Hey anyone know if rats can be given pine cones to chew on? My grandma gave me a huge bag of them that fell off her tree. They don't use any kind of fertalizer on their lawn. Can I put them in their cage? I was thinking of hanging them with string or something from the cage so that they are kind of like hanging pinatas or something. Should I wash them first and let them dry out?
Pine Cones
- Thread starter OldsGal
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lilspaz68
Well-Known Member
OldsGal said:
Hmmm...would pine cones have the phenols? I bet not. Maybe baking them at a low temp to kill any parasites?
jorats
Loving rats since 2002.
Maybe freeze them first? in case of buggies... wild rodents love them, can't be harmful, I would think?
Bati
Well-Known Member
They have that 'juice' that is brown and icky - I'd never give it to mine, but have no idea if it's safe or not.
Bronwyn
Well-Known Member
I'm leaning towards it being safe since you see squirrels with them all the time but good points were raised about the bugs. I think the heat method would be better on the off chance there's a parasite that can withstand being frozen for some time. Then again there are things that can withstand heat for a while too so maybe both. :lol:
LA
Well-Known Member
I was talking to my stepfather tonight. He mills wood for a living and is a big treenut. Seriously that's their email and his licence plate.
Anyways, he had offered planer shavings to me, but I told him pine wasn't good, because the phenols weren't good for the rats. So I asked him if pine shavings weren't good how would pinecones be and he said they would be even worse then the shavings.
Not 100% sure but I thought I would mention it.
Anyways, he had offered planer shavings to me, but I told him pine wasn't good, because the phenols weren't good for the rats. So I asked him if pine shavings weren't good how would pinecones be and he said they would be even worse then the shavings.
Not 100% sure but I thought I would mention it.
lilspaz68
Well-Known Member
LA said:
good to know! :wow:
Bronwyn
Well-Known Member
Yikes!
Someone alert the squirrels!
Someone alert the squirrels!
jorats
Loving rats since 2002.
That's really good to know.
Just taking a guess here... I wonder if it's safe for the squirrels because they are outside in the big ol' outdoors?
Just taking a guess here... I wonder if it's safe for the squirrels because they are outside in the big ol' outdoors?
jorats
Loving rats since 2002.
Maybe check about cooking them? We've done that in the past but it was to decorate out Xmas tree. (we didn't have rats back then) Maybe there's something online that might indicate that cooking the cones might get rid of the phenols?
Lise
Well-Known Member
I would personally never use a pine bedding, but I have always given pine chews and bird toys made of pine.... Personally I can't see anything wrong with giving them a pinecone to play with. I think the risk of phenols is so incredibly low, they aren't living on top of it breathing it in for long periods of time. As long as its one of the non-sticky ones (yuck!), I would let them have at 'er. 
