Chia seeds?

[Teddy001]

I tried to " sprout" Chi seeds- what happened is after the seeds were watered, there was a " gel" type substance in the container. Can they be sprouted? I ended up throwing them away, due to I was unaware of what the " gel" was or safe for hamsters to eat. Do you rinses the seeds once they have socked in water? Or feed the seeds with the gel?

[NiceCrocs]

The gel comes from the coating of the seed, it reacts with the water as a way to keep the seedling hydrated. They can be sprouted; it's the same seeds you spread on one of those old "chia-pet" novelty plants from the 90s xD the gel should be okay for hams, as far as I know. To be fair though I've never given my hams wet seeds, only dry ones, so I really don't know for certain, but cypher has clearly has success with it.

[Teddy001]

Ahh, "Chi Chi Chi Chia" Lol.. Thanks, crocs. I'll try sprouting them again. If they are not sprouted, would it be best to let them soak in water, overnight then okay to feed to hams, in the seed form, and should the " gel" be rinsed off? Xx

[cypher]

""Chi Chi Chi Chia"" lol! I can almost see my seeds dancing now!
Sprouting chia seeds isn't that difficult it's just a little different to sprouting most other seeds.
Ideally you need an unglazed terracotta dish which should be soaked in water before beginning the sprouting process, I don't have one so I use a pyrex/glass container.
You don't soak or rinse, just lightly mist with a spray bottle. Using my pyrex bowl I give it a bit of a spray before sprinkling the seeds in, if you put the seeds in a dry bowl the spray tends to blow them into clumps so they don't have space to grow! Sprinkle a few seeds in, spray lightly again & put somewhere out of direct light with a loose lid, leave a bit of a gap to allow some air in. Just spray again once or twice a day if they appear to be getting dry but don't make them too wet.
After a couple of days you can move them into the light & grow them on until they are green & look a bit like cress but you can use them as soon as they sprout.
The gel is fine btw, if you think about it that's what happens when you eat them & they absorb water in the digestive system. Flax/linseed does something similar when you put it in water.
If I give dry seeds to my hams I do only give them two or three seeds at a time, I think that's probably enough for a dwarf.

[Teddy001]

oh, okay, thank you, Cypher .. I'm going to try and sprout them, and grow them, like cress. Both of my hams really enjoy the seeds that I've sprouted, thus far.. and I like that they are getting "freshly" grown sprouts.

[cypher]

Her's a couple of photos that might (or might not!) make it clearer, one of the dish with the lid slightly off & another of the sprouts after about 3 days, most of the gel seems to have gone by this stage, I think the hams will be getting some of these tonight

[Teddy001]

Oh, WOW!! They look AMAZING!! Okay, thank you. I have a glass dish like yours.. YAY! I'll try to start some seeds, later today. .Let me know how your hams like them. thanks, again!.

[cypher]

My hams have had them before & they do like them Teddy
The dry seeds are so small it's hard to tell if they've actually eaten them or not but they seemed to be enjoying those too!
I have yet to sprout anything & find the hams didn't like it tbh, they've been enjoying fenugreek, broccoli & kale sprouts this week but I need to start a fresh batch now. The only thing they weren't keen on was pea shoots.
If I offer sprouts with other veg the sprouts always go first!

[Thin Lizzy]

Thanks NiceCrocs I'll do that and let you know how it goes.

[NiceCrocs]

Thanks for the info cypher I think I'm gonna try that too. I do happen to have a small terracotta dish that's not being used at the moment ^_^ I've heard they taste good in salads for humans as well.