Chinchilla Community Forums
Chinchillas => Health => Topic started by: Moxie on January 01, 2015, 06:48:38 PM
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I have heard rose hips are good for chinchillas. Does anyone know benefits of rose hips or if they should have them? Thanks
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My opinion is that a chinchilla's diet should be based on loose timothy hay and proper alfalfa based pellets. Eveything over that is unecessary and not particularly beneficial. Rose hips are a safe treat but like any treat should be given in moderation and only when your pet is healthy. I'd say no more than one large one per day.
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Alrighty thank you
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About 1 or 2 a day are what's usually fed. They are supposed to be high in vit c but whether the chins need any extra vit c is a debate. While animals may only need a few items to survive, diet enrichment is fully taken in to account by such places as zoos and those who are trying to raise sensitive species. Treats are often considered a necessary part of the diet for psychological purposes. Various other things are often rotated through the diet as well. We have 3 different hays and 2 different hay cubes at a given time. The organic alfalfa is mostly for the rabbits. I give choice bits to the chins or pinches of a few stems here and there. Then we have kmshayloft.com bluegrass as the main diet. We feed about a handful a week of oxbow botanical hay as a sweet hay with herbs in it. The hay cubes are timothy with some berry juice. I compared the sugar content and found it no higher in sugar than some of the sweeter cuts of basic timothy hay so once a week they get a small slice off a cube each. Incorporating foraging is also a good way for enrichment instead of just putting it in a bowl. The easiest is to get various designs with coconuts that you can stuff hay and other food in to or set on a curved coconut tray that either bolts to the side of the cage or for more fun swings from a chain.
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Thanks this was very useful