Tradition pellets & vitamin c supplements?

A few months ago, I switched my furbabies from store bought food to Tradition feed (happily to my surprise, found at my local feed store!). I love it and so do they.

however, i remember seeing somewhere on the packaging that a vitamin C supplement was needed while on this feed. is that true??? does anyone else using Tradition supplement vitamin C? i thought all chinchilla food contained vitamin c.

i believe around the same time, my older chin's fur started to change a little bit. it's hard to describe or take pictures of though. best put, she looks like she's shedding. little furs here and there are longer, look like they are coning out. but it's not a fur slip (i know what they looks like). she just looks "roughed up" even when she has a dust bath. i mention this because i'm curious if the food switch has anything to do with it.

Nope you don't need to supplement with vitamin c. That is more of a guinea pig thing. Are you sure you didn't read it on a package of guinea pig food?

As for the fur, it sounds like your chin is priming. This is the process of losing old dead fur and replacing it with new. If you do a google search you could probably turn up some pics of priming chins. They do look pretty rough when priming.


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i've had oodles of guinea pigs in the past (before chinchillas) so i knew it was common with piggies. but no, it was on the tradition bag i got for the chinnies! i'm hoping it was just a mixup. i always thought i knew chinnies and piggies better than that! i'm glad i trusted my instincts.

what would be some reasons why one WOULD supplement chins with vitamin c? i've heard of giving tums or cuttlebone, but dont really know what would cause you to think they need it.

YES! i looked up some pics of priming and thats what it looks like! thank you Stackie! however my chin seems to have this going on for awhile.. a couple months? and it's not really just in a line, just all over her back/butt. should i just chill out and leave her alone? lol overprotective momma!!!

Hmm, that's odd. Probably was just a mistake. I know many of us feed Tradition (including myself and big ranchers) and don't supplement with vit. C.

The only reason to supplement would be maybe if a chin for some reason was immunocompromised/fighting an illness. The tums and cuttlebone are for calcium, not vitamin C. That's usually given to pregnant/nursing chins or chins that have a calcium deficiency for some reason.

Some chins only take a few months to prime; I have one that constantly looks like it. You can pull out the tufts- they aren't attached and will come right out, but it may tick your chin off a bit. Mine protests like it's the end of the world, mainly because he just doesn't like his butt touched. They'll eventually come out on their own with baths/the chin grooming themselves though.

Hubbard says that additional Vitamin C supplementation is necessary when using their chinchilla pellets. I think it is because they use AA, a form of vita C that has very low stability (Oxbow, for example, adds more stable form of vitamin C, L-Ascorbyl-2-Monophosphate).

You can offer rose hips and hibiscus flowers to your chins (you can also purchase vita C supplement that was formulated for small herbivores). They are great sources of vita C; rose hips are nature's richest source of vitamin C (about 1800 mg per 100g of dry product). Vita C is recommended for dental benefits; it also supports healthy heart, reproductive organs, immune system, etc.

Vitamin C deficiency can cause swollen joints, lack of energy, appetite and weight loss, rough coat, teeth and gum problems, etc.

This is the first time I've ever heard of Hubbard recommending vitamin C supplementation for chins. I've fed my chins Tradition for years and never supplemented with anything. I know many other people feed it as well, and never heard them say anything about supplementing. My chins have always been fine...has anyone experienced any problems? Who feeds Tradition and does supplement? What do you use?

I've never heard of it either. I've been to several meetings / seminars where the Hubbard nutritionist Dr. Bonnette has come out and spoke about the feed and I don't remember him speaking about ever needing any type of supplement either. I feed it to my chins, but I don't supplement.

I think that if you feed fresh pellets, then there may be no need to supplement (Vitamin C degrades during storage). I talked to Ed Bonnette, and he said that he is planning to remove that note about vitamin C supplementation (they say on the website: "Do not feed product that is older than 6 months").

Anyway, I think it is a good idea to offer rose hips/hibiscus flowers at least a few times a week.

The good thing about vitamin C is you can't overdose on it as it is a water-soluble vitamin and any excess is excreted in the urine. It wouldn't hurt to give treats with vitamin C such as rose hips but not absolutely necessary to give vitamin C either.

I still supplement Vit C even though I have no malo/dental chins, it can't hurt.

oops, sorry about the calcium/vit c mixup. i feel a little dumb LOL

but thank you everyone for your feedback. I will get some rosehips regularly. all my chins seem to like them anyway!