What wood can rats not chew?

If you still want to use wood, Aspen shavings are the safest of the wood shavings available at pet stores, and you should avoid pine shavings.

thesprucepets.com - Safe and Toxic Wood for Rats to Chew - The Spruce Pets

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Rats are rodents that need to chew on things regularly to keep their teeth trimmed and healthy, because their teeth grow continuously throughout their life. Wood is a popular and natural choice for rat owners to provide to their pets, but not all types of wood are safe. Before just grabbing that tree branch from your backyard or a chunk of wood from the local lumber yard, make sure that the wood you are offering your pet is safe, free of pesticides, untreated, and free of paint. Many kinds of wood on the safe list can be found in your yard, but if you aren't 100 percent sure on what it is, it is best not to give it to your rat.

Safe Woods and Substances

Apple (thin apple wood sticks can often be purchased from pet stores)

Arbutus

Ash

Bamboo cane

Blackberry

Blackcurrant

Bholla

Coconut shell (can be purchased at craft stores and pet stores, usually with hermit crab supplies)

Cottonwood

Crabapple

Dogwood

Grapevine

Hawthorn

Hazelnut

Kiwi

Linden

Manzanita

Mulberry

Pear

Pecan

Poplar

Quince

Rose hip

Sycamore

Toxic Woods and Substances

Abale/esia

Alder

Almond (can produce cyanide)

Apricot

Aspen

Balsam fir

Beech

Birch

Black locust

Blackwood

Bogwood

Boxwood

Buddleia

Cashew

Cedar

Cherry

Citrus (all citrus woods including lemon, orange, lime, etc.)

Cocobolo

Cypress/bald cypress

Dahoma

Ebony

Elang/mukulungu

Elder/elderberry

Elm

Eucalyptus

Fig/cape fig

Fir

Goncalo alves

Greenheart

Hemlock

Horse chestnut

Iroko

Juniper

Kapok

Laurel

Magnolia

Mahogany

Mansonia

Maple

Mimosa

Mopane/mopani

Myrtle

Nectarine

Oak/cork

Obeche/abachi

Okuhaba/yungu

Oleander

Olive

Opepe/kussia

Paduak

Pau ferro

Peach

Peroba rosa

Plum

Plywood

Prune

Purpleheart

Quebracho

Redwood

Rosewood

Satinwood

Sassafras

Sequoia

Snakewood

Spruce

Teak

Walnut

Wenge

Willow

Yew

Yunnan

Zebrawood

Other safe wood options for rats are available in pet stores. Woods marketed for chinchillas, and other rodents are usually safe to offer to your rat, but make sure the type of wood is not on the toxic woods list before putting it in your rat's cage (just in case). The same goes for the material that hide boxes and cages are made out of (if they are made of wood). Any items in the cage are fair game for your rat's teeth to nibble on, so you want to make sure they are safe! If you think your rat may have eaten a toxic wood, then contact your exotics vet as soon as possible. Different woods are more dangerous than others and affect your rat in different ways.

Wood Bedding

It used to be common to house your pet rat on wood shavings, but we have learned that there are more comfortable and safer options for our pets. If you still want to use wood, Aspen shavings are the safest of the wood shavings available at pet stores, and you should avoid pine shavings. Warning Cedar shavings are thought to be the most dangerous to rats so you should under no circumstances house your rat on cedar bedding. Besides the fumes and possible ingestion of toxic wood shavings, wood can be irritating to walk on. Rats may develop sores or small cuts on their feet and might itch due to the wood being irritating to their skin. Options such as recycled paper bedding (such as CareFresh) are preferred over wood shavings for their absorption qualities and softer texture.

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