Safe string.

As it does not say jute or sisal I would give it a miss. It is annoying when companies do not explain what products are made of.
 
RainbowBrite said:
As it does not say jute or sisal I would give it a miss. It is annoying when companies do not explain what products are made of.
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Thank you. It's a shame because it's a very good price.
 
There has been a lot of debate about what type of string to use for attaching things and the general conclusion has been that sisal was the safest option. I think some people use jute but I stuck to sisal on recommendation. However I also found it very hard to find actual natural sisal string. I eventually hunted down a ball from a specific place on ebay, who I can't find any more, but it was something like this one linked below. A rope making place. The other difficulty is finding the right thickness! Some are very thin, some are very thick. It maybe depends what you want for. I think the string, like the one linked below, is good for tying things to cages, or wrapping round bars or tubes to make them look natural (one hamster owner glued/wrapped it round pringles tubes for effect). Rodipet used to sell sisal rope - the slightly thicker version but that's easy to find on amazon - it's sold for replacement wrapping for cat scratchers. I actually prefer the thicker rope for hanging hammocks - it's thicker to chew if chewed (so you'd likely notice before it collapsed!) and also less of a risk for getting a leg caught around. But for tying things to bars, the string is better.

Jute string is mainly sold for tying parcels. Jute is apparently plant based so should be ok but I'm not entirely sure.

As it's so hard to find, I've often used one of these trio of balls as string - they're safe to chew. The one made of seagrass (apparently). The range sells these as well and noticeably they don't give a proper description of these either - but one is hyacinth, one is wicker and one is seagrass string. I like the hyacinth one as a cage toy and for sticking treats under the folds as a boredom breaker. The wicker one is harder and I'm not so sure about it so keep for out of cage time (ie under observation). Rosewood make safe hamster items generally.

You'll find some sellers will sell string as sisal/jute/hemp - which is not helpful as it could be any of them and is a vague description of the type sold for wrapping parcels.

Sisal string

rope-source.co.uk

2/300 Sisal Twine 500G Ball | Rope Source

High quality Everlasto natural 2 ply Sisal Twine 500g ball. This sisal twine is perfect for use as a strong general packaging twine. 3mm Diameter (approx). 2 Ply, 300m per kilo (approx). Much stronger than standard cotton twine and perfect for heavier loads. Made in the UK by James Lever...
rope-source.co.uk

Sisal Rope


Rosewood trio of balls


 
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This one is slightly thicker sisal string, but not as thick as the rope (from the same rope seller)

rope-source.co.uk

3/65 Sisal Twine 500g Spool | Rope Source

3/65 Sisal Twine 500g Spool. A superior quality natural 3 ply 65m per kilo (approx) sisal twine. Ideal for use as a strong general packaging twine. Approximately 5mm thickness. Much stronger than standard cotton twine and perfect for heavier loads. The rough texture means it provides good...
rope-source.co.uk

And this place sells the sisal rope by the metre - so no need to buy a huge ball

www.ropewarehouse.co.uk

Sisal Rope for Cat Scratching Posts

Our strong and biodegradable sisal rope is the perfect option when looking to replace worn-out rope on cat scratching posts, pet bird perches and swings.
www.ropewarehouse.co.uk www.ropewarehouse.co.uk
 
Incidentally, if anyone is thinking of making toys with it (ie wrapping it round cardboard tubes or similar) then elmer's school glue is a safe one to use for crafts, and plastikote can also work. But I like the idea of Rainbow's buckwheat flour glue! Which is much more natural.
 
Safety is always important with cage contents. There are many items like grass mats, hemp mats, seagrass tunnels, hyacinth and wicker tunnels made from plant based materials etc that can be chewed and are considered safe cage items. Fabric toys in a cage are definitely risky for threads getting wrapped round limbs or teeth or being chewed. There is a list of unsafe toys on here.

Chains that come with some hanging toys can be much more risky than using sisal string. Because people use sisal string or rope instead of chains, I think we don't hear much about hamsters hanging by a broken leg any more. Which used to be very common. With their foot caught in the chain. We need to use something to hang or tie items and there are safe toys made from sisal. Sisal is also biodegradable. I am not aware of a hamster ever chewing it for the sake of eating it - they might bite through it (as Pip did) so regular checks always need to made in cages as if it's bitten something could fall down. I've used the thicker sisal rope many times to hang egg box hammocks etc and never had a hamster try to chew it. It's possible a hamster might chew and we need to keep an eye on chewed things and remove something if it becomes an issue. But neither do we want to get anxious about every little thing.

I think the real dangers are soft fluffy fabrics - fluffy bedding we know about - and other fabrics - and even fleece hammocks (which can contain polyester wadding etc) because hamsters like soft things for their nests so chew them to pouch the soft stuff for their nests, and then they can be swallowed or get caught around teeth.

Rodipet sell both sisal rope and hemp mats and have a reputation for selling safe appropriate hamster items.

I think the reason hamsters are less likely to chew sisal string or rope is they usually chew something to either see if they can get escape (eg bars and plastic cage bases) or because they think it will make good nesting material (eg destroying cardboard). Or because it's in the way (wooden stilts under houses) or tastes of food. Some hamsters do chew plastic as well (wheels or potties) which probably isn't particularly good for them but I've not heard of it making a hamster ill. And yes it's possible for a hamster to chew anything if they feel like it but they usually have better things to chew. I think if they are in an appropriate sized cage with plenty of enrichment they tend not to chew at things and have plenty to do and chew sticks etc.

I mainly use sisal string or rope (or seagrass string from the seagrass ball mentioned earlier) to replace chains on a hanging toy for example, or to tie something to the side of the cage - like a tube - where there is only a tiny amount showing on the inside. I've sometimes used plastic cable ties to attach things to the side of the cages too.

There needs to be some balance regarding safe items.
 
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Sorry if this is a silly question. Is there a difference between string and twine? When shopping some descriptions say twine and others say string.
 
Albert the Dwarf Hamster said:
Sorry if this is a silly question. Is there a difference between string and twine? When shopping some descriptions say twine and others say string.
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When I looked this up I read twine is twisted but string it not. I have no idea if that is right though.

No question is silly on here so please ask anything you want. :)
 
I don’t think there really is a difference tbh, twine usually refers to something thicker & stronger than string, more fibres twisted together, but that’s about it, most important thing is just what it’s made of.
 
Probably just terminology. I think twine is a more American name for string possibly, although I associate twine more with the jute sold for wrapping parcels, and it's possible that twine for parcels might be thinner, so checking the size is a good idea. Eg 2 ply 3ply or 6mm or whatever. I think it's better thicker than thinner.

The main thing to be careful of is sellers who use the names twine and jute synonymously, because they aren't quite the same thing and it's nice to know what you're actually buying.
 
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