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I think the consensus is that it is fine for pets.

I would not use it on breeders. Right now I'm mixing purina chow (green bag) with purina pro (brown bag), using the feeds without corn caused my guys to have low birth weights and low milk production. Granted, each mill will use different ingredients and quality changes throughout the U.S.
 
Its just so darn confusing now.... I only have two chins so don't want to get the 50 lb bag of show but don't know which one to actually try.
 
The Fibre3 works great for some chins. Some have trouble keeping the weight on with it. I would recommend it for chins that are fat. You can buy it 7 lb bags so if you wanted to try it, you won't be stuck with a ton of it if it doesn't work out. The chins seem to like it and I had a few growing out that got nice and plump while on it, but some of my older naturally slimmer chins gradually got a bit skinny...not underweight but not quite where I wanted them. The young ones did eat quite a bit more of it than the older chins. Perhaps they need to eat more of it to maintain their weight?

The Show Chow is working well for me.

I do have one mom that's been on show chow since January that is having trouble putting weight back on after weaning her kits about a month ago. She had triplets though (two of them were quite large at weaning). She is gaining, just very slowly. This has not been an issue for her with past litters (several litters of triplets) while on PANR. Her age and the feed is all that has changed.
 
My two girls are on the Show and they are doing very well. They initially had problems during the switch, but now they are both steadily gaining and doing very well. My one girl, Tia, who has had problems keeping her weight on due to her broken pelvis and the associated pain IN ADDITION to a double food switch (unknown to Mazuri to PRCS), is filling out VERY nicely.
 
arf2184 said:
The Fibre3 works great for some chins. Some have trouble keeping the weight on with it. I would recommend it for chins that are fat. You can buy it 7 lb bags so if you wanted to try it, you won't be stuck with a ton of it if it doesn't work out. The chins seem to like it and I had a few growing out that got nice and plump while on it, but some of my older naturally slimmer chins gradually got a bit skinny...not underweight but not quite where I wanted them. The young ones did eat quite a bit more of it than the older chins. Perhaps they need to eat more of it to maintain their weight?
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I thought you wrote that some gained weight when you were beginning the switch? Did they plateau and then start losing?

I started a switch to PRCS about 5 weeks ago. My chin did loose some weight and now is gaining slightly but doesn't eat the PRCS as much as she ate her Mazuri. I also don't like how much fat is in it (3.5% I think...) I went to a feed store to get some alfalfa today and they had the Fibre3 in 7 and 25# bags. They only had the Rabbit Chow Complete (not show and I don't like the complete) and no other acceptable chinchilla food so I was thinking of maybe switching her again in the future. I like the high fiber and low fat. I know the protein is low but her poo is sensitive to high protein (why I switched her from Mazuri originally). Hhhmmmm...so much to think about!!
 
I'm a little confused. Do you think the fat count in PRCS is too low or too high? If I'm mistaken, isn't the Fibre3 lower? If you thought it was high, 3.5% is far from a diet too high in fat for a chinchilla.
 
Essentia said:
I'm a little confused. Do you think the fat count in PRCS is too low or too high? If I'm mistaken, isn't the Fibre3 lower? If you thought it was high, 3.5% is far from a diet too high in fat for a chinchilla.
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I thought it was too high. I was going on the advice of my current vet and my old vet who lives near my hometown. I know in all the studies it's like 1-5% but both my vets said 2-3(max)% is ideal and it seems most good food falls in that range. Is 3.5 really not high? Then I could definitely be wrong, I'm sorry. I think Fibre3 is 2%, somewhere around there but at least 2%.
 
caiti said:
I thought it was too high. I was going on the advice of my current vet and my old vet who lives near my hometown. I know in all the studies it's like 1-5% but both my vets said 2-3(max)% is ideal and it seems most good food falls in that range. Is 3.5 really not high? Then I could definitely be wrong, I'm sorry. I think Fibre3 is 2%, somewhere around there but at least 2%.
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No, it's not too high. You will find that most feeds are 2.5-4% in fat. Most being 3-3.5% when it comes to rabbit feed. I personally wouldn't feed a chin anything below 2.5%.
 
About Fibre3:
I thought you wrote that some gained weight when you were beginning the switch? Did they plateau and then start losing?
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Some gained initially and some stayed the same initially. After several months, most of the chins that had initially stayed the same started losing gradually. The older chins that initially gained leveled out (as they should). The growers continued to gain (as they should). I like the Fibre3, but its not right for all chinchillas. I wouldn't recommend it for breeding females or naturally slim chinchillas.
 
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