plywood as a "wall" in a room?

[frankthechin]

I'm curious about how to "chinchilla-proof" my office in an easier way. I have an area that cardboard doesn't protect well, and my little dude has been going crazy to get through it to the door. I want to put up a strong "wall" that he can't get through, and that minimizes the ridiculous effort i have to go to every time i take him out.
I have a large sheet of plywood I was going to use to make a headboard...can I use that to block off the exit? or would plywood hurt my chin?

 

[sheri7]

The Marshall Small Animal Playpen is the best thing I ever bought for my chins. Actually I bought 2 of them. I keep my chins in a small office and I put the gates in front of the desk and anywhere else I want to keep them out of - including wordwork. The panels link together so you can make them any shape. I don't bother with the cover because I never have mine in a circle. Bought it and never used it.
A chin could jump and clear the height but my girls rarely ever try - only if I have a box or something too close to the edge that they can jump on to help them get over.

Lots of places sell it. It comes is 8 or 11 panels and I think you can also buy extra individual panels if you just need a few more. Can you tell I love this product?

Here are a few links:
http://www.ferret.com/item/marshall-ferret-playpen-8-panel/650717/
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=14629
http://www.amazon.com/Marshall-FC-224-Small-Animal-Play/dp/B0002ARQT6

 

[obcsed]

The glue used to make plywood is highly toxic. Not a good thing for a chewing chin.

I can't live without my playpens. Best investment I made.

 

[akane]

Plywood is questionable to chew. Maybe there's some type of baby/dog gate that would work. None of the spaces I need to block off are higher than 10" so I use a cheap hamster pen.

 

[ticklechin]

I made this collapsing gate, its 4ft tall and folds flush to the wall, here is a video of it since I dont have a good picture. Just click the picture to start.

 

[alooper19]

I bought a pop up playpen for my chins! They really love them, we just place their chews and toys in it with them and they run around! I got mine from here...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/38072891648...eName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

They have different colors and sizes.

 

[AZChins]

I have a large piece of plywood that I pull in front of the entrance to my hallway so that I don't have chins escaping. The chins leave it alone because they have other toys and things to play with when they are out. It's a fairly large space...but the entrance to it is small, putting in a permanent gate wouldn't work. I think there's a bit of a difference between using a plywood sheet in a place space to keep chins in and using plywood in a cage. If chins leave it alone, it's not going to harm them.

 

[frankthechin]

I just feel like my little guy wants so much more freedom! I have literally COVERED my office room with cardboard every time he comes out of his cage to give him space to wander and jump and explore different levels, but...it takes ridiculous amounts of time and effort just to let him out. I can't let him near anything that isn't covered in cardboard or he will eat it up. i covered the plywood in cardboard, too, just incase, but it's all just such a huge pain in the ***, truthfully. the only thing i love about it is that there's room for me to obviously be in there with him and he can run over my legs and even was relaxing on my shoulder the other day.

i just don't want to lose that little interactive time with him. I almost feel like...what's the point in having a huge cage if you're taking him out into a playpen that's just another huge cage? I may as well have a cage big enough and never let him out, or just be content with a smallish cage and transfer him to the playpen for play time. the only benefit i see, really, is the inability to chew EVERYTHING. Plus..I don't feel like these playpens are tall enough!

BUT... having said that...i need to find a more practical way than all of this cardboard. it's exhausting...and hideous!

okay. wow. that was long-winded. i am going to look into these expandable playpens.

 

[fluke]

in my old apartment, I did the exact same thing with the cardboard. It was everywhere and even then didnt stop them from chewing furniture, carpet, etc. I got two playpens and linked them together after I got to my new place. It has a halfway and I tried everything. What I did find effective to line the walls with was the pet grade screening that screen doors are made with. They had zero interest in chewing it...and looked a little better than cardboard. But again...still chewed on tables, the couch, tv stand, carpet, the door, and sometimes cords. I hate that I lost that closer playtime, but having them get into things that could hurt them wasnt worth it. However, i do sometimes climb into the playpen and sit in there with them

 

[gin411]

Okay, this is old, but I just had to chime in. I've only used it once, so no telling how successful it will be long term, but I made a "play mat" out of fleece blankets. I sewed 9 together, and use large binder clips to clip them up at about waist height at various points around the room. I use a cardboard box to put in front of some stuff that isn't easy to get a waist height attachment to. So I've made a roughly 8x8' play yard for my chinchillas! It's nice, because they can zoom all over the place, and I can sit with them. I do have to watch to make sure they don't jump out, but so far they haven't tried. And they haven't tried chewing the fleece, yet, either! Now I just need to find some toys and hideouts for them to play with during play time!