do was get a splinter in her gums/cheeks, so I went to the apple wood that everyone recommended on here.