Recipes/Instructions?

[Vyxxin]

I was hoping to start including a bit more of a care package with each chinchilla. I already include feed,hay, and dust with chins but I'm interested in adding a few healthy treats (like cookies maybe?) and a few easy to make toys...

SO, I'm hoping this isn't stepping on toes or anything...but I was really hoping a few people would post recipes to treats

AND/OR

Some chin safe, easy to make (with instructions) toys that can be obtained locally...without needing to order offline

With this knowledge I will include a few treats and toys with my chinnies and with each treat/toy instructions on how to prepare. I would really appreciate this and I'm sure my customers would too...it's a great way to get the word out on chin safe stuffs! thanks in advance!

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

For toy...

What about getting a pine board and have it cut into small pieces, dye the wood, and place it on wire.

 

[Vyxxin]

sounds good...need a bit more specific...size of board how to dye...etc...

I want this to be really user friendly...step by step stuff...

And I DO realize there seem to be many cookie recipes on here...but a LOT leave out prep specifics (amounts, baking times/tems, appropriate size of cookie)

Thanks!

 

[Vyxxin]

I don't need many ideas (maybe 2-3 of each) but I want them to be really descriptive...places to obtain/buy the products needed and everything...tools needed to make...etc...

While I am a crafty person is some aspects it's like comparing someone who does awesome scrapbooks to someone who makes awesome quilts...they're both crafty...but not necessarily in the same respect


ALSO, while I do refer all new customers here Perhaps including a list of email/web addresses to sellers on here...especially looking for makers of cookies, supplements, treats, fleece tubes, and wooden tunnels (still haven't figured out where those are made).

 

[Cookie]

well, an easy toy could be chew sticks (apple, pear or whatever they have,) pumice stone, pine blocks, coconut shell pieces, pretty much anything like that with a hole drilled through it (I've even drilled alfalfa cubes) and then put it on chain or wire, I have some wire from a craft store that is thin and easily bends (but doesn't break) which works really well, then just put a clip on one end and loop the bottom to keep the pieces from falling off (I use pliars for that part). For some colour you could even add some coloured popsicle sticks, or dye some pine blocks like mentioned above. You can make all sorts of shapes too, like just a hanging toy straight down, or clip on both ends, circle/wreath shaped, etc. Hope that helps!

 

[Andrea]

Here is a cookie recipe:

Put 1/4 Animax in a bowl in about 3/4 cup of filtered water. Let it sit until all the water is soaked up by the Animax (should take about one hour).

Put the "mush" in a food blender with about 12 rose hips, a handful of alfalfa and about 1/2 cup of oats. Pulverize it, and add oats as needed to make it the consistency of oatmeal cookie dough.

Finally, add 1/4 teaspoon of molasses. Spread the mix on a baking sheet about 1/4'' high and bake at 250 degrees for 20 minutes (or until it becomes hard). Cool for 12 hours and then cut and serve the cookies. Of course, you could also put little chunks of the mix on the sheet like you would with regular cookies, but I think it's easier to just bake it as a whole and then cut it later.

Of course, you could also use this: http://www.shootschinchilla.com/miscellaneous-for-sale.htm

I have tried this recipe myself and my girls LOVE it. Good luck!

 

[Sandi]

Isn't animax an antimicrobial and antifungal ointment?

Put 1/4 Animax in a bowl in about 3/4 cup of filtered water. Let it sit until all the water is soaked up by the Animax (should take about one hour).

Here is a cookie recipe that has been posted before...

http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=548&highlight=cookie+recipe

 

[Andrea]

Yes, but it is also a supplement. You can buy it from Chin World.

http://www.chinworld.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CW010008&Category_Code=CW01

 

[Vyxxin]

Few questions (cause I NEVER do this stuff myself)...where does one buy black strap molasses? Rose hips? Pumice? I DO know you can purchase most of this stuff online...but would also know if anyone knows local type places to get this stuff Also, using food dye...what is the procedure to dye stuff? How about drying...like the coconut shell (didn't know that was chin safe honestly as I've never used it)

THANKS SO MUCH!

Wanted to add...that while my chins do get a TON of apple and grapevine each year when I prune...their diet is generally just hay/pellet and the occasional plain wood blocks for chewing as I'm less pet and more ranch oriented.

 

[ticklechin]

28% protein and only 6% fiber, I would not feed those cookies. Chins are made for high fiber and low protein and fat. You are asking for digestive issues and chinworld will sell anything to make a buck.

 

[6Dusters]

Someone I bought chins from took white pine and cut them to small pieces and soaked them in apple juice. I can't remember how long. So I'm going to soak mine overnight. Then they are baked on a very low oven temp. 200 perhaps 225? And he made toys out of them. Said the chins loved chewing on them!

 

[Andrea]

You could replace the Animax for a different supplement or even a feed...anything that will absorb water and is chin-safe. The recipe I posted is very close to a horse cookie recipe and they are often given as treats so I don't think it's "unsafe"...obviously you don't want to feed more than one cookie sparingly (once a week, and at that not even a full cookie)...wouldnt want to kill a chin with kindness.

 

[Vyxxin]

That's a very neat idea with the apple juice...anyone tried anything like that? Results or problems?

 

[Cookie]

For the coconut shell, make sure you remove all the coconut from the inside, then scrub, bake and boil like you would for apple wood or anything else like that.
I'm also wondering how to die wood, like pine, do you use food colouring or sugar free kool aid and how??

 

[Laurie]

I think there would be way too much sugar if you soaked the pine and then baked. Chins and sugar do not mix and apple juice is used sometimes as a last resort to help a nursing chin mother's milk to come in.

 

[Dolyphinm]

Someone I bought chins from took white pine and cut them to small pieces and soaked them in apple juice. I can't remember how long. So I'm going to soak mine overnight. Then they are baked on a very low oven temp. 200 perhaps 225? And he made toys out of them. Said the chins loved chewing on them!

That is an awful lot of sugar to give to a chin. I think that is a very unsafe treat.

 

[tunes]

I would not use apple juice. I rarely recommend apple juice, and then it's in very small quantities cut with a LOT of water. Why load them up with sugar for no reason? I use plain kool-aid or there are also bird safe dyes that can be used that are not filled with sugar.

 

[Vyxxin]

Peg, kool-aid: how do you mix it (less water than for kool aid drinks)? how long to soak, what time/temp to bake? thanks!

Also, for people that make the wooden products like houses tunnels...and use elmers glue, do we use wood glue by elmers or just elmers glue and then how do we keep them together till dried? thanks SO much everyone!

 

[tunes]

You don't need to bake it Ange. I just mix per instructions, minus the sugar and maybe a 1/4 of the water. Drop the wood in, let it soak a bit, then I dry it on cookie cooling racks so it dries all the way around.

As far as houses, I use Elmer's wood glue. I glue the sides first, usually do 10 houses at a time, stack them next to each other, and set gallon water jugs on top of them in a row. Leave them sit for a couple hours, then put the top on, lay them flat, and set the gallon jugs on top of those and let them sit overnight.

 

[Vyxxin]

Good deal, thanks for the info Peg

I find a lot of my customers (humble country folk) don't want the hassle of ordering these things offline...so I want to give them more practical options