apple sticks?

[andymilo]

hey ...i just got apple sticks for my chinny about a week ago....i gave her a stick and she immediately loved it....the problem is she hasnt touched it since that first night...she just chewed off all the bark and has ignored it since? its been about a week...should i remove it? does anyone else have this problem? if so do they eventually eat the rest lol??

 

[Puddles&Chubbs]

I know Puddles usually only eats the bark and then kicks it to the bottom of the cage and she's done. Occasionally, she will chomp through the rest of the wood but the bark is definitely her favorite part.

 

[Cat75]

She may be a chin that perfers the bark. I have some chins that will only chew the bark off and some that will chew the stick until there is nothing left.

 

[alli713]

mine love the bark best too. I will leave the rest in there for a couple days and if they haven't touched it, I toss them. I think the bark has the most flavor to it.

 

[sight]

try a different diameter apple stick. Tika tears off all the bark on all the twigs that are under pencil diameter and then ignores them. When i put larger ones in, pencil up to about .5in diameter she turns them into saw dust or punji sticks after she removes the bark. then anything with a diameter of .5 or larger she just de-barks them or ignores them again. Talk about a picky chewer.

:tease:

 

[andymilo]

hahaha thanks for the advice everyone ...the stick is pretty thick...it's about as thick as a sharpie pen lol (thats the best example i could come up with) i guess next time i will get the thinner ones....i got the thicker ones because i thought she would go straight through them lol...i guess i was wrong...you are right...can you say picky lol??

 

[weew]

Apple stick is good choice as chew toy.

 

[Essentia]

try a different diameter apple stick. Tika tears off all the bark on all the twigs that are under pencil diameter and then ignores them. When i put larger ones in, pencil up to about .5in diameter she turns them into saw dust or punji sticks after she removes the bark. then anything with a diameter of .5 or larger she just de-barks them or ignores them again. Talk about a picky chewer.

:tease:

See, Chula is the exact opposite. If I put a large stick in there it's just the bark that gets eaten. If I put a skinny, tiny one he makes it go bye bye. Weird chinnies.

 

[jmdebb]

I use apple sticks all the time cuz they are safe. However, sometimes mine do the same thing. I usually leave them in there on the kabob (i get the kind with the hole in the middle), and eventually they end up chewing more of the stick.

Probably depends on the chin, I can't really answer that, did you ever try lava bites, they also go on a kabob, and I know mine love them to death. Just a thought, not trying to tell you what to do.

Jean

 

[andymilo]

yes i definitely tried lava bites...my chinny loves those...she can go through one in a night lol...thanks

 

[Cuddlebug]

Bambi loves both lava bites and apple twigs. She can turn either one into dust in just a couple of minutes. My other chins tend to debark the sticks and then slowly work on the rest. Lava bites take them a few days to work through.

 

[Chinmama]

Marble likes thicker sticks and ZZ likes the thin ones.

 

[ALS_WIS]

My chinchillas all eat apple sticks. I found them to be expensive because at first had to order online. THEN I found three people who had untouched apple trees in their yard. I asked them to cut them only and deliver, I boil and bake, and it is dirt cheap.


Currently, after the loss of my pregnant mother and her two unborn babies, I now only have 8 chins.. soon to be 11 next week, but I can attest that EVERY ONE, which I have them from different lines, some from one place, some from another, etc, not a single ones eats the wood, they LOVE the bark, and they will leave the wood on the pan once they are done. I have found this does wear down the teeth, but I feed them everyday . SOme cannot afford to do this because of the cost or availability.

Some of my customers who have kits from me, their chins LOVE lava bits, lava ledges and perches. I tried the ledges, perches and swinging thing too and they all gnawed them down too.