Author Carole Kessler
of Kessler's Chinchillas
Chinchilla Feeding Program
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One of the most important factors to a healthy happy chinchilla is their feeding program. Their basic diet consists of chinchilla pellets and hay. The hay can be loose or hay cubes. You will find several different types of chinchilla pellets. They will be available in pet stores, feed stores, mills, and if you are fortunate, a chinchilla rancher who will provide you with their feeding program. Some diets you will find in the stores will have a combination of pellets plus dried fruits. Chinchillas love sweets so you need to choose your diet carefully. If chinchillas have a diet where they have fruit as well as pellets, the chins most often will choose the fruit and pass over the pellets. When the chinchilla feeds on too many treats, you will have a chinchilla with a sweet tooth and it will be difficult to change them over to a well balanced diet.
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Many years ago when I first began to raise chinchillas, I found a ranch which raised chins for the pet industry. I tried their feeding program of pellets, loose hay and a grain supplement. At that time I did not know that corn can be devastating to chinchillas. When I was away for a few days, my husband fed and cared for them. Since they loved the supplement so much, they were given a good supply of it.
After this I began to have some chins die on me and I had them posted to see what the reason for death was. It appeared to be the corn. It was moldy and toxin poison is what killed them. This began my search to find a quality diet for my chinchillas.
It was at this time that I came into contact with Alice Kline and I began to purchase her feeding program for my chinchillas. The whole grain supplement, which was part of the program, was excellent in quality, and this supplement was fortified with vitamins, minerals, and calcium. I could see how excellent this supplement was in comparison to what I had been using. Mrs. Kline said that a supplement without the vitamins, minerals, and calcium was just an empty treat.
The hay cubes that Mrs. Kline used were the best I had ever seen. Mrs. Kline used the alfalfa hay cubes as they were an excellent source for keeping their teeth ground down to the proper level. I found that the hay used in making the cubes was the alfalfa of the second cutting as first cutting can cause diarrhea. The hay cubes also helped with my allergies to the loose hay. One important bit of information I received from Mrs. Kline was on the proper way to cure the hay. Hay must be cut when the farmer knows the weather forecast does not predict rain. The hay must lay in the field in the sun to dry. Then the hay is baled and stored. If this hay was going to be used for chinchillas it must be placed in an area which is free of mice and bird droppings.
Once you purchase a bale or half a bale of hay, it must be placed in a cardboard box which has air holes punched into the box to give the hay circulation. I pry apart the hay and store it loosely in the box. The box must be placed up off the floor and closed enough so little mice or moles could not get into the box. Hay should never be placed in a plastic bag. When this is done, you have an excellent chance of mold developing in the hay since it does not have proper air flow into the container.
Over the years, I have worked with people who have stored hay improperly and their chins were the ones which suffered, and many died. One such example was a pregnant female that ate this hay and the moldy hay cause mytoxin poison in her system. The female had a prolapse of the uterine horn while being pregnant in the other horn. The female had surgery, which removed the one uterine horn, and in a few days the kit was born early and the other uterine horn also prolapsed. Both mother and baby were lost. After the work that I did with this chinchilla owner, I made an effort to instruct people on the proper hay to purchase as well as storing it. In many cases the hay had been purchased in stores and tiny specks of mold were found.
When feeding your chinchillas a grain supplement, you must be sure you use the proper grains. Chinchillas love this supplement, and when they have the Kline formula of vitamins, minerals, and calcium, they are in love. One rule of thumb to follow is to keep your whole grains in the refrigerator so they will not become over heated. Then you will have all sorts of insects in the supplement. When chinchillas are fed our supplement we recommend one teaspoon per chin per day. Our bag of supplement will go a long way when we sell it.
When chinchillas have the Kline diet, they will discover this diet will provide the chinchillas with their nutritional needs. Many pet owners which do not use this diet give their chinchillas Tums for calcium, Vitamin C tablets, calf manna, and salt spools. Once I discovered all the things, which chin owners are giving their chins, I checked with Alice, and she said that none of these things are necessary. Between the Kline pellets, hay cubes, and whole grain supplement, our chinchillas were meeting their nutritional needs. None of the above was needed.
One of the most important things we can do for our chinchillas is to be selective in what they eat. I have done a survey on some of the things which people will give their chinchillas. It was shocking. Some were given coffee to drink when their owner had their morning coffee. Some would be fed pizza, pop corn, potato chips, pretzels, and all sorts of snacks. Yes, it was cute to watch them beg for these treats or just help themselves to what ever they came in contact with. I will admit that we get a great deal of pleasure and joy when feeding out chins these treats. So many times people will say to me,”I have been giving my chins this stuff for some time now and have never had a problem.” Their time does eventually run out and then they wonder what happened to their chinchillas.
Many of the problems found in the chinchilla’s diets are passed down. One lady went to look at chinchillas which were for sale, and was horrified to see they were feeding their chins a diet of parrot food. When asked why they were feeding this to their chins, she was told the people whom they bought the pair of chins from was feeding his chinchillas with this type of food and thought that it was all right to continue them on this diet. Needless to say, the chinchillas appeared in poor health and their fur was in trouble condition. Most people tend to feed what other chin owners are feeding their chins and the ball continues to roll down hill, picking up new chin owners as they go along.
Most people have no idea as to what to feed their new chinchillas and will go along with whatever advice they receive. Many of you will agree with me, that there is a great deal of improper information out there. Needless to say, I was also a follower until I met Mrs. Kline and learned of her diet. I immediately began to purchase this diet for my chins and eventually saw some wonderful results in my chinchillas. For over 17 years I have continued my chinchillas on this diet. The only other treat we give our chinchillas is a raisin each day, and every now and then a slice of apple. This is it. Not bits of toast, cereal, or other snacks. When some chin owners hear we do not give our chins all these treats, they feel that our chins are lacking in a diet that is boring. One important factor I express to people is if a chinchilla starts out on this diet and not a great many types of treats, they will be very happy and content with what they have. What a person or animal does not know exists, they will not miss. Once you start them on a treat diet, then yes, you will have a problem getting them settled into a more strict diet which is better for them. We have helped a great many chinchillas which have a sweet tooth and eat less amounts of the pellets and hay then they need in their daily diet.
Our chinchillas rush to the cage to get their pellets each day and you would think they were getting treats. The chinchilla pellets are so high in quality the chins love them. Most often when a new customer changes over to the Kline diet, their chins will go right for the Kline pellets and leave the others alone. This of course depends on how much sweet treats they have in how long they make the change over.
All we need to do is look at our own eating habits. If we eat plenty of sweets ect., we will not be interested in out diet of proper foods. We are what we eat and the same applies to our chinchillas.
When people start them off with the proper diet, they will have healthy happy chinchillas that are not dependant on sweet stuff.
Over the years, I have searched into other diets that are available to chinchillas. My chinchillas will never be changed over to another diet as I have seen the results of healthy chinchillas with out the many problems some chin owners have. When people change over to our diet, I often ask them to send me a sample of what they were feeding their chins. This is how I keep up with what is being offered out there for chinchilla owners.
Many of our chinchillas live to be many years old. There are breeders which have produced several litters of kits. Many of my females have littered kits up to 12-13 years old. A pregnancy can be difficult to a female that does not have proper nutrition and it will show up in her kits.
For the past 17 years I have made available to chinchilla owners the Kline diet. I have been the spokes person for the Kline diet for many years. This diet has been introduced into the pet industry especially through the chin groups I belong to as well as chinchilla forums. One concern many people have is the cost of the food plus shipping the food. They believe it is less expensive just to go to a pet store or a local mill. I have investigated the cost of the chinchilla food, and the dust they use for a bath and find that the cost of our products is less than what they would get in a store. The diet does need to be sent to most people and this is why I don’t increase the prices as my cost increases. It is more important for chinchilla owners to have the availability of the Kline diet than to increase our prices. I do not have a handling charge either.
My feeding program is made and sent direct to me from the mill. One stipulation the Kline Ranch has for the mill that makes our pellets is they clean their machinery before they make our pellets. If the order before ours had something such as corn in it, then our pellets could be contaminated if there was any mold for example in the other order. It is very important for me to know that everything is being done to insure the health and well being of my chinchillas. When my chinchilla customers continue the chins on our diet when they purchase them, I do not worry about the chins getting something they should not eat.
The work I do with chinchilla owners is 99% with chinchillas that are not mine. Most often the new owner does not have the proper information on the care of their chinchillas and especially in what the proper feeding program should be. My customers receive vital information on the care of their chinchillas and I am available 24 hours a day to them. When they follow the advice I give them and keep them on the diet, I very seldom hear from them with a problem. All the years of training I have had have been not for my purposes and my chinchillas, but for other chin owners who do not have the support and training that I have had.
For more information on the proper feeding program for chinchillas and the Kline diet please contact me via my email and I will be happy to help set your chinchillas up with the Kline diet.
E-Mail: ckessler@earthlink.net
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