chestnuts

[SUNSHINE]

i didnt see chestnuts listed under nuts to give squirrels are these not a good nut and im still debating about the turkey bone mmmmmmmm?:thankyou

[adoptedmom]

Sunshine, A raw "european" chestnut has about a 2:1 phos to calcium ratio. 100 grams of raw peeled chestnut has 19 mg calcium to 38 mg phos. They are in season right now, so I am giving them to Holden (1 per day), but I am trying to make sure to compensate for it in the other things I give her.

[SUNSHINE]

thanks for info i only give her one once in a while cause she usually gets walnuts to grind her teeth i bought them in the store not sure what kind of chestnuts they are

[Chesters_mom]

I just bought some too and Chester loves them, We don't have them here and this is the only time of year I've ever seen them, as a matter of fact this is the first time "I've" ever seen a chestnut lol only heard about them in the Christmas song. So it's like a rare treat for him right now, Of course he still eats his food and not just them.

[TinyPaws]

To compensate for the higher phosporus level, I dust any nut I give Timothy with Rep-Cal...Even if he doesn't eat it right away, he gets it into his mouth when he picks it up....

[Ardilla]

DH bought a bag of "Italian CHestnuts" at the store the other day. I just gave one to Penny and she went all gaga over it. I'm wondering if it'll be easier for her to open that the usual hard shelled nuts which she still can't open by herself.

[Ardilla]

Hee hee...I just checked on her chestnut progress--she's managed to open it up and eat about 1/5 of it. The outer surface and meat seems similar to that of an acorn, but tougher than the live oak acorns she's had before. I gave her a raw one. She tried to bury the rest of it, but it didn't take long to locate because there isn't that much bedding at the bottom of her cage.

[4skwerlz]

There's a small difference nutritionally between Chinese chestnuts and European chestnuts. European chestnuts have twice as much phosphorus as calcium; Chinese have 5 times as much phosphorus as calcium, but they do have a lot of other nutrients. This makes the European chestnuts one of the better nuts calcium-wise--not that it matters as long as your squirrel is eating blocks as their main diet. However, unlike most nuts, they both have fairly high glycemic loads. Apparently they are rather starchy. Either one is fine as a treat, but maybe not every day all year long.

[Ardilla]

She won't be getting them often. DH bought them for us to roast ("us" being the human household members) and I have her one as a treat. :)

[4skwerlz]

She won't be getting them often. DH bought them for us to roast ("us" being the human household members) and I have her one as a treat. :)

Yeah, there's no problem with them as a treat (better than an Oreo cookie certainly:D). I just thought you guys would like some info on them since we don't often find them in the store, or think about feeding them.

[adoptedmom]

Holden only gets them while they are in season. They don't stay fresh very long and are pretty much impossible to find past Christmas, so I look at them like her holiday treat.

[skye]

You can keep nuts in the freezer that way they will stay fresh:D