Hay-only feeding

[buffy88]

Hi everyone, has anyone had any experience feeding chinnies only hay? Or what would you think of it?

 

[ticklechin]

I have, it did not work out to my satisfaction, the chins fur quality and muscle mass decreased to the point it alarmed me, the poo was great though. They can survive on it, but IMO can't thrive.

 

[feistychins]

I don't like it. They loose weight and other than the high fiber, they do not get enough nutrition. The chin acts like they are starving all the time. I don't recommend it unless a chin has soft poops or needs to detox for a few days.

 

[tunes]

Not a fan either. I had to do it out of necessity and aside from what Dawn mentioned, the chins were not thrilled with it. When I gave their pellets back, I thought they were going to lose their minds.

 

[Narcissus]

I am curious, does anybody know why? I will always feed hay and pellets, I was just wondering what is in the pellets that is not in the hay that makes them thrive?

 

[Cuddlebug]

The pellets consist of hay and other ingredients that provide a balanced diet for the chinchilla. Hay alone does not provide the balance and that is why a hay only diet produces the results that have been mentioned.

 

[Anna35]

I just recently had to go with a hay only diet for about a week because Tifa (my new girl) was on a very poor diet when I got her and came to me having very soft poops. I took her to the vet to make sure there was nothing else going on and they said hay only until her poops were good again. Andrea is right they act like they are starving and lose weight. When I was able to introduce her pellets back into her diet she ate them so fast that it seemed like I hadn't fed her in days... But I did get her straightened out and her pellets are slowly being increased and so far so good.