enrichment items:hay, bunny herbs, nuts in shells etc

[Philosophyfox]

I got some meadow mix herbs from the Range today (can't shop in Hull Pets as it sells animals )
I've been eating all the almonds and pecans from the rat's nuts, so they haven't got any yet either ^.^ Will find out if it's a concern or not over on FR.
Meanwhile...all the more almonds for me...

[Philosophyfox]

I received a reply from someone far more knowledgeable than me regarding the matter:

Almonds are not true nuts, they are fruits known as drupes and contain 'stones' or 'pits' like in a peach, the edible almond part inside this is technically a seed, and while bitter almond seeds do contain amygdalin which can be a source of cyanide poisoning if consumed in great quantities, sweet almond seeds do not contain amygdalin and they are safe to feed. I serve almonds 'shelled' because most rats find getting through the 'shell' too much trouble!

Another reason I don't feed them in the 'shell' is because I couldn't find any sources that said the 'shell' definitely didn't contain amygdalin, but I did find some sources that said that other fruits in the same family did have amygdalin in their 'shells' ... so I decided to only feed almonds shelled ... like I said earlier most of my gang aren't interested in them anyway, and for those that are, because the 'shells' are generally softer than true nuts, and due to that they might well be eaten, I err on the side of caution with them

If they are sweet almonds, and you shell them, they are definitely safe.

However, whilst cracking the nuts I cannot guarantee any will be left over for any of the animals