Treats/snacks

[Brittany_Lynn]

Could someone give me a list of acceptable treats/snacks or point me in the direction of a list or link or compilation or something of that sort? ^_^ Much appreciated. I was looking in my fridge the other day and I was wondering if my chins could have any of my carrots, sweet peppers, romaine lettuce, etc, in small amounts. My parrotlet can and he absolutely LOVES them. Actually you should hear my parrotlet go crazy over the sweet pepper seeds, cutest thing ever. ^_~ So yeah I was wondering about that and I've been looking on this site but I can't find anything.

 

[inzeos]

Cheerio's
non-sweetened 100% mini shredded wheat
Old Fashioned Oats
Steel Cut Oats
Rose Hips

It is not advisable from the knowledge I have gathered to treat with fresh foods. The foods can cause bloat and other GI issues, not to mentioned depending on where they come from could bring in bad bacteria or what not.

 

[Kula]

Treats my chinchillas like, in order of preference:
Wheat Chex
crushed rose hips
dried rose buds
dried hibiscus flowers

They won't touch Shredded Wheat or Cheerios :S

 

[alli713]

I agree, fresh foods are not recommended. They can cause bloat when given to a chin not used to fresh veggies. Any fruit will have too much sugar.

I agree with the lists already given.
You can also give uncooked (hard) whole wheat pasta on occasion.

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

My vet told me not to give them cheerios because 'they already get so much grain etc' ?? Is my vet just stupid?

 

[alli713]

A cheerio here and there is not going to harm them. Feed them the box? Yeah, that wouldn't be good. But one or two a week is fine.

Chins are herbivores, what does your vet think they need? I've never heard that too much grain is a bad thing. And it's not like you're feeding whole grains to your chin, they get pellets which are formulated with hay to be adequate. Besides, whole oats are fine as a treat and many people recommend them, and those are a whole grain and there's no issues.

 

[eroomlorac]

My vet told me not to give them cheerios because 'they already get so much grain etc' ?? Is my vet just stupid?

Actually, I don't believe chins get much grain at all with a normal, basic chin diet. My chins basic diet consists of Oxbow Chinchilla Deluxe pellets, which are alfalfa based, unlimited Timothy or other grass hay and fresh water. I don't think your vet is stupid but maybe just misinformed.

For treats my chins get rosehips, shredded wheats, oats, homemade chin cookies.

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

Actually, I don't believe chins get much grain at all with a normal, basic chin diet. My chins basic diet consists of Oxbow Chinchilla Deluxe pellets, which are alfalfa based, unlimited Timothy or other grass hay and fresh water. I don't think your vet is stupid but maybe just misinformed.

For treats my chins get rosehips, shredded wheats, oats, homemade chin cookies.

That was my original thought!! I was like, what are you suggesting people feed their chins?? Or do you think Hay is a grain?? :banghead:

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

PS
Homemade chin cookies?? Do you have a recipe you could share? :woohoo:

If not that's okay ^_^

 

[CommonYak]

No one has mentioned apple twigs, which are a great, inexpensive treat for chins. They will chew the bark off and enjoy them very much.

There are people on this forum who sell apple twigs that are prepared appropriately for chins. (You need to boil them and clean them so they are safe.)

An example thread that shows what they look like:

http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12743&highlight=apple+twigs

 

[Parkerspetchins]

PS
Homemade chin cookies?? Do you have a recipe you could share? :woohoo:

If not that's okay ^_^

You didn't ask me but I will share ). I use my coffee grinder (now my chin supply grinder lol) and grind whole old fashioned slow cooked oats. I then grind crushed rosehips in it and sift out any "stones" that may be in it. I mix those two dry foods together and then I add some warm water (I already filtered it), a dollop of pure pumpkin and a drizzle of blackstrap molasses. Mix it all up, flatten it out between waxed paper and cut it into squares with a pizza cutter. Put those in the oven at 250 for about an hour (I flip them a couple of times) and they are usually hard by then. My chins now snub any other cookie I try to give them they love these so much. They are easy to make and you know exactly what goes into them.

 

[RDZCRanch]

http://chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13519&highlight=treats

 

[Nadeshda]

I have a question regarding the cheerios... I went to the store to buy them for my chins, and they had the honey coated ones and the multi ones. I was going to pick up a box of the multi and then I noticed that the rings are different among them, some are corn-based, others are rice-based, and oats and wheat based. Are these the ones you buy and give to the chins? And since corn can cause bloating, do you only give the wheat and oats ones, or can it be any cheerio of that box?

 

[Essentia]

The multi-grain cheerios are also frosted. Go with regular ol' cheerios in the yellow box.

 

[Nadeshda]

Oh, it's a good thing I didn't get those then. Sadly, those 2 are the only ones that I have in my country,and there isn't shredded wheat either :S I guess it's oats and rosehips only for them Thanks!