My mum has an apple tree in her garden... I've read that wood from fruit trees is ok to use with hamsters.
If I was to cut some small branches up to use as chews/climbing toys for Rupert, is there anything I would need to do to make it safe before I gave it to him?
My mum has never used any pesticides/feeds etc on it, but would I need to boil it, bake it or anything first?
What we do for chinchilla snacks if scrub the branches clean with a nylon scrubbing pad making sure all the lichens and bird poop and anything else is gone. We just use plain hot water though I have been known to throw a splash of vinegar in for a little extra cleaning power. Then spread the sticks on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 200F for one hour. Use your nose just in case some of the sticks burn a little which can happen with super thin twigs, but 200 is usually safe enough. You can go a little higher for thicker sticks but it's safer to go longer at a lower temp.
Apple wood
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