Safe Wood for Platforms (DIY)

[fancyhamster]

Hi everyone! Sorry if this question is repetitive for the forum, I don't have much time to look around today but I want to be able to get this wood soon!

So, does anyone know what kind of wood is safe for building platforms for your hammie's enclosure? I went to Michael's (art store in U.S.) but I don't feel that comfortable using the wood there/craft wood because I looked it up and it can be unsafe. I know that pine and cedar are absolute no-go's, and I've heard birch is okay I think (?)-- but I was wondering if anyone could confirm this or if anyone knows brands I can use to build these platforms, OR if anyone has bought platforms online that are safe and have worked well for you -- I'm open to those suggestions as well! Obviously I will continue to do my research but I trust this forum a lot haha everyone seems very knowledgable and I've gotten great advice here!

I am in the U.S. (midwest area), so if anyone knows stores or brands that would be good you can lmk anything you have but I am limited to wood platforms that can be found in or shipped to the U.S.

Thank you all for your help!

 

[fancyhamster]

Also, I already got dowels that I have found that are safe and should work (size may be too small but we'll see once I get the actual platforms), but if anyone knows of other brands or places for those feel free to share that as well!

 

[Maz]

Pine is fine for platforms, as long as it's kiln dried. It's the shavings that are the issue as shavings have a lot more surface area exposed for phenols to be released. A piece of pine wood only has two flat sides and the edges - I've been using solid pine shelves for years. It would help to seal them with plastikote though. Other than that, birch plywood is ok but most plywood has formaldhyde glue as part of it and it's hard to find any non formaldehyde plywood. Likewise for dowels/stilts, pine is fine, but you can get beech as well. Beech is incredibly hard to cut or sand though!

 

[Socks' Mum]

I bought a lot of wooden platforms and little houses from a company called Happy Henry Homes. I think they use birch wood

 

[fancyhamster]

Pine is fine for platforms, as long as it's kiln dried. It's the shavings that are the issue as shavings have a lot more surface area exposed for phenols to be released. A piece of pine wood only has two flat sides and the edges - I've been using solid pine shelves for years. It would help to seal them with plastikote though. Other than that, birch plywood is ok but most plywood has formaldhyde glue as part of it and it's hard to find any non formaldehyde plywood. Likewise for dowels/stilts, pine is fine, but you can get beech as well. Beech is incredibly hard to cut or sand though!

Thank you for this info! I did not know this prior. Sounds like it may be difficult to find some wood at a store for DIY that I can confirm is definitely safe, but I will look into solid pine shelves for sure! I was wanting to glue cork down to the platforms as well so nothing slides too much or falls, have u had experience gluing cork/other flooring down to the solid pine shelves and if so did it work? Thank you so much Maz!

 

[fancyhamster]

I bought a lot of wooden platforms and little houses from a company called Happy Henry Homes. I think they use birch wood

Thank you so much! I'll definitely be checking them out today.

 

[Maz]

Cork is a great idea and saves having to paint them Happy Henry Homes is based in the Uk - I'm not sure if they ship abroad or not - you could try emailing to ask him. He does sell them on Etsy as well. He sells legs in different lengths that just screw in so you choose the leg length you want. They are formaldehyde free birch ply.

Happy Henry Homes cloud platforms - Etsy

These are the Cloud platforms - there are other shapes and sizes and conventional rectangular ones available as well. I like the cloud ones as you can have them at different angles and they're the only ones that fit up to the edge of a barred cage with a sloping base! Because the legs are inset.