Snack shack

[Moonlight_Wolf]

Are snack shacks safe for bunnies? I know that they are marketed for them but are they safe? Just as a one time thing. I got one from a friend for my Sixteenth but I am not sure if I should give it to Fern, Not wanting to be mean to that friend or anything…

Sorry for not going on Binky bunny in a while, I have been really busy the end of the year is comig for high school.

[BinkyBunny]

I remember this has been brought up before but I can’t find the thread. From what I remember, it was okay in moderation. I think it had honey or some other sugary stuff?
I looked online and didn’t have great success with finding the ingredients.

Do you still have the packaging and can you list the ingredients here?

[Moonlight_Wolf]

The ingrediants are: pine wood shavings, cassava starch, alfalfa, straw liquid mix (water, sodium alginate, potassium sorbate, proponic acid, honey, glycerin, proylene glycol). Those are the ingrediants in that order.

[jerseygirl]

I think they’re ok but you might want to remove it from time to time. Binkles(Sarah) had one for Little-Bit and she thought it may have caused a tummy upset. Maybe gas? Cannot quite remember.

[MooBunnay]

I did see a couple discussions about the Snack Shack items referenced in a forum about sugar gliders, and I guess sugar gliders definitely can’t eat that stuff because the pine is toxic to them. I don’t know how well bunnies do eating pine wood shavings, but I personally would be hesitant to let them chew on that. I definitely wouldn’t let them have the snack shack items unsupervised – who knows how much they would eat! I would recommend instead feeding the “for sure” safe items like sea grass mats, or willow wood items since you know those are OK for bunnies.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Truly I would avoid it altogether.  I know it might be difficult beacuse it was a gift but maybe explain kindly that unfortunately not everything in the pet store is safe for the pets (and people) they are marketing to.  Maybe they still have the receipt or put it on the shelf.  I found a few more additional ingredients puported to be in the item, that truthfully I find pretty disturbing from this web site: http://exoticpets.about.com/od/gene…akshak.htm

Ingredients
The Snak Shak line of products is heavily promoted as being edible. The packaging on mine advertised that it was made from “fresh alfalfa and golden honey” making it sound quite appealing (though I generally recommend avoiding sweetened snacks). However, the full ingredient list is pine wood shavings, cassava starch, alfalfa, straw liquid mix (water, sodium alginate, potassium sorbate, propionic acid, honey, glycerin, propylene glycol), cotton thread, bamboo, straw, and paper cord. The alfalfa may explain why it was not so appealing to my rats as an edible chew toy (rats tend to not like alfalfa and are said to not be able to digest it well). Looking at the list of ingredients, I think I would stick with plain, untreated wood products for chewing value, especially for rats.

Just another thing to add (my own personal opinion) is that this product is manufactured by Hartz – not a company that really sells things that are safe or healthy for animals, at least in my experience.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Ahhh that’s good to know! I bought one a LONG time ago when I first got Kokanee-it’s the shak with the straw hut roof-I thought it was adorable. It was almost fifty dollars.

Kokanee destroyed the roof in one day and never touched it again. I ended up throwing it out after Kahlua also snubbed it LOL

[RabbitPam]

Most gifts are returnable without the giver knowing it. I would say just discreetly bring it back to the store where she probably purchased it (you or a mutual friend could ask, if it isn’t obvious like where you all usually buy your supplies nearby) and exchange it for something you need. Another toy would be her intention, and a supply of litter or food would make up the difference in cost. You can tell her that Fern wasn’t interested and you hate to waste such a generous gift from her.
But if you feel you need to keep it, then put it on a supervised spot on the floor outside of her cage so you can see how much she eats and how long.

[Moonlight_Wolf]

Well I decided to try the snack shack supervised just to see if fern liked it and… SNUBBED! Fern gave it one sniff and one bite and it went on her list of disliked things! the only things she chews are willow balls and cardboard!

[Moonlight_Wolf]

Thanks for the feedback though guys

[Binkles]

Yeah Snak Shak gave Little-Bit gas. >< But I gave them to Binkles all the time and she was fine with them. She had a tummy of steel though. :p

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Moonlight_wolf on 04/04/2009 08:32 PM

Are snack shacks safe for bunnies? I know that they are marketed for them but are they safe? Just as a one time thing. I got one from a friend for my Sixteenth but I am not sure if I should give it to Fern,

Eep! – I got got distracted by the snak shak issue…….Happy Sweet Sixteenth Moonlight!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Vater Araignee]

I saw the snak shak and said “I’ll think about it.” till I saw honey (sugar has less calories) in it and started considering how ground up everything must be in it.
Then in Walmart I saw the Wild Harvest Edibal Logs and the ingredient list was horrible.

Scarlet_Rose said it was made by Hartz but I thought I saw Ecotrition on the label.
I did a little digging and sure enough it is Ecotrition.
I thought I would write an email to them asking about the ingredients. No Ecotrition website. Dig, dig, dig. Got it!
Ecotrition is owned by United Pet Group, Inc. and what do you know, so is Wild Harvest.
Looks like I wont be bothering to ask what is in it.

[Author]

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