I am using a shoe box that will need 4 windowsI need specific household insulators that can be placed inside the box that will keep a cup of ice from melting for as long as possibleLike a house keeping the cool air inAny ideas? Please and thank you!
Styrofoam, cotton, multiple layers of paper tissue or paper towels, anything that has lots of air trapped insideAir trapped in something is a very poor conductor of heat and thus it is a good insulatorWool is a good insulatorSilica gel conducts heat very poorly, but it might be hard to get enough of it to be useful (it's in those little do not eat packs that you sometimes see in foods and medications to keep moisture from building up)Rubber is a good insulator, too (natural or silicone)Glass is a good insulatorWhatever you use, though, make sure there's lots of air in thereIf there's a lamp shining down on it as a source of heat, consider putting two layers of aluminum foil around the insulationThe top layer (closest to the lamp) should have the shiny side upThe bottom layer should also have the shiny side up (towards the insulation)The aluminum reflects radiant heat, such as infrared, so that it can't be absorbed by the insulationYou can use more than two layers with insulation between them if you wantMake sure each layer is independent; don't allow two layers of aluminum foil to touch at any point The insulation should be kept light and fluffy, not packed downThis increases the amount of air inside the insulation, which improves its qualitiesIf you don't put aluminum foil on the top of the insulation to reflect infrared, the next best thing is something that is very bright whiteDon't use anything dark on the top, as it will just heat up super fast.
Sounds like he is probably cribbing once a horse learns this behavior they will do it for the rest of there lifeAt the tack store they sell what is called a cribbing collar but that is only going to stop them while they are wearing itMy best advice, get used to it and put the collar on while they are in there stall if you don't want the wood to look like a toe separatorlolOne other thing, it is actually illegal to sell a horse that is known to crib without informing the buyer of this habit so if you bought the horse this way the person who sold it to you is a jerk.
He could be chewing out of boredom - known as cribbing and it could also be learned behaviour or he could be lacking in somethingAs he is still growing he might be lacking in some mineral and you could ask the vet to check his teeth in case they are not growing properly, check his blood or poo for a check on what he is lacking, but he could do with something else to eatHay should be fed ad lib - ie as much as he can eat preferably in nets with small holesDoes he look underweight? Is he rugged well enough? A cold horse might try to eat anything and everything in sightYou could paint anything that he can get his jaw around with creosote or something similar that is not going to taste nightAnd pay some more attention to himIt may be too cold to exercise but it is never too cold to do things with him from the ground.
Before you follow others advice and invest in any anti cribbing nonsense please be aware of the differences between wood chewing and cribbingWood chewing is a behaviorial issue and is most often related to boredom or dietary deficiencyCribbing is a stable vice that most often appears in horses that are stalled for long periods of time and is connected to the stress and boredom a stall bound horse suffersCribbing has also been connected to ulcersIt is unclear whether cribbing causes ulcers or ulcers cause the cribbingA dietary deficiency could be the cause of wood chewing, possibly not enough fiber (ie: Hay) Horses are grazers and as such should be fed hay nearly free choiceMine get a round bale that they can nibble on all day if they want to (they don't)If your horse is finishing all his hay in a hour that gives him 21 hours of every day with nothing to graze onTry leaving more hay in several different piles that he has to walk around to eat.
I picked up a 2YO Halter horse a few months agoHe's very much a baby, doesn't crib but loves to chew on EVERYTHINGI bought No Chew and sprayed it on everything he chews onIt worked, I just had to re-apply it every dayBut now, i don't have to anymore because after a week or two of consistently spraying the No Chew, he quitIs your horse getting a proper amount of mineral and salt each day? A lack of that can cause them to chew on woodHope this helps!
