Making fruity chews

[MissKris&Koji]

Has anyone tried this? I saw BB store is out of the fruity balsa chews, went over to busy bunny and saw they don’t have them either. But then I thought, well, I have these many willow and apple sticks Koji rejected… luckily the rats are gnawing away on some of them, but I still have a large surplus, and the rats only strip the bark and then leave them alone. I wonder if I could just soak them in fruit juice as the product descriptions seemed to suggest was how they were made?

He may still turn his nose up at them, but I’m sure the rats would like them even better that way if he does.

Penny for your thoughts? I’m thinking apple juice would be easiest to get hold of, but potentially I could do something else or a mix of flavors. Or try sticks of different flavors. Also wondering how long I should soak for, I feel like overnight to a day seems reasonable, then I guess I have to let them dry out.

I thought I’d post here first and see if anyone else had the idea and tried. If so, with what procedure and results. And if not…. I guess this will be the start of my homemade chews attempt diary.

[Beka27]

I think people have done this before, but you need to use them up quickly as they can get moldy. I don’t really know how the process would work.

The Balsa chews are made by a BB member (it’s her business) so I won’t hypothesize on her methods out of respect.

[Moonlight_Wolf]

I bought some balsa wood and soaked that in grape juice, my bunnies seemed to like it. It did not get all the way to the inside so my bunnies only really ate the outside, but it was enough to amuse them so I was happy.
I don’t know how well willow would soak up juices, but it is worth a try, just be sure to let them dry or they will mold. And for some reason I found that if I soaked the balsa wood in orange juice they molded so I didn’t do that, I just stuck with grape juice. I’m not sure how apple juice would work though

I soaked mine for about a day, turning so all sides would soak, because bulsa wood floats. I then put them on a plate and let them sit for a while, and then let them sit on a paper towel to dry. One batch I cooked in the oven at a low temp to ensure they were dried and would not mold, but the next batch I did not and they were fine.

I liked using grape juice because you could see how well the wood had soaked up the juices and also it seemed to not mold as easily as the orange juice.

[MissKris&Koji]

Well if BB would hurry up and restock I wouldn’t have this problem! *nudge* I guess that’s what I get for not impulse buying as soon as I see something, I waited and then it was gone. Koji only cares for food and pets, though, so I thought since I can’t give him endless treats maybe I can at least “trick” him and give him something that smells and tastes good without causing poopy butt.

I was concerned about the wet/mold issue. :/ Also, I agree, not sure if the wood I have would be very absorbent, but also no idea where to get balsa, I don’t think Home Depot has it?

[Beka27]

I just sent a message to BB for her to stop in and let us know if she knows WHEN they’re coming back in.

[Sarita]

I just checked and it looks like they are in stock to me.

[MissKris&Koji]

So they are! Back! I swear they weren’t there like… 3 days ago. XD I thought they were a busy bunny item, so I thought since they weren’t on busy bunny either they must have stopped making them.

[BinkyBunny]

We are having a problem keeping them in stock. We are working with the creator to be able to get them on a more regular bases. I think they are so popular the gal that makes them is even having a problem keeping up! But she’s working on it. We are actually very close to being out of stock with the mini balsa chews again, but we will be getting more of the flavored balsa wood toys by the end of the week.

The biggest problem with doing these yourself is the mold especially with sweet flavors. It took Heather, the person that makes these, a long while to get it just right. It’s not just about drying…there are kinds of other little secrets to make it work.

We sell five different kinds of the balsa toys, but right now two are in stock, but we will be getting the rest in at the end of this week.

[LoveChaCha]

Well I was about to ask! Its one of chachas favorites!! I will be buying whatever comes into stock Thursday! Payday yay!

[MissKris&Koji]

I’m glad to hear there will be more at the end of the week – seems like rave reviews on these things, I’m curious to see what the fuss is about.

[Cinn-a-bun]

Soak sticks in juice.   Place in oven for 10-15  mins at 350 degrees. This will keep them from moulding.

 

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