# Stuffing can't be safe...right?



## MimiSkye (Feb 3, 2014)

Recently my girls have been ripping up the fleece lining and dragging it into their igloo for extra bedding, so I decided to get them a little bed small enough to put inside their igloo. Here it is:









It fit perfectly and they seemed to love it for the first couple days, but then they started chewing it up (suprise!!!). The bottom bed part is really nice, but the edge of it is filled with stuffing (like you'd find in a typical stuffed animal...the white fluffy stuff). I feel like that CANT be safe for rats. 

It fits so perfectly and is the perfect solution, but I'm worried the stuffing is bad for them. They haven't really seemed to mess with the stuffing at all, they just chewed the fleece off the edges and left the exposed stuffing in place, so it's still comfy for them. Should I take it out?


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Nope. It's fine. Worse thing is finding those **** fluff balls everywhere. Mine prefer to take it out of my stuffed friends....but they also sell tiny bags of that stuff at outrageous prices for nesting. 


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## MimiSkye (Feb 3, 2014)

Really!? Awesome! It just seemed like it'd be bad idk why. Chemicals or choking or something I dunno. But thats good to hear! Now they can chew it all they want


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Rats don't accidentally swallow things, they've a way to prevent that 


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## CleverRat (Mar 9, 2014)

I don't know. Even if they can't swallow it, it can get tangled on a limb and get stuck. I know for hamsters and gerbils fluff is SUPER dangerous.


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## ahrat (Aug 12, 2013)

I agree with everything said, they more than likely will not actually eat it, but you have to watch for tangling. My Nacho has a pillow that he loves, but decides to chew in protest if free range does not happen at his whim. I usually just take and snip away the really loose fluff stuff, stuff most of it back in, and then throw it back in the cage. And repeat when I noticed it's ripped up.


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## Juliah456 (Mar 12, 2014)

I'm a little over paranoid about these sorts of things so I always use rice grains as stuffing... If you'd like you could re stuff with rice if you don't want them playing in stuffing.


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## Hey-Fay (Jul 8, 2013)

I have a very large bag of stuffing that mine LOVE to dig in to the middle and hide/sleep. I try to prevent it just because I hate picking all of it up off my carpet. I despise the fuzzy mess it makes.


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## LeStan82 (Dec 31, 2013)

My rats did that to their bed, but they dont mess with the stuffing inside of it. So I leave it , they love that bed


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## Lare (Jan 18, 2014)

My boys have a pillow that I've cut multiple holes in. They love to tunnel through it and snooze inside. I'm always very careful with it, I don't leave it in their cage if I know I won't be able to check on them throughout the day - when it's in I stop and make sure no ones tangled up or anything inside the stuffing. They've had it for nearly two months now and I have yet to have a problem with it. It's one of Leo's favorite places to take a nap in, though sometimes he'll carry some of the stuffing off into the igloo or nest box.


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## Willieboo (Oct 22, 2012)

I don't worry too much about fluff...the most it's ever gotten stuck on with my rats is their nails, and they don't swallow it. They've torn up stuffed beds too.
If you're concerned you might take the stuffing out and stuff it with tissues instead. I stuff homemade things with tissues so they'll be cushy and rat friendly, and when they flatten you can fluff it up good for them.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

My rats don't get tangled in fluff. Sometimes it gets tangled on something so they get upset an do what any good rat would...rip it to shreds and relocate. 


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## thenightgoddess (Apr 2, 2014)

I agree I wouldn't worry about it ive had a few stuffed small animal beds for my rats and Miz eventually rips them open in multiple places and gets bored and pulls the stuffing out and puts it in there food bowl(where he seems to think everything goes).


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## MimiSkye (Feb 3, 2014)

Yeah they usually chew a chunk of fleece off the lining and drag it in there anyway, so that coveres up the loose stuffing haha.

Another question...what about feathers? Theres a lot of ferret toys with feathers and I feel like my girls would go NUTS but I'm also really paranoid and have been worried they could be bad for them. I haven't gotten any yet but I want to!


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