Chinchilla food for Passover

[BethanyShondark]

Hello -

I'm an observant Orthodox Jew and I am wondering if it's possible to find chinchilla food for the week of Passover that contains no wheat, oats, etc.

 

[GorillaJTA]

I am not familiar with the dietary restrictions. What is the etc.? Wheat, oats... A somewhat more comprehensive list? You could feed just hay that week, but most foods contain some sort of wheat middlings and things like that.

 

[tunes]

I wouldn't just pull a chins food for a week for that reason, and I also absolutely would not switch feeds for just a week. I'm sorry, I understand that you have religious beliefs that you need to adhere to, but your chin doesn't. A chin is an animal and doesn't believe in anything except you when you show up with his food. Chins can go off feed very easily. Keeping their diet as consistent as possible is what's best for them, even if it isn't in line with your religious beliefs.

 

[peachydays]

Bethany, I don't know much about the Passover restrictions, but I did a little research and it looks like not only can you not consume any of the 5 major grains (wheat, rye, barley, oats and spelt), but you can't feed this to any of your animals either.

If you are dedicated to this (which it seems you are, hence your self-identification as orthodox), my best suggestion would be to see if perhaps you can have your chin(s) "chin-sat" for the week. Do you have a friend that you absolutely trust who could take him/her/them for the week (since you can't have any of the grains in your house....I do know that little bit of information!) That is the only thing I can think of that would allow you to practice your religion correctly.

 

[mishellyshel]

what about a hay only diet for the week? if the other options do not work out.

i do agree with peggy about switching food and the effect is has on the chins tho so instead of switching,.......maybe just pull it for the week and store it elsewhere if it can not be in your home.

 

[BethanyShondark]

Most people gradually move pets off of a regular diet onto a Passover friendly diet over the course of several weeks.

These are the foods that aren't allowed:

The following commonly listed items found on pet food ingredient panels are not acceptable for Passover: Wheat (cracked, flour, germ, gluten, ground, grouts, middlings, starch), barley (cracked, flour), oats (flour, grouts, hulled), pasta, rye, and brewer's dried yeast.

Worst case scenario he'll go to a non-Jewish friend for the week, but I wanted to see if there's an alternative for food that he can eat that I'm also allowed to own.

 

[JessiLynnCVT]

I worked in an exotics clinic with a very large jewish population. A lot of our clients either had their pet sitters handle feedings, or even had their pets boarded so that they didn't have the food in the household during that time but their pets maintained the diet they were currently on. It is always a hard time of the year to work around. The reason that most boarded them is we have had animals get very sick from restrictive diets during passover and even had lots of gi stasis and death from fasting them during other holidays. So now we usually recommend having them stay with a friend if owners can't feed them their normal diet. I know that wasn't helpful. But I figured its nice to know it is actually a common problem