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[animalluver]

I've been looking for some new toys to put in my chins' cages. Anyone have a particular item that was successful and fun for the chins? I had a bramble ball one of my chins absolutely adored... but she ripped all of the sticks off of it... so its non-existant now. 

[dianah]

i buy a lot of willow/vine balls and they do destroy them very quickly (overnight usually) - it is good for their teeth but can get rather pricy! you can get hanging toys made out of wooden blocks that are somewhat harder but mine don't pay them much interest - yours may love them though!

i also get longish willow sticks and they last a little longer. i don't know where you are but if you're in the us, have a look at jean's shop, she offers large quantities of sticks for a very reasonable price.

some people make their own sticks, if you can get your hands on apple/pear branches that have not been chemically treated, you can boil and bake them (i've never done it but i'm sure someone could provide instructions), also untreated pine - this needs to be kiln dried.

i'm afraid they are like shredders!

[animalluver]

Haha ok, thanks! I'll check it out.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

I keep my eyes open for all kinds of cardboard tubes. My daughter gets some small 3" diameter from mail deliveries at her work. They are great from chopping into 4 inch lengths and filling with hay. Or even for hide aways huts for kits.
Here husband works at a hospital and they get some come in that are 4 ,5, & 6 " diameter. They work great for hanging from the roof, or under shelves or off the walls.
Some I get from inside carpet rolls and others I get from news print rolls right from the plant. They are like an inch thick.
I take all my scraps of pine and split them with a chisel and hammer, and sometimes I'll even buy a bag of Popsicle sticks.
Small boxes with hole cut in them make for great fun, but short lived.

You can buy all kinds of untreated beads and hemp rope and make up some hanging toys, and even add pieces of chew stones & small pine blocks with holes drilled in them.

I find all kinds of cheap stuff at the second hand shops 

[jmdebb]

every chin is gonna like something different.  there is so much you can give them.. just make sure what you get is chin safe.  if you have room in the cage, how about a chin safe wheel.  they love to run... lol.. i often wonder if in their minds they think they are going someplace...lol

[animalluver]

teehee... Yeah, they've got wheels. I'm not sure it's really them that are showing boredom as me wanting them to be as happy as possible. Thanks guys! 

[opaldamour]

I buy from Jean's store myself, as well as make a few things of my own. My girls LOVE the Pine and Pumice chews from jean's store. they take them apart immediately, but the pieces usually last a week or more. I also have a couple of hanging toys from her store as well as vine balls and wreaths. I get apple wood branches from our local orchard and dry them myself, and they tend to strop the bark off them over night, and chew them over several days. We have a willow out back, and i'm going to try drying some of those branches this summer as well.

Also, we are soda drinkers here, and we let them have the pop boxes. Lily sleeps in them, and Dharma like to play peek-a-boo out of the holes.  However, if your chin likes to eat cardboard you might want to consider giving them something that doesn't have a ton of dye on the outside. My girls just shred up the pop boxes, but they don't eat them. We will also occasionally take a TP tube and stick their favorite treat in it, and tuck the ends in so that they have to chew it open to get the treat. That usually keeps them busy for a while. Since our girls dont like the wheel (the breeder never had wheels for them, and they never showed any interest in either of the styles we had for them) we've had to get creative with their toys.