When mixing herbal supplements...

[akane]

Do not throw in a pound of crushed nettle and then stir it bare handed up to your elbow. No amount of cold water and dawn soap is getting anywhere. I guess it's a good thing I keep my fingernails too short to do damage scratching something. :lol:

As a side topic I found most of the herbs I wanted with 2 day free shipping from a company off amazon but does anyone know where to get bulk edible flowers cheaper than here
http://rondaschins.com/MakeYourOwnSupplement.shtml

I'd like about 4lbs but off that site which is the only bulk food safe site I know of it would cost around $100. Mainly I want rose, honeysuckle, lavender, and globe amaranth but the mix is flexible keeping in mind most will go to lactating females. Marigold and chamomile would be good for particular mixes and might be easy to find for loose leaf tea. I haven't looked in to what the cost would be on herbal teas with nothing carrying caffeine and no additives. Maybe if I give enough chamomile to Zip he will no longer live up to his name and drive everyone crazy.

 

[dangerbunny]

never had dried nettle do that, fresh nettle one must be very careful with lol.

The "globe flowers" look like clover?

I like Mountain Rose herbs, not the cheapest but good stuff. https://www.mountainroseherbs.com
I have also used this site which is quite inexpensive. http://www.herbalcom.com

 

[akane]

The nettle may have been dried but it was very fresh. I'm quite happy with the nettle, peppermint, dandelion leaf, and dandelion root I got from that company. Split the bag open and the smell fills the whole room. I had critters lining the cage walls.

When you go to purchase the globe flowers on Ronda's site it lists them as amaranth. Otherwise I had no idea what they were. There are dozens of species of amaranth listed on wiki though so who knows exactly what they are.

That first link has a ton of stuff but because it's organic is not really any cheaper. Just a higher quality product for the same price. I didn't get all the way through the other but ran some page searches and found at least chamomile and clover dirt cheap. Although I probably wouldn't want to go with a full pound of clover since we are also feeding organic clover hay.

When doing a search for other potentially useful herbs I came across a site for chins that said nettle should not be used in pregnant and lactating females but I thought it was useful for increasing lactation? They gave no reason for the warning. I'm having lactation problems particularly in the chinchillas but my rabbit doe that just kindled never produced much milk either. I culled her remaining live kit without it ever being fed. I would have tried to hold it out in hopes my other doe kindled quickly but it had a broken or otherwise misshapen back leg.

 

[dangerbunny]

I've heard nettles recommended in pregnant and lactating humans so I can't imagine it would be different for chinchillas.

 

[akane]

Well chins are far more sensitive during pregnancy than other animals. They abort at the drop of a hat. I still don't see any reason the nettle should not be beneficial though. I'm not sure how much credence to give one site made about an animal that owners and breeders are downright paranoid over. :shrug: In palatability testing before throwing things together the chins said it was fine. Some turned down barley, some turned down wheat germ, and everyone disliked the fully ground flax. Couldn't find rolled like other people are using and I wasn't sure how well they'd digest whole but I added some chia seed as a substitute. There was also one flower they weren't thrilled about but I'd have to go look at the pics on that site to remember which one.

The rabbits are so much easier. There are pellets in bulk specifically made for rabbits and they can eat about anything for dry supplements plus some fresh foods and most any type of hay. Such simplistic animals to make a diet for even if you cut out commercial feed. Just gotta watch the fresh food fluctuations from week to week so they don't get very little and then get a lot without the digestive tract ready for the change. Oh and the mineral sources. Rabbits can have high salt mineral sources, horse minerals, blocks, etc... Chins are extra sensitive to salt so I spent 3 days hunting down low salt mineral blocks from bird sites since birds are also sensitive to salt. I've got 2 types in testing.