ksgerbil
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kiro and shiro <3
Posts: 363
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Post by ksgerbil on Nov 19, 2012 8:40:59 GMT -8
are you really that impressed? im acctually not nearly all wooden houses you buy have metallpins and other dangerous stuff. hahah a tip it you have one of those is to check them every time you clean the cage. if there is any metall that stands take it away with pliers or something. if you have a glue gun use it to fix the house so it doesnt fall apart in the cage ^^ that kind of glue is not toxic
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redsky
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Bournville, Marshmallow and Fudge
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Post by redsky on Nov 19, 2012 9:15:50 GMT -8
What shocked me is that these houses have been put together for small rodents, who chew everything, using metal pins along with visible glue that is stated to be safe. I am not happy using them and pulling out pins as and when they become a problem, that seems a risky thing to do. My gerbils will have to make do with the one wooden house I have that is just 5 pieces of wood that isn't even glued together and some cardboard boxes.
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ksgerbil
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kiro and shiro <3
Posts: 363
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Post by ksgerbil on Nov 19, 2012 10:47:34 GMT -8
the people that make this stuff dont care about the animals, they just care about making money
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Post by flutter on Nov 19, 2012 18:19:11 GMT -8
I've been making my own stuff from lolly sticks, cardboard and kids PVA glue. That way it's safe. Kid's PVA is non-toxic and they drink enough of it to test that theory. Gerbils eat enough card in their lives for us to know it's safe. And lolly sticks get used to make rodent stuff all the time. It's also great because when they chew part of it to bits you can just repair it with more lolly sticks, card and PVA. I love that I also get exactly the products I want and dirt cheap.
My main things I made were a water bottle holder as I had nothing to hang the bottle off in her new home. And a platform for food and stuff to keep it off the floor. Planning to make her a ladder to get from her platform to a deep sandbox (she keeps kicking her sand out, but she enjoys it in there so much I want to leave it in so I'm putting it in a deep bowl) and a nest box next!
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redsky
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Bournville, Marshmallow and Fudge
Posts: 543
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Post by redsky on Nov 20, 2012 1:34:56 GMT -8
What a great idea flutter, I will do that. Do you get your sticks from craft shops? Are they expensive?
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Post by Awaiting Abyss on Nov 20, 2012 11:17:34 GMT -8
I do the same, but I also buy huts.
You can get sticks in a box of 1,000 at craft stores. They are pretty cheap. Mine were $4 USD for the box of 1,000 sticks.
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Post by flutter on Nov 20, 2012 12:05:25 GMT -8
I bought my new lot off ebay £6 for 1000. 1000 is a lot of sticks! My 1st set of sticks was 200 for £3 and I had just under half left after making a platform (with roughly a 20cmx20cm top to give an idea of size) and water bottle holder (its like a cage with the bottle inside on legs).
It really does give you piece of mind and lets you experiment.
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Post by ralfo on Nov 21, 2012 3:20:58 GMT -8
I also use these karlie wonderland houses. Don't they use a kind of glue to make those houses? In hay-tunnels there is often iron in to keep everything together...That can be dangerous.
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redsky
Member
Bournville, Marshmallow and Fudge
Posts: 543
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Post by redsky on Nov 21, 2012 4:34:57 GMT -8
They have quite a bit of glue, but it said it was non-toxic. But they also have these pins in, they are really sharp. I have used some hay-tunnel style houses before but they were held together with woven hay and wooden rings. My girls destroyed these in a few days, even then wooden rings. They loved them but for £5 for something that doesn't even last a week I can't afford to keep replacing them.
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Post by ralfo on Nov 27, 2012 2:50:57 GMT -8
hm, for the first time, I had to remove a karlie house. I hurt myself while I was replacing it. Some piece of wood fell of and there were 2 iron nails sticking out...
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ksgerbil
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kiro and shiro <3
Posts: 363
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Post by ksgerbil on Nov 27, 2012 4:41:04 GMT -8
i use hot glue keeps everything together much better
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redsky
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Posts: 543
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Post by redsky on Nov 27, 2012 8:42:13 GMT -8
Do you use any hot glue or something specific? Just worried about it being toxic.
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ksgerbil
Member
kiro and shiro <3
Posts: 363
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Post by ksgerbil on Nov 27, 2012 12:46:48 GMT -8
no usual glue that goes with glue guns isnt toxic. if you want to be sure look at the description
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Post by sofluffy on Dec 22, 2012 16:18:25 GMT -8
Thank god for this thread! I don;t have the same house as you, but I do have a wooden house that stated it used 'safe glue', but nothing about pins etc. so i have always been very cautious since reading this post. Well now, I have just discovered pins in their house!
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Post by Emmys Gerbils on Dec 23, 2012 13:09:39 GMT -8
Thanks for pointing this out as i was going to buy this for my gerbils as they are getting a gerbilarium (they are in a rotostak atm) this week. i cant believe some people do this. If they state it, it may appeal to rodents who dont chew much
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