I've been reading up on how to take care of Chinchillas.. and I understand that Chins should be fed a pellet for food... but it seems the only pellet food that my local pet store has bits of fruits or vegies in it... would that be okay? and about treats... what can they have, what can they not have, and how often could I give treats?
Oh and also in some vids I see people have put down soda boxes for their chins to play in.. and I was just wondering if its safe for them just incase they chew and swallow some of the cardboard?
2006-09-10 13:27:24 · 8 answers · asked by seme.desu 2 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
You have to be careful about diet, and I suggest you contact some farm store that sells Purina animal foods and get a scientifically balanced pelleted food...Purina is one of the best. You might have to buy 25 or 50 lbs at one time. so you may also have to buy a plastic garbage can for storage. Small amounts of vegetable are ok...remember they are small animals so that means very small amounts...carrot if they will eat it....lettuce is not good....but nice dry hay is fine....I don't know how much you pay for your dust but agriculture lime dust works just fine and is probably a lot cheaper.
2006-09-10 13:35:40 · answer #1 · answered by Frank 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Chinchillas do not eat fresh veggies or fruit in the wild. They eat dried vegetation. This is what their system is created to digest. Chinchillas can not handle fresh fruits or veggies. You may not notice any harm right away but long term it can be very harmful. On the short term it can cause deadly diarrhea.
Chinchillas also can not handle nuts or animal grade corn, and absolutely no meat or meat by products. These will kill in less that 24 hours.
Chinchillas can have raisins and other dried fruits in moderation but this should not be fed as part of their food. For one, they are like children and will fill up on the fruits - eating less than they need of the healthy pellets and will be less healthy. Second they should only have one or two pieces of treat a day. Those feeds will give your chinchilla much more than that. Eventually the liver will fail and your chinchilla will die long before its time.
The only pet store chinchilla food I recommend in Mazuri. Petsmart sells it. You can also buy it by the pound at www.LonestarChinchilla.com. Other good chinchilla foods are Tradition, the Kline Diet, and Manna Pro SHO rabbit food. These you can not get from a pet store.
Chinchillas also need as much fresh hay as they can get. Timothy hay is the best. Chinchilla Pellets are already made up of mainly alfalfa so when you feed Timothy they are getting the best of both.
2006-09-13 13:02:00 · answer #2 · answered by chinclub 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My chinchilla loves fruits and vegetables. She adores apples more than anything. However, these sweet things cause chinchillas to get fat. Usually pellet food is best for them, similar to how dog food is better for dogs than steaks.
We have been feeding our chinchilla prepackaged rabbit food. This will not hurt the chinchilla a bit. However, they seem to be picky eaters. Mine throws bits that she doesn't like at you if you are around. This does cause a lot of waste, and makes it more difficult to gague the appropriate amount of food your animal has eaten.
Cardboard itself is not as much of a problem as ink and paint. We put some wooden Jenga blocks in the cage when we first got Chin-chi, but I took them out when I read that the pain can make them sick. Blocks of untreated wood are fer favourite things to play with. We bought her a little burrow that was made from semi-woven bits of what looked like twine, which became her new favourite toy. She destroyed it and there was no trace of it within a week.
2006-09-10 13:37:52 · answer #3 · answered by Janar_45th 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I have a chinchilla and i believe that the opposite is the best, feeding them timothy hay and food with dried fruit is good for them and they like it to. A real treat for them is an ocassiolnal apple, it is good for them and they love it. Sometimes they will not eat pellets, it is a preference of the chinchilla
2006-09-11 17:34:03 · answer #4 · answered by andrewdink54 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I feed my chinchilla either Guinea pig or rabbit food. Just the plain pellets. She doesn't like the veggies so I don't get that. She eats almost anything. Potato chips, bread, etc. She chews on anything my boys put in her cage. If she doesn't like it then she wont it. She is almost 4 years old and is very healthy
2006-09-12 10:08:28 · answer #5 · answered by identicaltwins1127 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i have one. for food we have pellets and it has veggies in it. they love dried banana chips. and raisins. if u dont have wood already u need to get some because there teeth grow like beaver teeth. o ya they also LOVE timothy hay. its green. and is usually about 8 bucks at pet stores. its safe if it swallowed cardbored. its basically wood. but dont give it anymore. if you have any more questions email me!
2006-09-10 13:32:16 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mine loves raisins
2006-09-10 13:37:15 · answer #7 · answered by usa_xoxo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Carrots, apples, and broccoli stems (peeled)
2006-09-10 13:32:56 · answer #8 · answered by MARY L 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋