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Chewing Safe to chew?

  • Thread starter Lil Fella's Mom
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Lil Fella's Mom

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Chewing by itself doesn't really surprise me. I have had a male pig before and he chewed as well. Lil' Fella chews on the grids, but he also chews on the Coroplast and a piece of natural pine that I have for a step. I noticed little pieces of Coroplast missing around the edges and pieces of the wood. I have not found them so I am thinking he ingested them. Is this dangerous? Are small amounts of the Coroplast and the pine going to harm him? It's not a lot. If so, what can i do to discourage chewing. I think chewing is normal behavior.
 

akstrohm

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Does he have unlimited high quality hay to chew on? And are you planning on getting him a friend? He might just be bored as an only pig and is chewing out of boredom.
 

Lil Fella's Mom

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Yes and yes. he has huge amounts of hay both in a pile and in a hay rack. He will be getting a friend asap. i spoke to the lady from the rescue today and she will let me know as soon as a potential friend is available.

So is the small amount of chewing ok? Is untreated pine safe?
 

xoLauraox09

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I think untreated pine is safe but I'm not 100% sure.
Tilly chews on the grids aswell. ( One of my guinea pigs )
 

animallover2424

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Chewing is a sign of boredom. Many be a friend or a new toy would be good for him.
 

GizzyandMe

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I saw some photos of cages in the gallery that you can clearly see pigs have been at the coroplast and there are more than one pig in the cage so yes I think that excessive chewing might be cause of boredom but I doubt a bit of it would do harm otherwise a lot of people would have complained by now. If you look through the gallery you will see what I mean.
 

snickers

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I am not sure about this, but I would think the pine is not safe to chew because the only pine wood bedding allowed is kiln dried pine bedding. Regular pine bedding can cause respiratory issues. I know we are not talking about bedding in your question but I still would not think its safe.
 

Lil Fella's Mom

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Good point, however, he doesn't eat it, he just shredded the edges a bit. Also, the respiratory problems are due to the dust. A block of pine doesn't really dust, right? Maybe somebody else will know more. thanks for your suggestions.
 

snickers

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Also, the respiratory problems are due to the dust. A block of pine doesn't really dust, right? .

Actually, pine is bad for them because pine and cedar contain phenols which cause the URI.
 

auburnmare5

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As mentioned before, make sure 24/7 loose hay (not cubes) is provided. Also, you can provide an UNTREATED apple or pear tree log. Avoid any other fruit trees as they can be poisonous. The general rule of thumb is that no guinea pig should be allowed to chew on a branch that is from a tree in which the fruit is pitted. You could maybe provide some of the shew toy things you get at stores. Try and get ones that are not flavored, and never buy the Snack Shacks. They are fatty and filled with sugars and other unhealthy and unwanted ingredients, that could lead you to a whole boat load of problems later on down the road.
 
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