Chinchillas are energetic, curious little furballs that love to explore, climb, jump around, and play. They are also rather shy by nature and need places to hide to feel safe. There are plenty of toys that can be bought at the local pet store and online, and many toys for birds look very suitable for chinchillas. So you might be wondering if you can offer your pet chinchilla some bird toys.
As a whole, many bird toys are safe for chinchillas to play with and chew on. It depends highly on the material the toys are made of, as well as the size.
In the following, you will find the criteria for bird toys that are also good for chinchillas and some recommendations for great bird toys that can also be acquired for chinchillas.
What Kind of Bird Toy can Chinchillas Play With
Chinchillas are rodents that chew on basically everything. Therefore the toys cannot contain any materials that are not safe for a chinchilla to eat. Plastic is a risk factor as glue, nails, or any pesticides on wood. If you use wood, make sure that the type of wood is safe for your pet. Safe wood types for chinchillas are kiln-dried pine, poplar, and aspen.
Find a list of chinchilla-save wood types here.
Criteria for Safe Chinchilla Toys
- Safe materials such as coconut shells, coconut fiber, loofah, sisal rope, chinchilla-safe wood types, fleece, cardboard
- No nails that a chinchilla could reach after chewing on the toy
- No glues that a chinchilla might eat
- Big enough for a chinchilla to play with and not get stuck
- No slots where a chinchillas limb or tail could get stuck
- No mirrors, as it could stress chinchillas out
Safe Bird Toys for Chinchillas
Bird toys often hang from the enclosure ceiling, which is excellent for chinchillas because they will use them to climb on. Chinchillas will also chew on any toy in the cage.
Many bird toys are only made of organic, natural materials, such as coconut shells or wood. Keep in mind that many birds are way smaller than chinchillas and coconuts with a hole to climb into might not work out for an adult chinchilla.
Coconut shells and coconut fibers are safe materials for chinchillas. Therefore a bird toy like this would make an excellent chew toy for a chinchilla.
Another fun coconut toy for chinchillas is plain and simple coconut shells like these.
You can also use the shells and create your own DIY toy for your pet chinchilla.
Loofah is another natural material that is safe for chinchillas. You can find bird toys made of loofah, and as long no other potentially harmful material for chinchillas is used on that toy, you can offer it to your chin. You can also acquire plain loofah parts and create your own chinchilla toy.
If you are looking for shelves or platforms for your chinchilla, you can also go for parts that are originally made for birds. Just make sure, that the wood is chinchilla-safe.
Lisa is one of the two founders of Animal-Knowledge. She has been very interested in animals and insects from a very young age and has owned different kinds of pets such as snails, ants, fish, turtles, mice, rats, hamsters, rabbits, a dog, … you get the idea 🙂