Snak shak log

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Mandon

Mandon

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
344
Location
British Columbia, Canada
My order finally came in and I got my girls the snak shak lock for rabbits and guinea pigs. They absolutely adore it, and it's great to give them something to chew on.

But I have a question - is it necessarily healthy for them? I've been looking through the ingredients and I noticed there are pine shavings inside it, and other stuff I'm not sure of. I haven't exactly heard anything about the snak shak being 'bad' for rats persay, and it seems to be a pretty popular toy for them - my paranoia just can't stop me from needing to make absolutely sure it's okay for them though. :/
 
Many of us have used them for years, with no apparent ill effects. Rats don't swallow things that they chew, other than food of course. They have a little flap that prevents them from ingesting things that they are just chewing out of rodent-ness.
 
Godmother said:
Many of us have used them for years, with no apparent ill effects. Rats don't swallow things that they chew, other than food of course. They have a little flap that prevents them from ingesting things that they are just chewing out of rodent-ness.
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I think they do eat this one. I mean it's intended to be edible so it doesn't surprise me, but still.. I've caught them breaking pieces off and eating them on more than one occasion.
 
I had a problem with one of my girls eating the Snak Shak, not just chewing on it, and she got constipated. I took it out of the cage and only let them play/chew on it during out times, and even then, I watch this one girl to make sure she's not trying to eat it

I also found the Shak had an odd smell that I don't care for, it reminds me of the old roach sprays they used to use :/
 
Petunia said:
I had a problem with one of my girls eating the Snak Shak, not just chewing on it, and she got constipated. I took it out of the cage and only let them play/chew on it during out times, and even then, I watch this one girl to make sure she's not trying to eat it

I also found the Shak had an odd smell that I don't care for, it reminds me of the old roach sprays they used to use :/
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Yikes. o.o I heard of the snak shak getting stinky with repeated exposure to urine but nothing like that. Are you sure the constipation was caused by the snak shak? Did it stop when you removed it?
 
Mandon said:
Yikes. o.o I heard of the snak shak getting stinky with repeated exposure to urine but nothing like that. Are you sure the constipation was caused by the snak shak? Did it stop when you removed it?
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fairly certain, yes. her stools got very hard and dry when she had access to the Snak Shak all the time, and within 36 hrs of removing it from the cage, her stools were going back to normal

she's a bit of an odd rat, most of them don't actually eat the snak shak but she was. when the others gnaw on it, you'll see the crumbles around it and on the floor, when she chewed on it, there wasn't anything being dropped on the ground

so yeh. You never know. the vast majority of people seem to have no issues with this item so you may just want to watch your rats closely to see what they do.
I will never buy another one, but I do let them have the one I already got, when they are out. They were crazy about it at first but seem to have lost interest over time.
Like they do with everything else, pretty much LOL
 
We only put our's out on the floor for play time. I'm sure this has no relation, but our original five "The Boys" had one in their cage when Finn got the kidney disease and I've always wondered about it. Probably no relation at all to his illiness, but that's why I don't let them have it 24/7.
 
SQ said:
They are safe to use. Mt rats have enjoyed them for years .... the enjoy climbing on them and chewing them, but do not eat them
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Why don't they eat them? My Buckeye boys like to chew on them, but I haven't really noticed the others doing it.
 
I think my rats eat them too but I haven't seen any adverse effects on them. My logs are not in the cage but available for 2 hours during out time only.
 
I no longer get the Snak Shack edible logs or huts for my rats. I had one in my first pair of girls' cage when they were young. They developed diarrhea during a round of antibiotics and couldn't seem to shake it no matter what I gave them, until I removed the Snak Shack. It may not have been the Snak Shack, but the grainy material in their poop looked suspiciously like stuff from the log.

I won't say don't get one, as many rats apparently don't have a problem with it, but I would be vigilant.
 
jorats said:
I think my rats eat them too but I haven't seen any adverse effects on them. My logs are not in the cage but available for 2 hours during out time only.
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Why?
Do you have concerns about the logs too?

Wondering if I should rethink having them available in the cages,
although they have never had any problems and only occasionally chew them .... which allows the logs to last a couple of months
 
Mandon said:
My order finally came in and I got my girls the snak shak lock for rabbits and guinea pigs. They absolutely adore it, and it's great to give them something to chew on.

But I have a question - is it necessarily healthy for them? I've been looking through the ingredients and I noticed there are pine shavings inside it, and other stuff I'm not sure of. I haven't exactly heard anything about the snak shak being 'bad' for rats persay, and it seems to be a pretty popular toy for them - my paranoia just can't stop me from needing to make absolutely sure it's okay for them though. :/
Click to expand...

I would recommend the ones for hamsters, gerbils, rats and mice (peanut butter or original) instead of the ones for guinea pigs, chinchillas and rabbits.

I don't understand why so many are saying rats do not eat these. My girls ate, yes ate, the two I've gotten for them. My hamster even eats them! :dancingbunny:

The only downside, is that my ratties got diarrhea (or really soft ratties poops) after eating it. I think it may have been the extra fiber from the hay.
 
even those little log ones say that, in addition to the seeds and alfalfa, they are: Made with alfalfa and golden honey

I am trying to avoid extra sugar in my rat's diets, so I will pass on these too

sugar from blueberries or bananas seems ok, since they'll get the other benefits from those fruits, but honey- there's no nutritional value in that, is there?

If you want to make a treat like seeds in to a toy, you can put them in cat treat balls that only dispense the treats when the ball is rolled around, or in the newer treat puzzles made for pocket pets
or wrap them in layers of paper so they have to work to get at the treat

I love to see my rats happy so it's hard enough for me to limit the treats they love, so for me, I need to avoid anything that makes it even easier for them to get stuff they don't need like added sugar
 
My rats have access to their large logs on a regular basis during out time because the sound would drive me bonkers if they had it all day long. lol Plus, I like that it's a bonus fun thing for their out time.
I have not seen any harmful effects on my gang but I could very well see some rats being affected by it. We all react differently to food items. I once had a rat have serious stomach pains when he ate a banana.
 

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