# Pine wood replacement shelf... Safe?



## Sgreene9398 (Nov 10, 2014)

I currently have a Ware Mfg. 3-story cage for my girls, they love the cage and it has 2 wood levels with ramps. The levels have been peed on and are showing signs of mold. With that said I've been looking to find a plastic shelf that fits our current cage but no luck! Then I stumbled on the exact same shelves that came with the cage sold on a website which is just what I need, only thing is I look what it's made of and "pine"... RATS!(literally) anyway I know pine shavings are bad but will a shelf have the same effect? I'm not sure what the original shelves are made of. Any help would be appreciated, my girls miss their shelves.Here are the replacement shelves.https://www.critter-cages.com/replacement-wood-shelf-for-med-lg-natural-living-cage


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Safe? Pretty much. There is much less surface area compared to shavings, which helps a lot.

The real problem is that wooden shelves are a terrible idea. Even when sealed, they will get chewed and urinated on. It will become soaked, stinky, and unsanitary. That's just the way of life.

My favorite replacement shelves (I've actually switched all of my shelves out for these) are kitty litter pans. A few drilled holes and zip ties, and the pans are good to go. Fill them with bedding or fleece and it provides more areas to dig in and play, with the added ease of simply wiping the plastic down with a baby wipe every few days.


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## Night (Feb 23, 2007)

I agree - wooden shelves (and really, anything wooden that rats can pee on) are really not a good idea. After a while (and honestly, not that long), they become very unsanitary and gross, not to mention impossible to fully clean effectively. There are lots of different options for creating makeshift shelves for cages, and I highly recommend any non-wood ideas!


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Litter pans, tuperware, baskets, hardware cloth, any kind of shelving can be made with zip ties.


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## Sgreene9398 (Nov 10, 2014)

Great thank you for all your responses, I will have to hit the drawing board to see what I can construct. Thanks again!


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