Question:
Hey ,,,,I have been giving my chins lots of apple branches, I wash them and bake them at 350 degrees fr 30 mins,,and they love them ,,but i leave the bark on them,,,and thats what they eat and I know the branches at the pet store also has the bark still on them but over on another forum,,Kingdom chinchillas, they said to take the bark off,,,,,,so is it okay to leave it on? they never said why to take it off they just said apple branches are safe as long as the bark has been peeled off


Answer:
That's wierd... the bark is the only part of the branches that my boys eat


Answer:
same as mine,,maybe I'll ask them why they think the bark should be taken off


Answer:
Maybe they didn't think you were decinfecting them properly


Answer:
I've always left the bark on. I'm not really sure why you would take it off.


Answer:
Thats weird, my boys only chew on the bark as well!


Answer:
I dont have any apple branches around here.. I dont know where to get them?!?!!


Answer:
Are there any apple orchards near you, Pam? Maybe they would let you have some branches if you called them up?
I gave them apple branches from the petstore and all they would eat is the bark, I don't know why they would say to take the bark off. Doesn't the bark contain nutrients as well?


Answer:
well they finally wrote back and said that they can get splinters in their mouth


Answer:
I wouldn't worry too much about it Brandy. It's the first time I hear of that and I know a ton of people, including very good chin breeders and owners that have been giving their chins apple branches for years without problem. Besides, splinters usually come from the wood itself and not the bark.