Concerned chin isn't getting enough nutrition

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J.douglas

New member
Joined
Sep 15, 2016
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2
I have a 3.5 (ish) year old male chinchilla. I am very concerned he's not getting enough nutrition. I have tried several different types of food but he continues to pick out the dried veggies or colorful pieces and leaves all the pellets. He does not eat much hay even though there is always fresh hay provided to him. Currently I'm am feeding him a mix of VitaNature chinchilla food that is a "balanced high forage diet" and chinchilla food from Oxbow Animal Health that consists of only pellets. As stated before he leaves the pellets from both types of food in the bowl and only eats the stuff (for lack of a better word). I also provide him with botanical and orchard grass hay.

Any suggestions?
 
Let's suppose I made you a supper of broccoli and mixed in a bunch of candy. What would most people choose to eat? Feeding your chin a junk food filled with colorful pieces of Lord only knows what and dried veggies is pretty much doing that. Chins should have a good, high quality pellet (Tradition, Mazuri, Nutrena rabbit, Manna Pro rabbit, Oxbow) that are nothing but pellets - no added junk. Then provide a good quality hay and fresh filtered water and he has everything he needs. Anything else you provide by diet is because you want to, not because he needs it.

Get rid of the VitaNature, give only the Oxbow. He will adjust. Make sure he has plenty of good quality hay to hold him over until he adjusts to the fact that his candy is gone.

Chins normally don't eat a whole lot in a day, so don't expect buckets to be gone at a time. Just free feed him and let him eat what he eats. As long as his ribs aren't felt, he is active and appears happy and active, he's probably fine. :)
 
As said get rid of the junk food, chinchillas are not designed to eat veggies, they are pretty much strict grass herbivores. I agree with tunes, just toss the VitaNature food all together, and just go with the oxbow only. A lot of those cheaper foods are designed with human interest (looks colorful and appealing) and general types of rodents in mind, they look like rabbits or guinea pigs so they figure they need the same foods. Unlike those animals though, chinchillas don't digest sugars very well, so they don't need fruits, veggies, or any other sugars in their diet. Too much sugars in their diet can lead to health issues including diabetes, over time, as well as a shortened lifespan. Seeds, nuts, and animal products, should all be avoided as well.

If you want to add treats to the diet, safe treats include, rose hips, rose buds, slow cook oats, and some dried herbs. Check out Fuzzies Kingdom, they have lots of options for safe treats to give you ideas. However even though they are safe, treats should be limited to one per day, as in one pinch of oats or one rose hip.

Chins normally eat roughly 2 tablespoons of pellets a day (some eat more some eat less), and a small handful worth of hay per day. Unless there is a medical reason chins wont starve themselves to death if provided food. The chin may pout for a few days, but he will learn that his junk food is gone and will eat his pellets.
 
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