Hamster toys made from pine

[staceycanada]

This was my reasoning. I couldn't see how drying in a kiln would remove acids and resins.

As far as removing moisture it may do that temporarily because as soon as you expose it to the air moisture is reintroduced.

My husband works in construction and works with kiln dried wood and says the sap (resin) leaks out of the wood when he sees it or buys it in the lumber yard.

We were trying to have a natural styled enclosure so wood products (not plastic). I will have to get some willow and fruit tree wood and make my own toys and platforms.

[WinnieTheHam]

Yeah exactly, moisture returns to wood after it's been dried. I don't trust buying pine things for my hamsters at all. Even if people say it's okay to use. I just wouldn't take the risk.

[Hekomi]

There is some evidence that shows US pine is not suitable even with kiln drying. Some say UK pine is, but I'm not 100% certain, I don't live in the UK. I also don't use pine, we use boxo, as the wood based shavings tend to set off allergies in both us and the hamsters (Java).

These are two sources I have seen before on kiln drying pine, but to be honest, I have not completely read them:
Abietic acid technical, ~75% (GC) | Sigma-Aldrich
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr57.pdf

I don't have opinions either way, and if those in the UK feel that kiln dried pine is safe, they are the ones who know what is up. I just know that the wood shavings I have been around in Canada smell strongly of their source tree, and since they make me sneeze, I do not want to use them around the hamsters. Java also reacted strongly to aspen sheddings, though flax seemed alright with her.

Just 2cents.

Also pine based toys are fine, as the overall ratio to the phenols is much less. I believe. I can't remember the specific science behind it.

[WinnieTheHam]

I heard somewhere that toys are okay to use too if they're pine, but personally i just don't trust it. I've used Pine shavings before (i live in the UK) And they make me sneeze, they also made Winston sneeze a lot so i took them out straight away. Some brands in the UK smell strong of it too.

[BrainGirl]

It really depends on the source trees. Different species and even different members of the same species can have wildly varied levels of VOCs. Kiln drying helps to drive off quite a lot of the volatile oils which are the cause of so many problems and as a result, modern drying kilns have to take measures to remove those from the exhaust since they are considered hazardous to human health. It helps, but it's not perfect.