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Post by dandeb on May 19, 2011 0:53:30 GMT
So my 7 week old female degu will not leave the ramps and shelves in her cage alone! they are pine and she is constantly chewing and eating on them. Is this ok? should i be doing something else? thanks!
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Post by deguconvert on May 19, 2011 5:41:08 GMT
If the pine is wood that has been kiln dried, meaning baked until dry in a large warehouse sized oven, it will be safe for her. To know that you will not detect much, if any, pine scent to the wood, and there will be no sap oozing from it. Many small animals do not react well to pine that hasn't been kiln dried, so most everything that you can buy at a pet store will have been treated like that. For other supply stores, like stores for home construct etc., they will most have kiln dried as well. You should be just fine!
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Post by moletteuk on May 19, 2011 18:45:54 GMT
You could put some apple or hazel or other safe wood branches in there for her to chew to try to distract her from the ramps & shelves so they last a bit longer.
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beckie
Foraging Degu
Posts: 74
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Post by beckie on May 19, 2011 20:55:40 GMT
Hi, I've just bought some pine shelves from wilkinsons to put in my girls new cage but I'm a bit concerned now. I know they are definately pine and untreated but it doesnt say if they are kiln dried. They look and feel exactly the same as the wood in the p@h degu cage aswell as the chinchilla leap n ledge?? Does anyone know if these shelves are ok? There doesn't seem to be any sap on them and they are very dry, what do you all think. When I bought them I was certain they were ok but now I'm starting to question them. Has anyone else ever bought these types of shelves?
Thanks for your help xx
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Post by kovu07 on May 20, 2011 7:12:08 GMT
I would be concerned unless they were labelled as kiln dried, as it is usually more expensive than normal pine.
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Post by deguconvert on May 21, 2011 6:15:21 GMT
Well . . . do they smell distinctly of pine, or do they have a nice woody scent that could be any kind of wood? If they don't have a pine scent, I think you can trust that they have been kiln dried, as pine has such a strong fragrance when it has not been evaporated through the frying proceedure.
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Post by coolkitten3003 on Jun 4, 2011 12:58:08 GMT
I've litrally just bought some more pine wood shelves from wilkinsons and PM'd degu convert for advice and posted my own thread and then saw this thread after!
I bought pine shelves from wilkos about 10-11 months ago and my degus have been fine with it and they didnt say kiln dried on them. Ive just bought some more and again they dont say kiln dried on them. They have no sap and dont have a strong smell or anything, defo dry etc.. does everyone think they will be okay? Ive started putting them up today in the cage and then had a terrible thought that they might not be! ASAP answers would be lovely lol thanks xx
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Post by malteser60 on Jun 17, 2011 9:40:00 GMT
Like deguconvert says, if they don't smell strongly of pine then they've been kiln dried. If you bought them from wilkos you can always call them up to check.
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Post by emz on Jun 17, 2011 22:16:34 GMT
Most commercial wood sheets these days are dried in a large oven so that it dries quickly as time is money and so I am sure your pine is fine. Try not to worry about the label saying kiln dried in golden, fancy letters or something (some people seem to really over worry about pine - not talking about anyone here but I have seen it on certain articles) and unless it smells strongly like DeguConvert said it is most likely safe for your degus.
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