Urine Color

[0pticBox]

I got my Lea about a month ago now. She's 10 years old and the family said she wanted a good place for her. She's my first chinchilla and I want her to have the best life possible.
My problem started about a week ago. I let her out into her play area and saw that her urine is a reddish color. I read online that this could be a problem with her diet. I ask the past family about her diet and they said "We gave her the usual Chinchilla food you get at petsmart, but we would also give her potato chips and treats."
I was so upset when I found this out so I changed her diet to a pellet, timothy hay, and dried fruit based. I dont see any improvements and I'm getting worried that she might get too sick to eat. Am I doing the right thing?

 

[Pepperpot]

Avoid any fruit or veg, fresh or dried and try and limit her to a hay and good quality chinchilla pellet only diet and monitor her urine closely.

 

[tunes]

Reddish urine is totally normal. It can be orange to red. It is a bit frightening to a new person though, as it looks like blood.

No fruits or veggies though. Good quality feed, good quality hay, fresh water, wood chews, and minimal treats. Water is also very important, both quality and quantity.

 

[Amethyst]

As tunes said the pee is normally anywhere from yellow to dark orange/reddish, they are very good at conserving water so their pee is really concentrated. Also some things like bark from apple sticks, can make the pee more reddish color too.

For a healthy chin you actually just need to stick to a simple diet, a good quality pellet only food, like Oxbow Essentials, or Mazuri and unlimited hay and water. Chins can't process sugars very well which can cause all kinds of issues, some like diabetes and organ failure, happen over time. So no fruits, veggies, or honey, as well as no seeds or nuts either, they are too high in fats.

 

[perennialclark]

I got my Lea about a month ago now. She's 10 years old and the family said she wanted a good place for her. She's my first chinchilla and I want her to have the best life possible.
My problem started about a week ago. I let her out into her play area and saw that her urine is a reddish color. I read online that this could be a problem with her diet. I ask the past family about her diet and they said "We gave her the usual Chinchilla food you get at petsmart, but we would also give her potato chips and treats."
I was so upset when I found this out so I changed her diet to a pellet, timothy hay, and dried fruit based. I dont see any improvements and I'm getting worried that she might get too sick to eat. Am I doing the right thing?

Dark urine is quite normal. Chinchillas come from an arid region and conserve water. They don’t have a gall bladder and can’t digest fats or sugars well. Sherwood Pet Health online sells a premium chinchilla diet. They also have formulations for recovering chins. Also, I order treats from Ronda’s chins. She has extensive dried herbs and flowers that my guy loves. The dried carnations are his favorite. She gives detailed advice on how often each can be fed as well as herbs formulated for certain dietary issues. Also, please put lava blocks in his cage. The number one health problem is teeth that grow too long. They eat the corners of the cube to to file their teeth down. Once the cube is round they won’t use it as much so replace it. I buy them in 6 packs on amazon cheaply. I also give him sticks daily from Rondas. Otherwise, he is an awesome pet and so easy to care for. Good luck!

 

[JamaisVu]

Reddish urine, with no other signs, wouldn't be much of a concern to me. Like people have said, their urine tends to be concentrated and mine get a lot of apple twigs as "treats" and I know that can make their pee darker sometimes.

I'd avoid the dried fruits. Chins love them but fruits aren't the best for them. Rose hips and oats (in moderation) are my chins favorite treats! I also sometimes replace giving them a treat with giving them extra attention or a chewing toy.

It sounds like you're trying to do a great job for your new chin, so keep at it! It sounds like Lea lucked out with a great new person