gerbils and this fluffy stuff

Question
my mum bought a glass ornament and it came packaged in this kind of polystryene lookin stuff but its not its like softer and fluffier anyway i used it to make up part of the walls for a run for my gerbils and they went inside it and started tearing up the fluffy stuff they seem to love it so much is it ok to put inside thier cage for them to tear into little pieces, im pretty sure they dont eat it ,it isnt dyed sorry i cant tell you what it is very well! do you think its safe? thankyou!

Answer
If it is polystyrene, it's fairly hazardous.  It's a known carcinogen to humans to ingest it so I would assume it would be for gerbils as well.  In addition, it's extremely flammable.  Even if they aren't eating it I would probably be on the safe side and take it out.  Give them some un-dyed toilet paper or some natural based hamster bedding from a petstore.  Comfy Cozy and Grassy Goodnight are two good ones.

~Lauren