Fiddle sticks

Rachy1412 · May 17, 2006

A little while ago I brought some fiddle sticks to use in the piggies cages. I wanted to use them as a ramp so that they could get into their hay boxes without jumping over the 6" sides. However when I put them in they refuse to go near them! They don't seem to like the smell of them. I washed them in hot soapy water, then in hot water with vinegar. I then dis-infected them with cage cleaner! But when I hold them up to them they smell it and then run off wiping their noses, its like it smells of rotten eggs or something! I personally can't smell anything on them! Any other idea's on how to get rid of the mysterious smell?!

Thanks!

aqh88 · May 17, 2006

Probably all the vinegar and cleaner smells. It would smell absolutely horrible to a guinea pig. I just toss my fiddlesticks in with no washing and when wood houses get dirty I prefer to just sand off the outer layer. It's nearly impossible to get disinfectants out of wood as any aquarist can tell you. If you treat a piece of driftwood with anything it can never go in a fish tank. Usually to sterilize wood for aquariums we boil them in water or bake them in the oven. Not sure how either would work with fiddlesticks but I've never found it necessary to try.

Rachy1412 · May 17, 2006

They are like mini wooden logs connected together.

aqh88, they hated the smell before I washed them with all that stuff. I was hoping that the vinegar would get rid of what ever the smell was! I've left the logs laying around for a week but no luck!

aqh88 · May 17, 2006

How long have you had them, did they sit in a wet spot in the cage, do they just prefer other houses? Guinea pigs won't go near new things and some can take weeks to get used to a new house while others will use it right away. If they get peed on at all they will have an ammonia smell which will have to be dried out of them. Other than that all you can do is let them sit because using cleaners on them will not improve anything.

bromers · May 17, 2006

Rub it is something they think smells nice like erm cucumbers. Seem stupid but you never know.

TipiDancer · May 17, 2006

Rachy1412 said:
A little while ago I brought some fiddle sticks to use in the piggies cages. I wanted to use them as a ramp so that they could get into their hay boxes without jumping over the 6" sides. However when I put them in they refuse to go near them! They don't seem to like the smell of them. I washed them in hot soapy water, then in hot water with vinegar. I then dis-infected them with cage cleaner! But when I hold them up to them they smell it and then run off wiping their noses, its like it smells of rotten eggs or something! I personally can't smell anything on them! Any other idea's on how to get rid of the mysterious smell?!

Thanks!

I have no idea, maybe your piggies dont like it? What kind of wood are they? Because my pig does the same thing with veggies...

muffin · May 18, 2006

If you are using them as a ramp, try putting some veggies or fresh grass up it to tempt them up. They maybe just don't know what the ramp is. If I were you though I would throw your fiddlesticks away and buy a new one. The vinegar, disinfectant etc will always smell to the piggies, even if you can't smell it, and I don't think it would be good for them to chew. They are maybe just a bit scared of the fiddlesticks. Pigs get weird like this, they get scared of stuff for no reason. It just takes some of them a while to get over it.

JarBax · May 18, 2006

If you're convinced it's the smell, and nothing else works, you could rub it with their bedding to make it smell the same as them.

Mine only ever use theirs as a ramp (theirs is really a hidey house) if there's a tastey morsel tempting them up.

They used to climb up, and hide there when I had a board over the top of it - I think it made them feel safe, having that above them. (hmmm - might try that again...)

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Fiddle sticks

Rachy1412

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aqh88

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Rachy1412

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aqh88

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bromers

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