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afriel444 said
on 12/10/2009 My chin is 17 years old. He has been fed rabbit pellets for all his life. He has also been given treats 1-2 times a day consisting of raisins, potato chip, peanuts, lettuce, pieces of carrots, grass and pretzels. As long as you do not over feed the chin and keep them exercised this feeding strategy should work just fine. He also will only eat alfalfa hay. We got him before it was found that timothy is better; we tried to switch him, but her won't eat it. It should also be mentioned that he was a runt, and should have had more problems than most chins, but despite this and our feeding strategy, he is 17 and still going and seems content. He loves to snuggle and run around on my couch.
mrsgalliano said
on 7/12/2009 Chinchillas should not be put on a leash, if you want a pet you can walk get a dog.
Rabbit pellets are okay for chinchillas, stating otherwise is ignorant. Many breeders produce show quality chins on rabbit pellets that live longer than most pet chins. The average pet chinchilla lives 2 years or less, the average ranch chins lives over 12 years, I guess it's not hard to tell which one is doing it correctly.
Sunseed, Kaytee, Charlie chinchilla, and Brown's are a short list of crappy food. If you want to kill your chinchilla go ahead and feed these.
Chins should NOT have fruits, raisins, or other "treats" they don't need them and it helps promote early death. They are basically diabetic and can not process sugars, if you want to give a treat give a chew stick, hay, or an unfrosted shredded wheat.
It's really too bad there isn't a place about experience on here, because I'm sure...
beri said
on 12/22/2007 Never feed chinchillas rabbit food! No matter where you get it from, if it has hormones or not, it's still not going to be nutritionally balanced for chinchillas if it was designed for rabbits. Ever since I got my chinchilla, I've been feeding her Mazuri Chinchilla Diet, because that's what the breeder I got her from recommended. I'll admit that Mazuri isn't easy to find, most pets stores only have it in stock part of the time, and it's pricey, but I knew all of that BEFORE I got my chinchilla, so I put up with the hassle to keep her healthy. I've also heard that you really should get a solid floored cage for chinchillas, because wire mess cages can hurt their feet, or worse, their legs can get caught and break.
kratos said
on 9/27/2007 its a chinchilla...feed it chinchilla food. Sunseed co. makes a good one
kratos said
on 9/27/2007 its a chinchilla feed it chinchilla food. sunseed c. makes one.
ERNIE911 said
on 8/6/2007 ABSOLUTELY NO RABBIT PELLETS CONTAIN INGREDIENTS THAT CAN DISRUPT NORMAL FUNCTIONS OF THE CHINCHILLAS GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT
ColeyMcPoley said
on 1/30/2007 Can chinchillas be put on a leash??
alicat1234567 said
on 1/27/2007 I have a BIG question. Is it better to buy a chinchilla from the store, or get one from a local private breeder that hand feeds them?
Anonymous said
on 3/15/2006 You should only feed your chinchillas rabbit pellets if you are in the USA. Otherwise the pellets contain a life threatening (for the chinchillas) hormone.
Anonymous said
on 1/2/2006 You cannot feed chinchillas rabbit pellets, it contains special hormones for rabbits and rabbits only.