# Is Dryer Venting Hose Safe For Rats?



## shinzo-chan (Apr 2, 2008)

I was looking at the pictures of everyones rat cages and noticed that a few had dryer venting hoses in them. I was wondering if anyone knew the pro's and con's of having these in rat cages as I've never come across them before. Also, if you use it with your ratties, could you tell me what made you decide to use it and whether there have been any health or safety issues relating to it? (Or if you don't use it, why not?)

Thanks


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## begoodtoanimals (Dec 6, 2007)

They look like the best toys but when I checked them out in the store I decided against them. They have sharp wire in them and can easily hurt them when they chew or get caught in it. And some are metallic and when chewed I don't know what it does inside their bodies.
Better safe than sorry. I opted for drain pipes. you can bend them and you can get all kinds of connectors to make a maze. They have these in their free range area, and you can hose them out.


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## lovesasa (Apr 4, 2009)

I used a dryer vent hose to connect together two cages I had on top of one another before I shelled out for a Critter Nation. The boys LOVED it and slept in it all the time. They didn't chew on it at all, but then the ends weren't really exposed so they didn't have a chance to. It did get stinky and was kind of hard to clean out, but they loved it enough I think it was worth it. There are plastic things that are pretty similar, too, that might be easier to clean.


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## shinzo-chan (Apr 2, 2008)

begoodtoanimals said:


> They have sharp wire in them and can easily hurt them when they chew or get caught in it. And some are metallic and when chewed I don't know what it does inside their bodies.
> Better safe than sorry. I opted for drain pipes. you can bend them and you can get all kinds of connectors to make a maze. They have these in their free range area, and you can hose them out.


I have some ratty tunnel toys that look very similar to dryer venting hoses and they too have wire in them. I have never had trouble with them chewing that wire. I also would not buy a metalic one and it is a good idea to consider what would happen if the materials were ingested. Hmm.. drain pipes look very appealing, however I really like the bendiness of the venting hose. How easy are the drain pipes to bend?



lovesasa said:


> I used a dryer vent hose to connect together two cages I had on top of one another before I shelled out for a Critter Nation. The boys LOVED it and slept in it all the time. They didn't chew on it at all, but then the ends weren't really exposed so they didn't have a chance to. It did get stinky and was kind of hard to clean out, but they loved it enough I think it was worth it. There are plastic things that are pretty similar, too, that might be easier to clean.


Hmm.. smelliness might be an issue..although I bet my girls would love it just as much as your boys. I believe the plastic things you refered to are the ratty/ferret tunnels mentioned above that look a lot like the venting hose. These are a little awkward to clean but my girls love them, the reason I'm looking at venting hose is because the tunnels are expensive and my girls chew the **** out of the very thin plastic on it, so they never last very long.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

I only had one issue with dryer venting is that it needs to seriously air out when you remove it from the package. It reeks of chemicals, but if you leave it outside or in a garage for a day or 2 the smell goes away. Rats adore them and they just chew the thin plastic not the wire...its very strong wire. Its a cheap to/.entertainment for them and easily replaceable


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## shinzo-chan (Apr 2, 2008)

Hmm.. me thinks I should go check out this dryer venting hose in shops. I'll take into consideration what everyone has said, such as smelliness and the wire, but I've baught some ratty-friendly odor controllers and they have never chewed the wire in their toys so I think I'll end up going for it (after airing it out and all).

Thanks a lot everyone 

(If anyone has had issues with the venting hose, or is seriously opposed using them, still feel free to post ^^)


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## Drasar (Aug 20, 2009)

I was thinking of building them a tunnel system using PVC pipe...don't glue it and just take it out into the yard and hose the indivudal sections when it starts to smell and then air dry.


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## cassi.opeia (Oct 1, 2009)

I know at Petsmart they had some fake dryer venting hose, it expands the same, but its safer although its kind of crazy expensive.. They had one small one and one large one, as in it expanded farther.


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## xxzz6760 (May 1, 2009)

I use a length of dryer hose, as well, but we only put it out during their free-roaming time so that they're not left alone to chew on it, though they're not really interested in chewing on it.  I vote yes!


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## Paterson.S (Oct 1, 2009)

lilspaz68 said:


> I only had one issue with dryer venting is that it needs to seriously air out when you remove it from the package. It reeks of chemicals, but if you leave it outside or in a garage for a day or 2 the smell goes away. Rats adore them and they just chew the thin plastic not the wire...its very strong wire. Its a cheap to/.entertainment for them and easily replaceable


Yeah I use it all the time and haven't had a problem.
My ratties love to wrestle and play in there, they like the noise it makes, too.
The only thing is they eventually chew out all the plastic and its just a metal coil.

I was going to look into the hard plastic and tin chimney/dryer/wood-stove went tubes, but I haven't gotten around to it.


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