Wild Harvest Colored Fruit Flavored Wood Chews safe?

[aFunnyThingHappened]

Hi all! Looking for more enrichment, was wondering if these fruit-flavored/dyed wood chews were actually good for hamsters as claimed. If the link doesn't work, here's the description:

Features a variety of delicious fruit flavors!
Features bright colors to entice interactive play.
Specifically designed to help keep teeth growth under control.
Use for guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, and other small animals.
Provides plenty of tasty play paw-sibilities!

Give your bouncing buddy the perfect playtime treat! Wild Harvest Colored Fruit Flavored Wood Chews Small Pet Toys are designed with interactive play in mind! These handy treats feature bright colors and fruit flavors. These treats also help to keep teeth growth under control while chewing. They’re specifically designed for guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, and other small animals. These fun treat-toy combos are sure to provide plenty of play paw-sibilities!

I feel bad I can't give Laundry Hamper the fresh fruit he likes because of all the produce recalls in the US, so maybe this is a good alternative? He doesn't seem to like the basswood/linden I put in, at least not as much as he likes cardboard, so I'm a little worried about his teeth.

 

[Maz]

Hi, so if they smell of fruit he would probably grab one but I'm not sure he'd actually chew it. The colours are very bright. The answer to that is, I am not sure personally. They are probably safe to chew despite artificial flavours and very bright colours - but not ideal. My main concern would be what type of wood is used to make sure it doesn't splinter if used. I have used some similar ones in the past that were fruit shapes and not such bright colours - the hamster was excited by the smell and took them but didn't chew them at all.

Have you tried him with a mini whimzee toothbrush or alligator chew? Those are incredibly popular chews for hamsters. @Vanessa1 just posted a photo of her hamster's heavily chewed crocodile on this thread I like the toothbrushes as you can stick sunflower seeds between the bristles and they enjoy getting them out

The Whimzees are also sold on Chewy, but only bags of about 24 which is rather a lot when one chew could last a hamster 6 months! I'll check if there's somewhere in the US that sells them individually - there may well be. Although these are dog chews they have been used for hamsters for well over a decade and considered suitable, whereas not all dog items are.

Just updated our enrichment article below - in case there is anything there that might be of interest Some other items for chewing.

Best Hamster enrichment items

Hamster enclosures need plenty of enrichment including hides, tunnels, sand bath and sprays. Here we show safe and unsafe items for hamsters so you can choose the best items.

www.thehamsterforum.com

Teddyx

He loves his enclosure 😊. Yes get the crocodile Teddy!

www.thehamsterforum.com

 

[aFunnyThingHappened]

Hi, so if they smell of fruit he would probably grab one but I'm not sure he'd actually chew it. The colours are very bright. The answer to that is, I am not sure personally. They are probably safe to chew despite artificial flavours and very bright colours - but not ideal. My main concern would be what type of wood is used to make sure it doesn't splinter if used. I have used some similar ones in the past that were fruit shapes and not such bright colours - the hamster was excited by the smell and took them but didn't chew them at all.

Have you tried him with a mini whimzee toothbrush or alligator chew? Those are incredibly popular chews for hamsters. @Vanessa1 just posted a photo of her hamster's heavily chewed crocodile on this thread I like the toothbrushes as you can stick sunflower seeds between the bristles and they enjoy getting them out

The Whimzees are also sold on Chewy, but only bags of about 24 which is rather a lot when one chew could last a hamster 6 months! I'll check if there's somewhere in the US that sells them individually - there may well be. Although these are dog chews they have been used for hamsters for well over a decade and considered suitable, whereas not all dog items are.

Teddyx

He loves his enclosure 😊. Yes get the crocodile Teddy!

www.thehamsterforum.com

Oops I forgot to include the part that said it was poplar, which the Hamster Wiki says is safe.
And for the life of me, I have not been able to find any of the mini Whimzees at all!

 

[Maz]

You can buy four year, but it's a Uk seller that ships to the US so you're paying about $8 for postage. I will keep looking!

4 x whimzee tooth brushes $3.96

 

[Maz]

Also found these - I've used these Vitakraft ones and hamsters LOVE chewing these - it's wood with food stuck on so they get to chew the wood while getting the food off. I wouldn't give them every week though - just once in a while as honey is still sweet for their teeth.

Vitakraft crunch sticks apple and honey

 

[Maz]

Oops I forgot to include the part that said it was poplar, which the Hamster Wiki says is safe.
And for the life of me, I have not been able to find any of the mini Whimzees at all!

That sounds ok - you could always try them but they're not particularly healthy - I would worry about the strong colour dyes personally. The Vitakraft stix might be a better option.

 

[Maz]

There's a bag of the extra small Whimzees here - it's a bag of 16 but only $5.99. That's the size I've had before. The toothbrushes don't have bristles now it seems but still the same chews

16 would last a long time.

Whimzee extra small

 

[aFunnyThingHappened]

There's a bag of the extra small Whimzees here - it's a bag of 16 but only $5.99. That's the size I've had before. The toothbrushes don't have bristles now it seems but still the same chews

16 would last a long time.

Whimzee extra small

Thanks!