Chinchillas.org






                                  

Chinchilla Community Forums

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: BEST food to feed chinchillas.  (Read 1091 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

siker

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Appreciation points: 0
  • Offline Offline
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 16
    • View Profile
BEST food to feed chinchillas.
« on: November 13, 2014, 12:55:11 PM »

Ive had my two bucks for how many years, and i just usually go to the pet shop and grab the food with the picture of a chinchilla on it that they like.. (gotta make sure its the right one, or they wont eat it... lol)

But is that really the best for them? Im very aware about food now more than ever since i did research on my ferrets food, and got them on the best food for them. (raw diet)

Well i know Chinchillas are not carnivores, but i want to make sure that the Pet shop Food companies are not just trying to make a dollar on the cheap by making poor quality food...

what should be the best for my new ones when i get them?
Logged
Chinchilla:Koda<br />rottweiler:Justice<br />beta fish:Bamaku

GrayRodent

  • Chinchilla Club and CBO Forum Administrator
  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Appreciation points: 153
  • Offline Offline
  • Gender: Male
  • Posts: 2761
  • # of Chins: 2
  • Status: pet owner
    • View Profile
    • Chris Hamilton
Re: BEST food to feed chinchillas.
« Reply #1 on: November 13, 2014, 01:20:00 PM »

If you tell me what food you are buying I may be able to tell you if it's acceptable.

If you ask outright what the best diet is you'll get all kinds of different answers. At the least your chinchilla should have alfalfa based pellets and loose timothy hay as a base. The pellets are the hard part because there are many possible formulations. Your concerns are certainly legitimate. There are many diets for chinchillas found at pets store that are really bad. Not necessarily poor quality but poor formulation. There are some good ones too.
Anything with mixed seeds or fruit in it is not acceptable.

If you decide to change your chinchilla's diet remember that it needs to be transitioned over 7-10 days if possible to prevent digestive upset which can be dangerous.

Personally I prefer oxbow pelleted diet and oxbow timothy hay. It might not be the best but it's a good diet.
Logged
I'm a programmer not a chinchilla breeder. I learn by asking questions just like you.

siker

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Appreciation points: 0
  • Offline Offline
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 16
    • View Profile
Re: BEST food to feed chinchillas.
« Reply #2 on: November 13, 2014, 02:50:32 PM »

Right.. i believe they are on charlie chinchilla?

Are fruits not good for them? I give mine treats and such like dried bananas and mangos and such..  ::shrug::

Logged
Chinchilla:Koda<br />rottweiler:Justice<br />beta fish:Bamaku

GrayRodent

  • Chinchilla Club and CBO Forum Administrator
  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Appreciation points: 153
  • Offline Offline
  • Gender: Male
  • Posts: 2761
  • # of Chins: 2
  • Status: pet owner
    • View Profile
    • Chris Hamilton
Re: BEST food to feed chinchillas.
« Reply #3 on: November 13, 2014, 03:27:02 PM »

Yeah, that's a pretty bad diet. Do you have access to Oxbow pellets? If not you can find them online at www.tjschinchillasupplies.com
In fact on that website any food they sell is good food.
I'll say this about fruit and that is it's not necessarily good for chinchillas or bad for them. It's bad if they get too much. A couple of banana chips in a day or a half of a mango slice (and not a big one) is okay. Anything more than that is not.
When it is mixed in with the food your chinchilla is getting too much sugar. This causes dental problems which can become fatal. From what I've read Charlie chinchilla also has a high fat content which can also have long term consquences on the liver. I strongly recommend changing diets. Strange because I just got done discussing this concept in a different thread which you may find very helpful:
http://www.chinchillaclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,4690.msg34061/topicseen.html#new
Logged
I'm a programmer not a chinchilla breeder. I learn by asking questions just like you.
Pages: [1]   Go Up