Need some insight please!! Fresh foods

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
C

Cuppy Cake

Guest
Hi all,
I know I am new and haven't introduced myself but I don't have a lot of time to be on right now. I wanted to ask real fast about something.
I have 2 chinchillas who I adopted. They are on Oxbow pellet and hay. I took the one female to the vets today for a check up and because the side of her tummy was hard. Turns out she is fine but has a small parasite which I got meds for. Now mind you this vet was recommended by a few rescues and chin owners. He is supposed to be one of the best exotic vets in the state. He told me that pellets are the "old way" and there is new info that fresh greens is best for them. Wants me to switch them off of pellets and slowly switch to fresh leafy greens. Now I have done my research for a long time and have always been told no fresh or sugary foods. However now suddenly this highly recommended vet says the new way to go is fresh?!?!?!
Someone help!
 
No offense to vets, but not all vets give the best advice regarding chinchilla diet. My thoughts are "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Chinchillas have been thriving on pelleted diets and hay for years. This is what has been recommended to me by several chinchilla experienced vets, as well as ranchers/breeders, and my mentor. I'm going to stick with what has worked for the last 60 years or so.
 
This just seems weird cause everyone I have ever talked to says no fresh foods. SOmetimes I wonder who did all this research to say fresh foods when all the big chin ranchers say NO fresh foods. I would think someone with a few hundred chins would have better knowledge than anyone.
 
I have heard "fresh greens" for rabbits is the way to go these days so perhaps he is mistakenly drawing from that? What is scary to me is that not everyone is doing research on-line and getting information from people that have had chins for a long time so they are probably heeding the vet's advice...
 
Thanks. My gut told me this just isn't right. He is supposed to be chin experienced and one of the best but I just don't know why he would suddenly suggest this as opposed to before. Some new study? Maybe I can ask if he has a study or something I can look at.
I completely understand some vets aren't the best vets for certain species , its just that this one was supposed to be. = /
 
Parker, He is indeed very big on rabbits and although he is a great exotic vet and very known, I think he may be doing one of the things that many vets do, classifying them with the Rabbits and G pigs.
 
IF it was discovered that chins could suddenly start eating greens without causing bloat or diarrhea, it would have to be a study done on a couple hundred chins for months if not years to be sure of what the long term affects would be. I find it hard to believe that no other vets, breeders, rescues or pet owners have heard anything about this.

I have spoken with vet who do say that chins are just like guinea pigs and rabbits. I have had house bunnies for 9 years and although chins have similar digestive tracts to bunnies, there are some differences.

If he is wrong, it could cause your chin a lot of problems. I have seen chins with bloat and trust me you don't want to go down that road.

May I ask what state you are from?
 
wow pellets are fortified to the chins specific health ! am i wrong? in the wild yeah they might have some across all kinds of foods but fresh greens are too watery for chins and can definitly cause diaria and greens dont have all the nutrients and good stuffs for them .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top