Are these safe for hamsters?

[cloudy]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

I think you can get ceramic mushrooms and plain unfinished wood ones as well. But Amity makes a good point about not knowing what wood they are made of. Annoying it doesn't say on the packet.

It is annoying. Still, maybe a child will enjoy playing with them.

[Ria P]

If you want mushrooms you can get wooden ones at petsathome. I painted the cap with plastikote.

[Ria P]

You can also get ceramic mushroom hides for a tenner. I think the company is called Wundapets but i'll look it up.

[sushi_78]

I think a child-safe paint should be fine for hamsters even if it contains acrylic. Just because something is indigestable, doesn't mean it's unsafe. Dietary fibre is indigestable. It's only dangerous if it's in a form that could cause a blockage, such a fluffy bedding, or if it could splinter into sharp pieces, such as don't types of solid plastic.

Nonetheless, I wouldn't use those mushrooms as chews for a couple of reasons. Firstly they're very smooth, with no easy chewing edges. Secondly, I think even non-toxic paints and varnishes can sometimes taste a little strange or bitter which might put a hamster off chewing them. It's fine to paint houses, wheels, platforms etc but I think chews should be unpainted wherever possible. If painted houses etc are "incidentally" chewed that's one thing, but with things that intended for them to gnaw on, personally I don't like the idea of letting hamsters ingest paint unnecessarily.

If you want to give a hamster wood to chew I would stick to things like willow and apple sticks. These are much easier shape for them chew though most hamsters will still ignore them.

[Ria P]

Maybe i've misread that. Do you actually want them as chew toys? I thought they were meant for decorative purposes.

I agree with sushi. If you are looking for chews, go for natural, unpainted things like sticks and whimzees. Or cardboard. Some love chewing up cardboard.

Btw, hamsters tend to ignore those colourful chews anyway and prefer to chew what they are not meant to chew.

[AmityvilleHams]

I would also recommend getting some plain brown paper bags, not so much as a toy on their own for hamsters as they're fairly large but you could tear them up into larger chunks and use them as a toy part. You can even make really quick foraging toys by wrapping up a seed or a few seeds for example inside a bit of paper bag. My rats happen to be very fond of paper bags and they're a fun easily destroyed material which in my opinion seems to be way more satisfying for a lot of animals - especially compared to things like hard wood chews which a lot of different species often seem not to care for, and they also happen to be cheap!

[cloudy]

Originally Posted by Ria P

If you want mushrooms you can get wooden ones at petsathome. I painted the cap with plastikote.

Thank you, Ria. That looks great.

[cloudy]

Originally Posted by sushi_78

I think a child-safe paint should be fine for hamsters even if it contains acrylic. Just because something is indigestable, doesn't mean it's unsafe. Dietary fibre is indigestable. It's only dangerous if it's in a form that could cause a blockage, such a fluffy bedding, or if it could splinter into sharp pieces, such as don't types of solid plastic.

Nonetheless, I wouldn't use those mushrooms as chews for a couple of reasons. Firstly they're very smooth, with no easy chewing edges. Secondly, I think even non-toxic paints and varnishes can sometimes taste a little strange or bitter which might put a hamster off chewing them. It's fine to paint houses, wheels, platforms etc but I think chews should be unpainted wherever possible. If painted houses etc are "incidentally" chewed that's one thing, but with things that intended for them to gnaw on, personally I don't like the idea of letting hamsters ingest paint unnecessarily.

If you want to give a hamster wood to chew I would stick to things like willow and apple sticks. These are much easier shape for them chew though most hamsters will still ignore them.

Thank you, Sushi. I have some pear sticks that I will try.

[cloudy]

Originally Posted by Ria P

Maybe i've misread that. Do you actually want them as chew toys? I thought they were meant for decorative purposes.

I agree with sushi. If you are looking for chews, go for natural, unpainted things like sticks and whimzees. Or cardboard. Some love chewing up cardboard.

Btw, hamsters tend to ignore those colourful chews anyway and prefer to chew what they are not meant to chew.

I thought they were chew toys as that is how they were advertised. I will not be using them now that I have found out they are not suitable.

Haha, funny how hamsters tend to chew things they are not meant to.

[cloudy]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

I would also recommend getting some plain brown paper bags, not so much as a toy on their own for hamsters as they're fairly large but you could tear them up into larger chunks and use them as a toy part. You can even make really quick foraging toys by wrapping up a seed or a few seeds for example inside a bit of paper bag. My rats happen to be very fond of paper bags and they're a fun easily destroyed material which in my opinion seems to be way more satisfying for a lot of animals - especially compared to things like hard wood chews which a lot of different species often seem not to care for, and they also happen to be cheap!

That is a great idea! Thank you. I used to have guinea pigs and they loved playing with brown paper bags. One in particular would go inside them for ages.