So a little story time:
I've been using good ol' Oxbow chinchilla food for 2 years now...however, I've recently discovered that my mother bought some off-brand "premium chinchilla food" and I didn't realize this until I just finished out all the Oxbow. There's no way to return it now since it's been a long while since she bought it...and she doesn't want to return it even if we could, saying "The vet sells it so it's completely safe for chinchillas" but after reading the ingredient list, it looks like I'll be feeding them a bowl of death.
Ingredients: Timothy Grass Hay, Wheat Middlings, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Ground Oat Groats, Soybean Hulls, Cane Molasses, Ground Wheat, Oats, Calcium Carbonate, Steamed-Rolled Oats, Yeast Culture, Dicalcium Phosphate, Dehydrated Banana, Flaked Peas, Raisins, Ground Corn, Magnesium Oxide, Vegetable Oil, Salt, Ground Flax Seed, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Anise Oil, DL-Methionine, Dried Yeast Product, Choline Chloride, Potassium Sulfate, Magnesium Sulfate, Yucca schidigera Extract, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Bifidobacterium bifidum Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus oryzae Fermentation Product, Torula Dried Yeast, Vitamin A Supplement, Algae Meal, Fructooligosaccharide, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Ground Steam-Rolled Oats, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Biotin, Folic Acid, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, and Color Added (Blue 1, Yellow 5).
Dried fruits, artifical colours, a long list of I don't know what....I wouldn't feed this to my dog nevertheless my frail chinchillas.
The 10/11 reviews on the website are all 5 stars...the one bad review gave 1 star for the food containing colours, but they never mentioned it harmed their chinchilla.
So my question is...is it absolutely a terrible idea to give my chinchillas this junk food, or would it be alright to "choke it down" until the bag is finished and I can feed them Oxbow again?
If not, any idea what to do with the food? :T
I've been using good ol' Oxbow chinchilla food for 2 years now...however, I've recently discovered that my mother bought some off-brand "premium chinchilla food" and I didn't realize this until I just finished out all the Oxbow. There's no way to return it now since it's been a long while since she bought it...and she doesn't want to return it even if we could, saying "The vet sells it so it's completely safe for chinchillas" but after reading the ingredient list, it looks like I'll be feeding them a bowl of death.
Ingredients: Timothy Grass Hay, Wheat Middlings, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Ground Oat Groats, Soybean Hulls, Cane Molasses, Ground Wheat, Oats, Calcium Carbonate, Steamed-Rolled Oats, Yeast Culture, Dicalcium Phosphate, Dehydrated Banana, Flaked Peas, Raisins, Ground Corn, Magnesium Oxide, Vegetable Oil, Salt, Ground Flax Seed, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Anise Oil, DL-Methionine, Dried Yeast Product, Choline Chloride, Potassium Sulfate, Magnesium Sulfate, Yucca schidigera Extract, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Bifidobacterium bifidum Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus oryzae Fermentation Product, Torula Dried Yeast, Vitamin A Supplement, Algae Meal, Fructooligosaccharide, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Ground Steam-Rolled Oats, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Biotin, Folic Acid, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, and Color Added (Blue 1, Yellow 5).
Dried fruits, artifical colours, a long list of I don't know what....I wouldn't feed this to my dog nevertheless my frail chinchillas.
The 10/11 reviews on the website are all 5 stars...the one bad review gave 1 star for the food containing colours, but they never mentioned it harmed their chinchilla.
So my question is...is it absolutely a terrible idea to give my chinchillas this junk food, or would it be alright to "choke it down" until the bag is finished and I can feed them Oxbow again?
If not, any idea what to do with the food? :T