Treats? Bananas and raisins?

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Cwatkinss

Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2018
Messages
9
So I just got two chinchillas two weeks ago from a girl on kijiji. She was giving them bananas and raisins as treats, however I have been learning that she really did not know much about chinchillas... So I am wondering if giving them 2 banana chips a week, and 2 raisins is too much? Or if these are even okay treats to give?

Thanks!
Christina
 
Those are not chin safe really at all, both are way too high in sugar. Some people feel it's ok to give them a very tiny piece of sugary snacks a couple times a year, as in about the size of the tip of your pinky finger. Personally I don't think it's worth giving them unhealthy snacks at all. Chins can't really process sugars (their pellets already contain sugar), so adding sugar to the diet can lead to things like liver and kidney damage/failure, as well as diabetes, and tooth decay. It can also shortens their lifespan to about 5-10 years, instead of the normal 15-20 years.

Safer treats include, rose hips, rose petals/blossoms, a Cheerio, a Shreddie, a few pieces of slow cook oats, or certain herbs like those found here. Treats should be limited to one treat per day max, a couple times a week is better.

You didn't mention anything about food, but it should be a high quality pellet only food, no "junk food" like, dried fruit or veggie bits or colorful crunchies in it. Good brands include Oxbow and Mazuri. Chins are grass herbivores so their diet should be mostly hay with a couple table spoons worth of pellets per day. So no fruits, no vegetables, no seeds, no nuts, no animal products (horn, bone, meat, eggs, milk, etc). A variety of hay is a good idea, each type of hay wears down their teeth differently and should help prevent tooth issues.
 
Oh wow, good to know!!

She had them on the colourful chinchilla food mix. But during my research I found that oxbow pellets are good so I switched them to that as soon as I got them. The bag of food she had them on had a bit of hay in it but she wasn’t giving them hay directly. Now i make sure they have an ample supply of Timothy hay. What other hay can they have?

Thank you! :)
 
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