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[Thalandor46]

Hello all!  I'm new here.  I've had my chinchilla Vyse for almost a year now, and I haven't been able to find an answer to this question through standard internet research.  Vyse loves to chew things, no surprise there, but his favorite chew toy seems to be fabric.  He will literally try to eat the shirt off of my back over any other chewable option available to him.  So I'd like to get him some sort of fabric item that I could put in his cage and he could chew to his heart's content.  But I'm afraid he's going to actually eat the fabric, which I imagine can't possibly be good for him.

Is there anything out there for this kind of dilemma?  I imagine it would either be something fabric-y that would be safe for Vyse to both chew and eat, or something that could survive the wrath of chinchilla teeth.  Any other suggestions would be welcome as well.

Thanks!

[Snickerdoodlesmom]

Fleece is generally considered safe, but if the chinchilla actually eats it, it should be removed from the cage. tjchinchillasupplies.com sells safe fleece, but again, make sure he doesn't really ingest it.

[GrayRodent]

I'd make sure he has plenty of wood and pumice items in his cage and encourage him to go for those and try to discourage him from chewing clothing in a gentle but firm manner. You can teach a chinchilla to learn the word "no".

Fabric including fleece can cause a fatal bowel impaction if ingested. I'd advise against using fleece with this one since he already has proven to have a strong propensity to chew fabric. Most chinchillas don't chew fleece though.

That's my two cents.

[Snickerdoodlesmom]

Also, what fabric does he like to eat? I know that Snickerdoodle will eat my dad's suit shirts and shirts with ads (like the raised paint- like stuff) on them, but he usually won't eat my t- shirts. I think you should give the fleece a chance but remove it IMMEDIATELY if you see him eating it.

[Thalandor46]

Tshirts, polos, jeans, pajama pants, towels, you name it!  It's actually quite possible that he's more interested in taking them all apart rather than eating them, but it seems like such a risk when I can't keep an eye on him 24/7.

[Snickerdoodlesmom]

Sounds like he loves to shred things! TJ's Chinchilla Supplies sells really inexpensive shredding toys like finger traps, palm shredder, etc.- and everything is safe! Maybe that'll curb his habit.

[GrayRodent]

One thing my chinchilla likes to do is chew cardboard. I give him cardboard food packaging like cracker boxes. The inks and adhesives used in these boxes are regulated to be non-toxic. Unfortunately he often eats too much cardboard and I'll have to limit his consumption or he looses weight. I also give him TP rolls on occasion but have stopped leaving cardboard in his cage.

[Snickerdoodlesmom]

Snickerdoodle also loves cardboard. He eats tissue boxes all the time, and there usually isn't a single non- chewed tissue box in my house XD