Hamster Safe Wood

[lollyness]

Hi all,
I have recently bought a detolf for my two hammies, and would like to divide it down the middle. Which type of wood would be safe to use for this? Would plywood be okay to use or is there a safer type of wood than this?

Thanks :)

[velma]

A detolf? Lucky hams! I'm not too sure about plywood. I wouldn't like to say either way. If you use pine, make sure it's kiln dried. And you'll probably want to paint it with something to protect it so make sure whatever you use is something nontoxic like plastikote. Definitely show us the finished tank :)

[cypher]

I think kiln dried pine is probably the safest option too, I may be wrong but I think ply can sometimes be made with toxic glue.

[herbi7]

Have you thought of using a piece of correx board, its more easily sanitised than wood.

[cypher]

I think they might well chew through correx too easily herbi, it's fine for play pens & supervised time but I wouldn't risk it in a cage. If you could find a way to fix it perspex might be an option but a good solid piece of wood is probably safest.

[lollyness]

Thanks for all the help everyone :) I'll post a picture when I have it done, for now they're enjoying their bin cages. However, they take up too much space in my small room, and a detolf is easily placed along the wall as I hoped it would. I'll try to find some kiln dried wood, however if I can't, would it be safe to cover the wood with something, such as one of the shelves from the detolf, to stop them from getting to the wood.

Thanks again everyone :D

[velma]

I think most wood you would buy in this country, somewhere like b&q, is kiln dried these days so you shouldn't have a problem getting something.

[flowerfairy]

Cant you use one of the detolf shelves as the divider?

[lollyness]

Yes, flowerfairy, that was what I thought of doing, and then put the wood in the middle so they can't see each other, only themselves.

[lollyness]

So I have almost finished my detolf now, I am just waiting for the lid, currently they are enjoying it, seeming much more happy, inquisitive and social. Once the lid is ok I will upload a picture :)

[lollyness]

So this is it, the detolf has been made, as soon as we attach the mesh fully all will be great. Thanks for the suggestions everyone although we couldn't find any of the suggested wood we found some at a local garden and hardware centre with a more than stellar reputation :) thanks again and here is the picture you have all been waiting for. :D You may also see Tres the Russian dwarf and pumpkin the Syrian here too.

[Jenibelle]

It looks great!