Amount of food per day?

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Jessica.bowman1010

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Joined
Apr 25, 2017
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Hello. I've heard mixed reviews of feeding chinchillas 1-2 taplespoons of pellets at morning, and same dosage at night. Then I've heard that chinchillas control their own diet and never overeat, so keeping pellets available 24/7 is totally fine.

Does anyone have any opinions on which method is correct?? Im currently keeping pellets available all the time, and it doesn't seem like my chinchilla overheats, but I also don't want him to become unhealthy from heating too many pellets.

Help!
 
Chins generally will not over eat. And you can free feed them. The 2 tbls a day is just a rough estimate/average of the amount of pellets a chin will eat. It will vary on the chins size, appetite, like pellets or hay better, etc.

Many owners will free feed pellets and hay since they usually dont over eat. Just fill up, and no worries. When its empty, fill it again.
I personally do not like this approach. I like to monitor the amount they are eating. They still get all they can eat, but i keep an eye on it. This allows me to see when there appetite is increasing or decreasing. Whether they are eating or have stopped. Chins hide illness and medical issues well. And noticing the food can be a great early indicator if something is wrong. You get to see it every day so youll notice if things are changing.

For me and my chins, i give 2tbls per chin and a handful of hay. Once you know how much your chin generally eats in a day, you can adjust it to that average to help out.
They hay is dependent on the chin (for mine). Some just get a handful and they are good for the day. My one set of girls however are highly picky and wasteful. Even more then the normal chin. So i break there hay into two feedings. This helps me reduce the amount of wasted hay. (Tho it is still a lot.)
 
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