Treat Taste Tests

[Shenanigans]

Just over a month ago I got 2 boys from a home that couldn't keep them (YAY! quarantine is over!) The past couple days I've been looking at their cage and Yuki's decked out one and seeing just how much I want to do to the boy's. The immediate bad stuff was removed, but there's some time & money consuming projects I want to do. But I don't want Yuki being left out and the new guys getting all the new goodies. Yes, I know that's mostly me projecting. Every once in a while I see posts asking about treats and things and while we get a list, that doesn't always tell me what the chins like. I always look longingly at the lists of goodies when I visit vendors sites. Now that I've been on them a bit more looking at things for the boys- I found an excuse. A taste test of treats- Yuki can join Skiddy Joe, (real name Leo but the nickname has stuck so far) and his buddy Laredo (Lorenzo, but the name morphed) in a treat test.
I'm gathering info on healthy treats and prices from all the vendors and health food stores and getting a bunch of things. I'm going to attempt to add prices/sources/pictures and my interpretation of their reactions to different things. I'm probably going to get impatient and buy a ton of stuff at the health food store tomorrow when Im supposed to be comparing prices instead of waiting for shipping. If I'm missing a healthy treat your chins love let me know and I'll see if I can add it in (depends on how pricey this all gets). And as I give treats I'd love comments of how other peoples chins reacted to the same ones. I'll post a list when I get stuff, and I'm buying based on info I see on here or vendors on here, but please, please, please guys tell me if you see something that shouldn't be fed or give me warnings on how often. I'm trying to get as much info and only feed already approved safe stuff.

Also- if my 3 boys aren't a fan of something I may have things to trade.
I'm always willing to do trades of the wood I have for sale in the classifieds too. Right now I'd love any treats I don't list in the next few days, cage accessories, blue cloud or lava rocks, or woods I don't have (I do my own grapevine, apple, pear, poplar, and blackberry and currently have cholla from a previous trade so I dont need more of those). Also Im looking for the chains people use to make hanging toys with wood (I havent asked around to find how people make those)

 

[Shenanigans]

I didn't post yesterday (My dad took my mom and my sister and I along with our guys to this big trampoline thing called Skyzone and I was exhausted-tip it's more for kids than 6 adults but still a ton of fun)so you guys get extra today- what all I got and the first two taste tests. I'm going to type stuff here and put the pictures on Dropbox- if anyone has issues let me know and I'll try to find another way too, this seem like the easiest way for me to do this but I've never tried sharing dropbox albums before.
link for the overall photos and the first taste test of chamomile- https://www.dropbox.com/sc/zay9kfigtbxomwu/AAAbqct17iqtznx_bO62iRQxa
The list of treat Im "testing"
Calendula flowers
Chamomile flower buds
dandelion root cut
Hawthorn berries-whole
Hawthorn (c/s which is cut and deseeded) flowers/leafs/stems
Hibiscus flowers
Jasmine flowers
Lavender flowers
Linden flowers
Papaya leaf
peppermint leaf
raspberry leaf
red clover blossoms
strawberry leaf

I also have a few treats that Yuki or the boys or all three have already tried, but I'll add them in this too
red rose buds
rosehips
organic unsweetened cherrios
unsweetened Post shreded wheat
oat groats- NOT the instant oats which can swell up inside the chin after injestion
dandelion flowers

more to come, these are what I have or got at the health food store but I'm getting nettle from Tanya and still looking into more stuff.

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Treat Taste Test One
I decided to go for the chamomile first. The boys are in the chin room and I figured everyone getting a little something extra to calm them down would be good. (Yuki and Skiddy have been running up and down levels making sure they can watch each other- Larado could care less about everything. And again, Skiddy and Larado are my newer chins and are cage mates)
i gave Yuki his first. He took the bud, bit it and it kinda exploded. He set down the stem and tried to see if I had a Cherrio or if he could climb out for playtime or something. I left him and went to give Skiddy and Larado theirs. Larado came up to me first. He smelled the chamomile, picked it up, dropped it, and then both boys were trying to push past my hand to get out for playtime/exploring. I closed the cage a bit more so just my hand went through. Skiddy grabbed the second piece and bit it, it did the same exploding everywhere thing that Yuki's did. Then Yuki made noise so Skiddy ran to another level to check out what was going on. I re gave Larado his piece, he carried it off, smelled it, ate half and dropped it. They gave off a scent so I left the pieces in hoping the smell may help everyone calm down and maybe they'd eat it later. This morning's cleaning there were no visible pieces but some may have been in the hay and stuff and I may not have noticed. There was no noticeable change in poo/water/food so I'm going to try another kind tonight, but I don't want to introduce too many at a time so I don't think they'll get a new thing every day.
Overall- eaten but not very enthusiastic. May just be because of the move but I dont think this is going to be a big favorite here.

 

[Shenanigans]

#2- lavendar
I didnt want to give too much of anything, and I've seen lavendar should be a smaller/less frequent thing (I think it was listed as like 1/8 of a teaspoon once a week or something-if people that are more experienced with all this stuff want to chime in with rules for all of these that'd be great. Otherwise I'll probably search it all again and post what I see recommended at the end or treat by treat if I remember and have time to before I give each one.) Again, I choose to do lavendar to hopefully calm them down- there's still more excitement and jumping around than normal.
I tried Yuki first- he kept smelling my hand then surrounding stuff, like he smelled it but couldnt locate it. I left 2 buds (they're tiny!) in his cage and went to the boys. Again Lareado came over first and he was smelling but not grabbing anything so I got a bigger pinch. The boys kept trying to escape or shied away from the hand with the camera. I grabbed a stainless steel condiment cup I bought to use as a food scoop (came as a four pack) to use as a treat cup. I figured less hands may help them test it, particularly with Skiddy. After that Laredo would come up and grab a piece every once in a while, but Skiddy stayed back. Laredo's dominant of the two (I've seen the mounting) but Skiddy normally will push Laredo around when it comes to food and treats (new pellets are so much better than the ones sitting in the bowl still that I've seen Skiddy take one from Laredo's paws.) I went back and re-offered a bigger pinch to Yuki but got a few sniffs, then he realized I didn't have anything else and wasnt taking him out so he went to run on his wheel and chew other stuff. I left the cup with lavendar in with Laredo and Skiddy but not too many buds because I figure Laredo may eat it all. I left a few on Yuki's shelf. We'll see whats gone in the morning.
Overall- 1/3 ate it, but not as excited as he gets over his favorite treats.

I'm hoping we score some more favorites with these guys with the rest.