Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
- Rats should chew recurrently to maintain up their dental effectively being.
- Not all woods are safe for rats; there is a specific guidelines of safe and toxic woods.
- Cedar shavings are harmful to rats and should not be used for bedding; aspen shavings are essentially the most safe risk amongst picket shavings.
Rats are rodents that should chew on points recurrently to keep up their enamel trimmed and healthful, because of their enamel develop repeatedly all by means of their life. Wood is a popular and pure choice for rat owners to produce to their pets, nonetheless not all kinds of picket are safe. Sooner than merely grabbing that tree division out of your yard or a chunk of picket from the native lumber yard, make it potential for the picket you are offering your pet is safe, free of pesticides, untreated, and free of paint.
Many kinds of picket on the safe guidelines could also be current in your yard, nonetheless within the occasion you are not 100% sure on what it is, it is best to not give it to your rat.
Safe Woods and Substances
- Apple (skinny apple picket sticks can often be purchased from pet retailers)
- Arbutus
- Ash
- Bamboo cane
- Blackberry
- Blackcurrant
- Bholla
- Coconut shell (could also be purchased at craft retailers and pet retailers, usually with hermit crab offers)
- Cottonwood
- Crabapple
- Dogwood
- Grapevine
- Hawthorn
- Hazelnut
- Kiwi
- Linden
- Manzanita
- Mulberry
- Pear
- Pecan
- Pine (kiln-dried white solely)
- Poplar
- Quince
- Rose hip
- Sycamore
Toxic Woods and Substances
- Abale/esia
- Alder
- Almond (can produce cyanide)
- Apricot
- Aspen
- Balsam fir
- Beech
- Birch
- Black locust
- Blackwood
- Bogwood
- Boxwood
- Buddleia
- Cashew
- Cedar
- Cherry
- Citrus (all citrus woods along with lemon, orange, lime, and lots of others.)
- Cocobolo
- Cypress/bald cypress
- Dahoma
- Ebony
- Elang/mukulungu
- Elder/elderberry
- Elm
- Eucalyptus
- Fig/cape fig
- Fir
- Goncalo alves
- Greenheart
- Hemlock
- Horse chestnut
- Iroko
- Juniper
- Kapok
- Laurel
- Magnolia
- Mahogany
- Mansonia
- Maple
- Mimosa
- Mopane/mopani
- Myrtle
- Nectarine
- Oak/cork
- Obeche/abachi
- Okuhaba/yungu
- Oleander
- Olive
- Opepe/kussia
- Paduak
- Pau ferro
- Peach
- Peroba rosa
- Pine (up to date pine is toxic as are pinecones)
- Plum
- Plywood
- Prune
- Purpleheart
- Quebracho
- Redwood
- Rosewood
- Satinwood
- Sassafras
- Sequoia
- Snakewood
- Spruce
- Teak
- Walnut
- Wenge
- Willow
- Yew
- Yunnan
- Zebrawood
Totally different safe picket selections for rats will be present in pet retailers. Woods marketed for chinchillas, and totally different rodents are usually safe to produce to your rat, nonetheless make sure that the sort of picket is not going to be on the toxic woods guidelines sooner than inserting it in your rat’s cage (merely in case). The equivalent goes for the material that conceal containers and cages are made out of (in the event that they’re product of picket). Any objects throughout the cage are truthful recreation to your rat’s enamel to nibble on, in order that you must make sure that they’re safe!
In case you suppose your rat may need eaten a toxic picket, then contact your exotics vet as shortly as doable. Utterly totally different woods are additional dangerous than others and affect your rat in quite a few strategies.
Wood Bedding
It was frequent to accommodate your pet rat on picket shavings, nonetheless now we have now found that there are additional comfortable and safer selections for our pets. In case you nonetheless want to make use of picket, Aspen shavings are essentially the most safe of the picket shavings accessible at pet retailers, and it is best to steer clear of pine shavings.
Warning
Cedar shavings are thought to be in all probability essentially the most dangerous to rats so it is best to not at all house your rat on cedar bedding.
Other than the fumes and doable ingestion of toxic picket shavings, picket could also be irritating to walk on. Rats may develop sores or small cuts on their ft and should itch due to the picket being irritating to their pores and pores and skin. Selections much like recycled paper bedding (much like CareFresh) are preferred over picket shavings for his or her absorption qualities and softer texture.