what makes some rabbit food ok for chinchillas

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DaphnesandFreddysmom

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I'm just curious because I'm switching to PANR.

We always had it drilled into our head after getting our first chinchilla to only feed food with pictures of happy little chinchillas on the front. We were told not to feed rabbit food no matter what.

Only problem is our girl doesn't seem to like her chinchilla pellets and we end up throwing more away than she eats. I see a lot of people use and reccomend some rabbit foods and I was wondering what seperated some rabbit foods from the rest so they are ok for chinchillas.
 
I don't know the specifics, but my guess would be that:

since rabbits diets are so different (some pet owners have a lot of greens etc. in them) and differnt needs that some food either lack what chins need, or have a bunch of crap in them not good for chins. I know that PANR is suposed to be really good quality for chins-and rabbits...must just be the right numbers I guess...

Hope someone can help with more specifics:(
 
I know that not all rabbit pellets are recommended for chins. You want a pellet that has between 16-18% protein. Mazuri chin has 20% which is why some people don't feed it, but one requirement for the rabbit pellets to be okay is an okay range of protein.
I also know that many of the major ingredients between the pellets are similar.

I'm not well versed on feed ingredients so perhaps someone else will come along with more specific information.
 
alli713 said:
I know that not all rabbit pellets are recommended for chins. You want a pellet that has between 16-18% protein. Mazuri chin has 20% which is why some people don't feed it, but one requirement for the rabbit pellets to be okay is an okay range of protein.
I also know that many of the major ingredients between the pellets are similar.

I'm not well versed on feed ingredients so perhaps someone else will come along with more specific information.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I read this and just had to ask, I feed Mazuri and am wondering what too much protein does to a chin? Is it a weight concern or some other issue?
Thanks.
 
Jenn said:
Sorry, I read this and just had to ask, I feed Mazuri and am wondering what too much protein does to a chin? Is it a weight concern or some other issue?
Thanks.
Click to expand...

I don't mean to scare anyone away from using Mazuri as it is an acceptable feed for chins. Just in general, chins don't need high protein, they need high fiber. And Mazuri has the highest protein percentage out of the feed recommended for chins. It is not excessive and dangerous or anything for your chins, it's just on the high end of the recommended range. And I believe it has a lower fiber content than some. With chins you want lower protein higher fiber.

But by no means does this mean that everyone feeding Mazuri should stop, I've fed it and I would use it again if it were cost effective for me.
 
I would love a good answer to this question, as I feel like a hypocrite when I tell people rabbit food is not ok and then go on to tell them I feed PANR. It is hard to explain that there are a few exceptions, blah blah. I know it is basically the analysis of the ingredients are what we want for chins, when most rabbit feeds are not, correct? Anyone have a better short and sweet explanation?
 
As I recall, at one time rabbit feed was loaded with hormone which is not so common any more. Feeds like PANR & Manna Pro have an ingredient list and guaranteed analysis that basically read the same as quality chin food. They also have probiotics incorporated into the formula which is another plus for chins.
 
Yes, commercial rabbit food used to contain growth hormones, much like the Bovine growth hormone in cattle feed. But that is not allowed in the United States anymore.
Otherwise, the difference between approved and unapproved rabbit foods is the protein levels. Approved foods stay within acceptable levels of crude protein, 18-20%, I think and high in fiber.
 
Ok, thank you.

I just hope our chins approve of it. So far noone's touched their pellets but it's fresh hay day so their excited (my husband bought them a new bag today).

Just feeding any rabbit food went against everything I had read and what everyone I had talked to said. So needless to say I was a little hesitant to try it. I would be heartbroken if anything happened to them because I did something wrong.
 
When I first began, I was told to use 70% Mazuri - 30% Calf-manna which seemed to work alright, but the feed store prices climbed to $15 a bag for 25 lbs.! Someone turned me on to Purina show rabbit for $15 for 50 lbs., but it was 30 miles one way. Got some Tradition from Jags, [chins loved it] and found a local supplier with freshly milled Tradition about 20 miles away. Ingredients were all pretty close, percentage wise.
 
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The Tradition is what ours is on now but we have to have it shipped and I'm sick of having to have it shipped. Our two do ok on it. Our baby is a slob and just chows down but our female barely picks at it. We're hoping maybe a different food may getting her eating more. Plus the PANR smells so much fresher than the new bag of tradition we just got.

I like the fact that I just go 5 streets down and can pick up a bag of food whereas before I had to order it and hope it came in on time. If Tradition was available locally I would just stick with that but I checked everywhere and it's not so we had to find a more suitable option. Which I hope the chins approve of and do well on.
 
Now see, I'm going to start switching my chins from Tradition to PANR and it smells.. weird to me. It definitely smells different than the Tradition, and doesn't have as much of a grassy smell. Is there a reason behind this? I just know I enjoy the smell of Tradition.. not so much the PANR.
 
I actually preferred the PANR but that's just me. Also not enough to eat it myself but hopefully the chins will love it.
 
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