# Safe Glue?



## Mariam+Theo (Nov 13, 2018)

You may think i'm stupid for asking this, but I really need to know. Is there any safe glue for rabbits? I am working on some homemade toys for Theo (my rabbit) and have been using hot glue since I don't have anything else. I haven't given him any of the toys yet since I don't think hot glue is safe. I read somewhere that Elmer's Glue is safe though I don't totally believe that. Thanks for all of your help! 
I really didn't know where to post this so I just posted it here.


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## jamesewaller (Nov 14, 2018)

MYBUNNYTHEO said:


> You may think i'm stupid for asking this, but I really need to know. Is there any safe glue for rabbits? I am working on some homemade toys for Theo (my rabbit) and have been using hot glue since I don't have anything else. I haven't given him any of the toys yet since I don't think hot glue is safe. I read somewhere that Elmer's Glue is safe though I don't totally believe that. Thanks for all of your help!
> I really didn't know where to post this so I just posted it here.


dear bunny-o,--superglue,-for medical,-hot glue??-call the manufacture of elmers glue--or poison control,they would know--we used to eat that white pastey crap in grade school--but that was real old school.rr,rr-sincerely james waller-I like the idea of making toys,caution on what wood you choose,no cedar for sure--what did you decide for outside housing,bad idea!!


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## Mariam+Theo (Nov 14, 2018)

I've decided to make all of the toys from cardboard, and am picking up boxes from IKEA tomorrow. What do you mean by 'what did you decide for outside housing,bad idea!'? I never said anything about housing. I will call poison control ASAP. Thanks for all your help!


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## Watermelons (Nov 15, 2018)

You shouldn't be making any toys with glue. 
There is zero need.


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## Popsicles (Nov 15, 2018)

@MYBUNNYTHEO stick with cardboard, great decision!


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## Nancy McClelland (Nov 15, 2018)

I also used apple branches from my own trees, so no spray on them.


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## Blue eyes (Nov 15, 2018)

I'm veering off subject here...



jamesewaller said:


> we used to eat that white pastey crap in grade school--but that was real old school.



I remember that paste we had that had the flat stick attached to the lid. You had to use the stick to smear the thick glue onto whatever was being pasted. It was always lumpy.


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## jamesewaller (Nov 15, 2018)

MYBUNNYTHEO said:


> I've decided to make all of the toys from cardboard, and am picking up boxes from IKEA tomorrow. What do you mean by 'what did you decide for outside housing,bad idea!'? I never said anything about housing. I will call poison control ASAP. Thanks for all your help!


dear theo,-cardboard toys,-there are also safe woods,from,pear,apple,fir,popular-,etc..--I thought you posted a need for ideas on housing rabbit outside,--sorry-oversight--sincerely james waller


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## Mariam+Theo (Nov 16, 2018)

Thanks for all of the ideas, would cheery tree branches work?


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## Nancy McClelland (Nov 16, 2018)

Ask your vet which trees are safe--not sure about cherry. I only used apple and pear, but apple more as we had 5 different trees.


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## Blue eyes (Nov 17, 2018)

MYBUNNYTHEO said:


> Thanks for all of the ideas, would cheery tree branches work?



No. Cherry trees are toxic:
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Food/Branch/Branch_en.htm


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## Liung (Nov 17, 2018)

I think rather than “what glue is safe” it’s “what glue is least dangerous”! No glue is going to be GOOD for them to eat, of course. 

I find my buns are completely uninterested in chewing on wood that doesn’t still have bark attached, save for the occasional nibble, so I’m personally fine with making wooden structures using glue. When making any tunnel, combining wood glue with screws is what makes the structure truly stable and wiggle-free. You can use just screws without the glue if being completely stable isn’t necessary, and if you want to be super-ultra safe, use screws that are too big for a bun to swallow whole. I’ve never seen buns show even the slightest interest in sticking metal in their mouths, but it could happen!

Happy Rabbit Toys is a prolific vendor of toys, though too expensive for me after shipping. I often go to them for inspiration, and have visited my local hardware store for a thick and thin coil of sisal rope so I can do much of the things they do. Their FAQ explains materials and safety and is an excellent start: http://www.happyrabbittoys.com/faq/

They use Elmer’s glue. Again, no glue is completely safe, but that’s the glue that we feel okay giving our tiny children who, as James said, tend to eat it. So hopefully it’s the lesser evil of glues. 
http://www.elmers.com/product/detail/school-glue

TECHNICALLY glue can be a “natural product”. Most people know that unwanted horses used to be destined for the glue factory, but plant based glues are possible too. A quick fact-check on Wikipedia shows “Starch-based adhesives are used in corrugated board and paper sack production, paper tube winding, and wallpaper adhesives”, which might be part of why we like cardboard so much. Hot glue is not safe because it’s made of plastic—you’re heating it until it’s molten, applying it, and then it hardens again. 

However I also peeked over to the Elmer’s website and they say “Our products are made from synthetic materials”, and are made from chemical polymers. They obviously can’t talk about which, because proprietary reasons, so I have no idea how they make the claim of non-toxic. By there you have it. 
http://elmers.com/about/faqs/general

They also provide SDSs and the toxicity section says “Component Analysis - LD50/LC50
The components of this material have been reviewed in various sources and no selected endpoints have been identified”

“Endpoint” in this case I’m pretty sure means “death”, since the definitions from chemistry (“the point in a titration at which a reaction is complete, often marked by a color change”) or mathematics (“a point or value that marks the end of a ray or one of the ends of a line segment or interval”) don’t make sense. In biomedical research an endpoint for an animal subject is the point at which the subject has run the course of the study, has died, or has reached a state that continuing is unethical and must be humanely euthanized to prevent suffering. 
http://www.elmers.com/docs/default-source/sds's-(safety-data-sheets)/se301.pdf?sfvrsn=2

So that’s where the “non-toxic” comes from, probably. 

As briefly mentioned by Nancy, be very careful taking wood from trees. Public trees are rarely sprayed because municipal government doesn’t want to pay for that **** (I used to work for a lawn care/landscaping company and we would have residents begging us to come help treat grass/trees in their neighborhood that were looking poorly—sorry that’s municipal and they won’t let us, even if you pay!) but they will be sprayed if there’s problems that will kill the trees if not treated. Planting new trees is even more expensive. I visited Saskatchewan last month and pretty much every single tree had a thick black band around the trunk, covered in some kind of sticky mess, because of an invasive bug. And in my hometown the municipality is currently fighting a losing battle against the Emerald Ash Borer beetle, and steadily all the ash trees are having to be cut down. 

You really don’t know, when it comes to public. Also most public trees are next to roads and likely covered in exhaust fumes :E

Trees on private properties, on the other hand, are more likely to be treated with insecticidal soaps and such. Such treatments are sprayed directly onto the bark. 

Not sure where you live but in Ontario we have undeveloped, forested land absolutely everywhere. Those areas likely would be safe, from chemicals at least. There’s still the issues of whatever nasty bugs, parasites, fungi, and other things could be infesting it. 

Not sure how possible it would be for a typical member of the public but anything that you don’t need to be alive and won’t melt can be sterilized in an autoclave. The rabbits/guinea pigs at the research facility I work at get hay that’s been autoclaved, the techs go shopping at local pet stores for toys and such for the animals, as long as they can go through the autoclave, it’s safe to come into the facility. The rats get fed Cheerios as treats that, once again, get autoclaved. A research facility is likely unavailable to you, but any and all vet clinics, hospitals, or human clinics must have at least a small autoclave. If they have medical instruments, they have an autoclave. Typically they’re the size of a small toaster oven/microwave. (The one at my facility is bigger than I am.) I doubt the typical clinic would be okay with sterilizing some pieces of wood for you... but I mean it’s not completely impossible??? It’s not like they have to worry about contaminating the autoclave. 

(And just as a preemptive aside, I work in a level 1 facility—no contagious disease research or dangerous things, the sterilization and biosecurity measures are for the health of the animals, not the people. The guinea pigs were there on a nutritional study, the rabbits for a study on developing laparoscopic spaying procedures for rabbits. They came in, were pampered, had their surgery, were pampered more, and once they were successfully recovered they were adopted out to good homes as healthy, socialized buns that had already been spayed. I nearly took one home myself! But yeah I live in the veterinary capital of Ontario, a good deal of the research is about the animal medicine & health, not human medicine.)


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## jamesewaller (Nov 17, 2018)

Blue eyes said:


> No. Cherry trees are toxic:
> http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Food/Branch/Branch_en.htm





MYBUNNYTHEO said:


> Thanks for all of the ideas, would cheery tree branches work?


dear theo,as there are safe{nontoxic/not safe{toxic}--tree branches,twigs,etc,-the same apply,s to greens/outside grasses,--the website above will be an excellent heads up for safe items,-for years I fed my buns outside greens-{dandylions}-wow did I get a rude introduction to look alike plants-they did not get fed to the bunz,but I was just astonished that I had more to learn-trust but verify,--sincerely james waller for joseph r cottontail/bdenium rip


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## jamesewaller (Nov 17, 2018)

Blue eyes said:


> I'm veering off subject here...
> 
> 
> 
> I remember that paste we had that had the flat stick attached to the lid. You had to use the stick to smear the thick glue onto whatever was being pasted. It was always lumpy.


dear blue eye,s--we were told the stuff was made from horse hooves/yuk,probably so we would quit eating it,or budgetary problem,rrr,,rr sincerely james waller


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## Mariam+Theo (Nov 17, 2018)

Thanks all of you! We don't have any of the trees that you mentioned sadly. Is peach tree or fig wood safe? I'm going to try to stick with cardboard and use the least amount of glue as possible. Does anyone know of a recipe for safe glue I could make at home?


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## Watermelons (Nov 18, 2018)

There are millions of toy ideas out there that don't contain added glue. Why are you so set on making toys with glue? This is just so not necessary. 
Do a search of the forum for home made toys. You will find lots of ideas that don't use glue.


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## Mariam+Theo (Nov 22, 2018)

Watermelons said:


> There are millions of toy ideas out there that don't contain added glue. Why are you so set on making toys with glue? This is just so not necessary.
> Do a search of the forum for home made toys. You will find lots of ideas that don't use glue.


I totally understand, though I have already found some toys that I want to make. They only use glue so that they don't fall apart. I found another way to hold them together though so I will not be using glue anymore. Thanks for all of your help guys! Happy Thanksgiving for those who live in the USA!


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## TBale96 (Aug 26, 2020)

H


Liung said:


> I think rather than “what glue is safe” it’s “what glue is least dangerous”! No glue is going to be GOOD for them to eat, of course.
> 
> I find my buns are completely uninterested in chewing on wood that doesn’t still have bark attached, save for the occasional nibble, so I’m personally fine with making wooden structures using glue. When making any tunnel, combining wood glue with screws is what makes the structure truly stable and wiggle-free. You can use just screws without the glue if being completely stable isn’t necessary, and if you want to be super-ultra safe, use screws that are too big for a bun to swallow whole. I’ve never seen buns show even the slightest interest in sticking metal in their mouths, but it could happen!
> 
> ...


Hello, thanks for the info! My house a very thin layer of PVA glue along the bottom of he walls in certain areas and my rabbit just sits there and licks them for ages! Is it safe for him to do that?


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## Mariam+Theo (Aug 27, 2020)

TBale96 said:


> H
> 
> Hello, thanks for the info! My house a very thin layer of PVA glue along the bottom of he walls in certain areas and my rabbit just sits there and licks them for ages! Is it safe for him to do that?


No, this is not safe. Please cover it up with cardboard or untreated pine so that your rabbit doesn't get sick. You could probably do something with cardboard like in the picture.


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## Zee-Man (Aug 29, 2020)

Safe wood to use would include pine, maple, apple, and mulberry. I've not tried Dosiedoe on pine, but she enjoys eating the leaves and twigs of the others. Peach is related to cherry so probably should avoid that. Pine might not be attractive for a chew toy, but is common for construction. While treated lumber no longer has arsenic added the copper sulfate used nowadays is not very good for animals either. 

You can mix flour and water together to make paste. In mortise an tenon construction paste is a effective glue. For paper, such as decorations, etc, paste would also be effective. For a glue such that would be good for lap joints, you can make a decent glue by cooking rawhide in water. Simply boil the rawhide (like dog toys) until it dissolves (to what degree is determined by your patience) adding water as needed. then strain and boil the liquid until it is thick enough for your needs.


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