Just got my chinchilla!

[JessePolicy]

I got my first chin, Maya, a few hours ago. I let her out to play, gave her a dust bath, and I think she's tired from all the traveling and stuff because as soon as she got back in her cage, she fell right asleep!

I've been doing tons of research over the last month and I'm finally ready to have one as a pet.

I'm curious; how much do you guys feed your chinchilla? Do you just leave the bowls full at all times so they can snack or give them a certain amount?

I'll upload a picture of her in a sec.

 

[firestar]

congrats!! you must be so excited to finally have her home with you! can't wait to see pictures of maya how old is she? little ones have different feeding needs than full grown chins.

 

[GahhItsLee]

I personally like to free feed all my animals (make sure they always have food) but thats just me alot of other people prefer to just give them enough for the day to avoid waste.
How I think of it is like if your gonna make sure they have food all the time your gonna have to dump old food and give new food once a day if you just give enough for the day they might be without for an hour or so daily but you wont have to throw food out.

 

[JessePolicy]

Here's a pic:

She's 4 years old, but she's actually pretty small. She wouldn't come out of her house long enough for me to get a good enough pic, I'll get another once she's more awake.

 

[starleomach]

I fill their bowls up. Congrats on the new addition

 

[GahhItsLee]

Im jealous. Ive yet to ever get one of those amazingly cute im in my house all nice and comfy pictures. Shes beautiful.

 

[momenteller]

Congrats on the new baby! I keep my girls' bowls full; I've read on here that chinnies don't overeat.

 

[Carol~Anne]

Aww, she's a sweetie, congrats. Seems like all my guys like about 1/4 cup of pellets each per night. Sometimes there's a few pellets left over and I just dump them out and put a fresh scoop in the next day.

 

[Laurie]

I fill the bowl and keep it filled. I've noticed with my chins they eat throughout the day so I make sure they always have something when they are hungry and not just at a set time.

 

[cindyv3737]

Congrats! She is cute. I keep the bowl filled. She likes to graze during the day.

 

[mistywaterwoman]

Oh, she's a beauty! Congrats! And I like the name, too.
I go with the Mazuri recommended feeding guide, and I use 2 tablespoons per chinchilla per day. I throw out whatever is left at night and put fresh pellets in.

 

[caiti]

Yea everyone keeps the bowl filled but it's good to know how much your chin is eating. So I would suggest filling it with about the same amount at the same time everyday so you can see if your chin is leaving more or less pellets whenever you change the food. Plus, you can kind of predict how much they'll eat so you won't have to waste too much food.

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

Congratulations on your new baby!!!

Since my boys seem to have much more restraint than their mother (me!!!) when it comes to overeating, I make sure they always have pellets available so they can snack whenever they feel like it.