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Apple Wood

pink_cottonball

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So, awhile ago I got some apple wood for Charlie and Moe to chew on. They won't chew on it! They tore off a piece of the bark,but they won't chew on any of the limbs sticking off the main piece of wood! Is it normal for some Guinea Pigs not to like apple wood? Do I maybe have the wrong kind of apple wood?
 

tigerbaby

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Yeah of course! All pigs have there likes and dislikes just like us.:) Mabey they just dont like it.
 

this_lil_piggy

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I had forgotten about reading that gpigs might like apple wood. I have a Gala Apple tree in my front yard...is there something special i need to do to the limbs before i give them to my piggies? Dry them out? Or just wash them off and toss them in?
 

Slave to the Wheek

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You know, my pigs won't touch it. I even went out and purchased the organic rabbit ones. I left them in the cage for over a month and they took one nibble and that's it. I tried different sizes etc..

Of course, my boys have a large cage with lots too do, and they also have those alphabet blocks. They LOVE their alphabet blocks. One of them will even sit there and look at the little picture on the block, pick it up, turn it over, and look at it again. What a cutie! They also have wooden hidey homes and those straw nest style hidey's along with that they have a cardboard box unlimited timothy hay. They will nibble on the doors of all those things on occasion.

I have no idea if all that has anything to do with their lack of interest in apple sticks.

I recently saw a post where someone said most pigs never touch them either.

As far as using from your own tree, I think the only thing to worry about are any kind of pesticides, herbicides or fungicides that the tree may have been sprayed with.

I wonder if they don't like the bark, but like the white part?
 

VoodooJoint

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Most GPs do not bother with any sort of wood chew toys. They would rather spend their time redecorating their hidy houses or coroplast pans by chewing on them.

If you are lucky enough to have an untreated apple tree you might consider using the branches to make a hidy house or simply drilling them, stringing them on wire and creating a "Fiddlestick" type hidy. They will not only appreciate the new hidy but will find it much more palatable to chew on as well.
 

aqh88

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Most just like the bark anyway. Out of the 11 pigs that have been in this apartment over the past year(8still here) only 1 has really liked chewing on wood and she mostly just peeled the bark off of things. All their fiddlesticks lack bark but are otherwise untouched. I stuck applebranches near the bars and they stripped the bark then pulled on the branches instead of chewing the bars but didn't actually pull any pieces off after eating the bark. The doorways to some houses plastic or wood are chewed but not really a noticable amount. That's one reason guinea pigs need unlimited hay to wear down their teeth. Wood also doesn't wear the back teeth.
 

pink_cottonball

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Yeah,thanks. I thought that it probably wasn't anything. I just wasn't sure if maybe their was specific kind of wood they liked or not.
Slave to the Wheek-what alphabet blocks?
 

TrekkiesUnite

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Yeah,thanks. I thought that it probably wasn't anything. I just wasn't sure if maybe their was specific kind of wood they liked or not.
Slave to the Wheek-what alphabet blocks?

I think he is referring to those kind of blocks that are designed for toddlers.

Like these:
(broken link removed)

But with the apple sticks, my pigs that I have had over the past 13 years have also just eaten the bark and left the rest alone.
 

this_lil_piggy

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My apple tree has never been treated or sprayed with anything.... It was one of those "sticks with roots" that came from arbor day foundation years and years ago, and it was mislabeled as a Crab Apple tree. I planted it and for years ive wondered why the stupid thing never would make crab apples, and was contemplating digging it back up. ... Then 2 years ago it started spitting out these Gala Apples every spring HA! I did feed the pigs some of the apples off of it this year. Making a hidey house with the apple twigs is a great idea! My males have gnawed the heck out of their big wood hidey house Ive got, so i bet they would love a stick house :) Ill get out tommorrow and do some picking and let ya know how it goes.
 

Ly&Pigs

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Pennick sent me a mailer full of apple branches last year and I give them to the girls sometimes. Mostly just the bark is eaten off of them and I end up throwing the rest of the branch in the trash. Usually it's only Oats who likes them although the other girls will nibble occasionally. Oats thinks they are toys and loves to toss them around and play catch with them or picks it up and carries it around the cage with her.
 

pamziaw

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One of the best things to get your pigs if you want something healthy for them to chew on is a woodern tunnel, the ones made out of lots of small branches held together via bendable metal wire. They can sit in them as well, they may chew it, they may not, but its functional as a hidey as well as chewable. My pigs have 2, one for upstairs and one for down as they like to sit in them from time to time.
 

this_lil_piggy

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So far, the apple limbs seem to be a hit with all 5 piggies. Theyve been gnawing all afternoon! Who knows if the fascination will fade, i guess we will see... They are just fascinated with everything right now, i switched the boys to the girls cage and the girls to the boys cage today so theyd have some new turf and toys to explore (after cleaning the cages of course) and they are all wound up and excited.

My son took some of the apple limbs with the leaves still attached and tossed them in, and they seem to absolutely love the leaves---Chloe even passed up lettuce for them! Im assuming (hoping) that the leaves are safe? since the bark and apples are, i cant think of a reason why the leaves wouldnt be.
 
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