[Gpdd] BEHAVIOR (GNAWING)

[Linda Kenyon]

I was recently at a reptile expo and one of the vendors there had large
coconut shells.  There are small ones and I have one of those for my rat
(Spott).  But, this size was big enough for an average guinea pig.  I cannot
for the life of me remember who the vendor was -- sorry.  I also did a web
search for them.  All I can find are the little rat sized ones.  But, should
you be able to find one, that might be a good house.  The shells are
extremely hard and pretty much gnaw resistent.  Spott also has a little rat
sized igloo thingy.  She has gnawed on that, but not the coconut shell.
There are also half logs big enough for a guinea pig.  They're easier to
gnaw on and have bark on them, so I don't know if they are acceptable or
not.

Alice was a gnawer.  I finally got a piece of heavy duty black PVC (or
whatever it's called) from Home Depot.  It's really a sewer pipe -- UNUSED.
I sent it through the dishwasher a couple of times before putting it in her
cage.  It is exceedingly hard and very easy to clean.  She tried to gnaw it,
but gave up, opting for the wooden toys she had instead.  Alice had that
pipe for most of her eight years and never had a sick day in her life.
Abigail has it now, but she is a nibbler, not a gnawer.  She loves to nibble
on cloth, particularly denim.  But, to date, I have not ever seen her gnaw
on anything but her food.  I suspect that the same little wooden toys
hanging from the side of her cage now will be there when she leaves this
earth -- hopefully 7 or 8 years from now.

Good luck in your house hunt.

-- Linda