Preparing herbs and sticks

[jess32247]

I'm curious of how you guys prepare your herbs for your chinnies, if you give any. Do you give them the way they are or do you prepare the herbs? I would love to pick some and give them as a treat once and a while, but I'm thinking they would go bad if you didn't dry/ prepare them out correctly.

And for making sticks, does the bark come out kind of flaky after you bake it dry them out? Mine always have, is there a way to prevent that? Would lilac and hubiscus wood be asking for trouble, is I prepare it like normal wood for her? I just want a varitey of sticks for her so she doesn't get bored of the same kind all the time.

I remember there was a post here that listed the safe kinds of woods, but I can't find it :/

 

[Sandi]

If you look through the FAQ's in this forum you're likely to find a lot of your questions answered. Click on the link below, the safe wood list is the second one listed and below that is the link for preparing wood.

http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=863

 

[Tanya]

You can gather herbs in the morning when the dew has evaporated, and dry them in a warm, airy, shady location. You can use paper and a window screen, and put them on bricks so the air can circulate underneath too. It may be necessary to turn herbs over to make sure they dry evenly.

Some use an electric dehydrator with an adjustable thermostat, so you can control the temperature keeping it at about 90°F. I would not dry herbs in the oven as oven drying is likely to destroy enzymes and will remove more essential oils (harder to keep constant low temperature).

 

[Essentia]

For any herbs I process myself I use a dehydrator.