Pinecones?

[JLPrairie]

Hi! I'm in the middle of finishing Titania's cage (800 sq. inches!). It's taking much longer than expected, but I was wondering if it wouuld be safe to place some sterilized pine cones in her cage for her to chew on/ for me to hide treats in the little nooks and crannies.
How I would clean the pinecone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDQX0yDRPzs

There are two (three, lol, I can't count) problems that I have some concern about for pinecones:
-Being from pine, are pine cones toxic? (I don't think so...)
-Can pinecones be fully digested if chewed? (Probably, being natural, right?)
-Will the sterilization fully remove any bugs or harmful bacteria from the outside?

[AmityvilleHams]

Do not ever use anything from the outside,even with sterilization it isn't worth the risk You should be able to find all natural pinecone toys in pet stores though,which can be turned into toy parts and cage decorations!

[AprilPearl]

I have heard that it is the sap or needles, rather than the cone itself, which are bad for hamsters. My friend does believe that chewing on a pinecone killed their hamster, but that was more likely because it was from the outside. Or, maybe the hamster died from other causes. But, I still won’t risk my hams around pinecones found outside, even thoroughly cleaned. As Amity says though, the ones from petshops should be fine.

[cypher]

Pine cones are fine but I'm always a bit wary of bringing in things from outside too tbh, if you think you can safely sterilise it then it's up to you whether you want to use it or not, I prefer to buy mine.