WARNING about Locust Bean treats

[Gracie01]

All my piggies love them, and they only get them occassionally...but will ONLY ever have them now when I can supervise them eating them.

Mum had popped some in each of their food bowls this morning.

I fed my piggies some vegetables this evening and I am so lucky I did. Poor Wobble had a Locust Bean treat stuck on his bottom incisor teeth. Poor little man He didn't seem too distressed but it must have been uncomfortable. I am so lucky that Wobble is one of my calmest piggies and will let me do anything to him. I had to use the end of a tea spoon to pull it gently off. When I removed it there was a little hole where his little teeth had gone through it!

 

[Little Pig]

What is a locust bean treat? I just tried google to find out, but most sites don't actually describe what it is.

 

[Gracie01]

I have bought these for years. But this is the first time I have ever had a problem with them.

http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/pet-food/beaphar-locust-bean-treats/

 

[piggyfan]

I know it says suitable for guinea pigs but they are actually not meant to eat beans at all. If you want to treat your piggy then a piece of apple is nice. The animal treats are bad for their teeth.

 

[Little Pig]

I think it depends on the type of bean? I give my pigs green beans sometimes and have never noticed any issues - I thought it was things like kidney beans etc that shouldn't be given to pigs? Confused now.

 

[piggyfan]

Green beans are fine. They are a vegetable.

 

[Gracie01]

Piggyfan - Unfortunately, the vegetable/ fruit thing doesn't work as a treat for my piggies because they get 2 meals of mixed fruit and vegetables a day.

As i say i have used these as an occassional treat for many years, with no problems until now. I don't plan on stopping using them as a treat, just supervising my piggies when they have them. I know they are like piggies chocolate (Yes, i have eaten one and they are actually quite nice!)

 

[liquorice allsorts]

All my piggies love them, and they only get them occassionally...but will ONLY ever have them now when I can supervise them eating them.

Mum had popped some in each of their food bowls this morning.

I fed my piggies some vegetables this evening and I am so lucky I did. Poor Wobble had a Locust Bean treat stuck on his bottom incisor teeth. Poor little man He didn't seem too distressed but it must have been uncomfortable. I am so lucky that Wobble is one of my calmest piggies and will let me do anything to him. I had to use the end of a tea spoon to pull it gently off. When I removed it there was a little hole where his little teeth had gone through it!

this happened with one of ours recently too, luckily we were with him at the time , and i managed to pull it off,.

 

[BellasMummy]

My rabbits used to have these as a treat but my pigs never seemed interested. If I want to treat my pigs I get them the bags of dried herbs and grasses

 

[TAN]

I had the same thing with sunflower seeds- Bumble got one stuck between his lower teeth - so sunflower seeds no more - no matter how much he likes them.:{

 

[Juniper]

The animal treats are bad for their teeth.

There seems to be some confusion here.
Why are they bad for their teeth just because the packaging has the word ‘treat’ on it?

This is a natural product not a processed food; in fact the package contains just chopped locust bean pods. They are very common in pet and animal feeds anyway. It’s a rather expensive way of buying them but most cavy owners don’t want to buy 25kg sacks from feed merchants.

Green beans are fine. They are a vegetable.

Locust beans are a vegetable !
In fact ‘locust bean’ is bit of a misnomer as it isn’t the beans but the pods that are used for animal feed. The actual beans are those used to produce the chocolate substitute Carob.
Cavies certainly like locust bean pods but I would agree with Gracie01 that they are possibly best given as a treat when supervised as it is possible for them to get them stuck on their teeth.