Does your chinchilla eat vegetables ?

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While chins CAN eat vegetables, chins SHOULD NOT eat vegetables. I know there are conflicting stories upon occassion where someone comes back from their vet and they are told to give their chins fresh fruits and vegetables. Recently I attended a seminar where an experienced chinchilla vet spoke--I flat out asked him why some owners were told feed fruits and vegetables to their chins and his honest answer, because the vets honestly don't know. In vet school they have a very small time with exotics. Face it most vets do dogs, cats, horses and cows--chins are low on the list. He says these vets "assume" a chin is like other rodents--rabbits, rats and guinea pigs and encourage this diet for chins not knowing the harm they are causing.
 
Fresh fruits and vegetables are not ok for chinchillas. What Laurie posted is accurate and it might do you some good to read through the FAQ's section on chinchilla dietary needs and appropriate treats.
 
I agree. When I was doing research on chin diets and appropriate foods..there were many conflicting stories about what was OK and not OK. I started out giving Trixie bits of carrot, as I read it was Ok. I stopped, of course as soon as I knew better.
 
A while ago I sold a pair of kits to a girl who went to 'pet dumb' for a larger cage.
One of the girls there told her carrots were O.K., so she gave some to them.
The next day, one had died, and the other seemed alright, so she brought him back with the $400 worth of cage and supplies, crying she'd killed him, and couldn't go through it again.
More fatal advise from 'petdumb'!
 
I do not, and will not, feed my chins fruits and veggies. Pellets, hay, hay cubes, the very occasional treat, and water. That's it.

Rick, I highly doubt that chin died from eating a carrot one time. You yourself, according to a pm you sent me, give your chins 3-4 raisins a day (including babies) and recommend it to your customers and think nothing of it. Why would you think that Petsmart's advice to give a carrot is dumber or more dangerous than that?
 
The only veggies they get here is dried grass aka hay. Well if lettuce is a veggie I think it's a veggie too! :p

I agree with Peggy... carrot should not kill a healthy chin overnight. Obviously there were some other issues or underlying problems.

Chins here get pellets, hay and water. They get chews on cleaning day and occasionally alfalfa cubes. Shreddies are random treats rarely given.
 
Back when I started with chins carrots were considered to be okay, but when I gave it out to the few chins I had then no one would eat it and I worried that the carrots would rot and cause problems.

It's so much easier to just not give treats or stick with something like shredded wheat and rosehips. Instead of treats I like to give out things like the little brown paper lunch bags or wooden pieces that they can demolish.

Yeah, I don't think that giving a carrot one day would kill a chinchilla...but why even risk it or try it at all. There's no benefit to the chin eating a carrot anyway. :p
 
nothing but pellets, hay, and applesticks, with the ocassional chin cookie. I made the mistake of feeding raisins when I first got my chin, and she did love them, but I stopped as soon as I learned they weren't good for chins.
 
My chins get hay, pellets and water daily. They also get a chew stick every night. Other than that I rotate my treats. One day a rosehip, the next some chinnie salad, the next a critter cookie, the next a half a shreddie, and then it starts all over. Treats aren't necessarily for the chins, though they do enjoy them. It's more for the owners giving them.

I do not, have not, and will not in the future give my chins fresh, or dried vegetables.
 
My chins get hay, pellets and water daily. They also get a chew stick every night. Other than that I rotate my treats. One day a rosehip, the next some chinnie salad, the next a critter cookie, the next a half a shreddie, and then it starts all over. Treats aren't necessarily for the chins, though they do enjoy them. It's more for the owners giving them.

I do not, have not, and will not in the future give my chins fresh, or dried vegetables.


This is what I do, and they dont always get a treat every night, and they get hand fulls of apple sticks each night as well. I make most of my own treats, and I know what is in all my other treats.

No fresh fruits or veggies for my guys.
 
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