Pumice?

[Sunnyastounded]

Is pumice, particularly the lava bites or lava ledge, completely safe for chinchillas? Could it be used as just another teeth grinder option to add a little variety?

 

[Essentia]

Yes, and yes. Pumice is completely safe, and it's a favorite here for teeth grinding.

 

[Chin_Parent]

As far as I know it is, as long as it's specifically for small animals. Pumice you find in the bathroom supply aisle at a store wouldn't be. The Lava ledges are safe for chinchillas and use safe dye. My chinchilla has two of them, and he loves them. They are by far his favorite chew toy. I'd get the ledges over the bites because the bites don't last very long. And if you just have one chinchilla, a lava ledge should last quite a while. He's had the first one for a couple months, and even with daily scratching, biting, and general abuse, it's still going strong.

 

[ChinnyMom]

Rhino goes nuts for the lava bites! give him one in the evening and it's pretty much gone by the next morning! i swear his teeth must be just lil nubs, lol.

i'm going to pick him up some of the lava ledges soon, since they seem to have more substance to them than the lil triangle lava bites. maybe it'll take him two days to gnaw through a lava ledge, hahaha!

 

[Pikaia]

I got my chinnies lava ledges and they love them!! They also love the lava bites...

 

[mishellyshel]

my guys seem to like the lava bites more than the pumice. although the pumice is definitely more economical. i usually find them strewn about in their cage urine stained!
i think i am going to try them on toy hangers & see how they do.

 

[sheltiefan]

crysta and I were just having a conversation today about the pumice and lava bites. My girl LOVES the lava bites and ledges. But i had to stop buying as much because the lava bites come in 3 in a box and I was buying 4 to 5 boxes in a few weeks. She goes NUTS over them

 

[ChinnyMom]

it must be the mint flavours on the lava bites that make our fuzzbutts go gaga over them! lol.

 

[LovinTheSmallAndFurry]

Has anyone noticed their chin(s) preferring pumice stones to lava ledges, or vice versa? My chins have no interest in the pumice stones, but if they'd possibly prefer lava ledges I'd be glad to buy them some..... and I'd be glad to give away my bag of pumice stones to somebody on here (it came in an assortment from another website).

 

[Sunnyastounded]

Thanks for the clarification!

 

[shadouneko]

Is there a certain age your chin should be before introducing them to pumice or lava bites?

 

[ChinnyMom]

i would think pumice is safe for chins of all ages, but the lava bites, due to the flavouring, might be something you'd wait until your chin is at least 6 months old to give?

others with more experience with younger chins will be able to chime in better on this.

 

[cmor1031]

My chin goes batsh** crazy when I give him pumice!! He's obsessed with it and completely destroys it!!

 

[Cuddlebug]

Lava bites are fine for kits. There is nothing harmful about them.

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

My chin goes batsh** crazy when I give him pumice!! He's obsessed with it and completely destroys it!!

One of my girls used to be like this but calmed down about it after a while. She LOVED lava bites though.
Some people have even gone as far as flavoring their pumice

 

[Pooky125]

How would one go about flavoring their pumice? Just dip them in extract? I have lots of pumice, and lots of flavors of extract. What's the procedure for this?

 

[ChinnyMom]

i have used kool aid (just the little packet that you add water and sugar to if you were to make the drink) to flavour pumice.

when using kool aid for chin chew stuff, just use the packet, no sugar, and just enough water to cover the item you are dying/flavouring. soak until the desired colour is reached (i usually do 10 to 15 minutes) and air dry over night. this method works well for me. some people bake their chews after soaking in kool aid.

 

[Virus]

It has never crossed my mind to flavour chin toys. I might try it too if I could get Kool Aid from someplace (it's not available in here - except for some American food stores).

I have collected some pumice from Santorini, Greece. The island is covered with it:

Nana carried her piece on the sleeping shelf:

Anyhow, pumice is quite rare chin chewing toy here in Finland. Instead we use lots of crabapple tree - and lightweight aerated concrete. Yes, sounds bad but it's not. Lightweight aerated concrete is nothing similar to regular concrete; it's non-toxic, pumice-like building material. We shatter the blocks in smaller pieces and give to chins. It's cheap (or free) and has not caused any harm or health issues even after few decades in use.

 

[Stormcrow]

Virus, I use the same concrete as you do.
From what I have been told you just need to pay attention to buy the good quality of blocks (in Belgium we have the brand Ytong) since other kinds might have aluminium shavings etc contained in them. No idea if this is correct, just mentioning what I've read

 

[Virus]

^ That's a nice surprise! I've thought that this is an all Scandinavian phenomenon - it's good to know about practices in Central Europe as well. Thanks for sharing!

Aluminium is essential in aerated concrete manufacturing process and if it's not thoroughly powdered, there may be shavings left. Luckily we haven't had these kind of problems and I hope you won't meet them either.