Coconut shells

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tish1207

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Joined
Dec 17, 2011
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12
I recently purchased a coconut for myself and saved the shell for my chin... what do I need to do to prepare it before giving it to my chins?? I assume bake it, but is there more to it than just baking it? I haven't done anything with it yet....

( I did look thru the posts about coconut shells, but didn't find a way to prepare them, although I didn't read allllllll of the posts...lol... )

Thanks for all your help!!!

:hmm:
 
I asked about this a long time ago. Boil it for 20 minutes, scrub it, boil it again, then bake it at 200 for 3ish hours. I normally do 250 for all of my stuff, though. And then let it sit in the over for the rest of the day/night cooling.

Good luck!
 
Oh thank you so much!!

I was reading old posts, but didn't happen to read that one...

YEY!!!!!! I am going to start the process!!
 
i wouldn't give it to my chins unless the coconut was organic to begin with. chins are such tiny creatures with such tiny systems - the amount of residual pesticide on a coconut may not affect us human beans at all, but could make a chin ill or worse.
 
since they are imported, wouldn't spraying be mandatory unless organic?

found this in a reply on a raw food blog/forum type page: all coconuts imported into the US are irradiated (non-organic).

not sure what exactly 'irradiated' means though. been surfing through some US Customs type sites, but it's all greek to me! lol.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_irradiation

I'm not 100% sure if it is safe, but irradiated food sounds like it wouldn't cause any real issues if it is used for a relatively dry substance. Coconut shells are pretty dry...and I don't think we have to worry that much about DNA changes if they are being irradiated.

This is a very interesting subject. It would be great to have a solid answer about the shells.

As far as I know they are very safe for chinchillas. Mine, unfortunately, don't seem to want anything to do with them about a day after I put them in the cages. Currently I don't have any coconut shells in with chins.
 
I just tried coconut with mine and ran into the same problem... 1 day and done. Of course, I have quite a bit left, so I'm going to try and break them up into smaller, more devourable pieces to see if that makes a difference.
 
I just tried coconut with mine and ran into the same problem... 1 day and done. Of course, I have quite a bit left, so I'm going to try and break them up into smaller, more devourable pieces to see if that makes a difference.
Click to expand...
This is why I like using coconut over wood. It gets very, very hard and can last years. I throw it in for a week or two and pull it out and put it in a box when they lose interest. After awhile I throw it back in and they think it's a new toy all over again.
 
i have drilled coconuts attached to my cage and use them to hold hay or food. my chins have never even tried to eat them. they were scrubbed and scrubbed and then boiled and baked at a low temp for a long time. best to use the half that has the 3 indentations, the other end is usually pointy. flat bottom ones can be used for food bowls.
 
and....they make the best toys! <wink> I use mine for hay, as well as foraging toys for the bigger birds. I put twigs, maybe a treat in the bottom and then stuff it with hay.
 
I don't know if Vincenza is particularly dumb/precocious but she managed to drag hers down and then get her head stuck in it. So I'd get pieces instead of a whole one.
 
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