Vet said chinchilla pellets are bad

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R

rach06ao

Chinnie Lover
Joined
Apr 20, 2011
Messages
26
Location
Leeds, UK
Hi Guys
I went to the vets with my chinchilla Snowy. She has maloclussion. The vet asked me what I feed her and i said chinchilla pellets, hay and the odd treat now and then.
He told me off! Said that chinchilla pellets of any kind are bad for chinchillas and are what caused her dental issues ;(
I feel guilty and confused at the same time?
Can this be right?

Rach
 
There is a fairly new trend with vets that chins should have a hay only diet-My vet dentist is in that camp and we have went round and round about it, I discussed my findings with a hay only diet I had given, I understand the thinking behind it and theoretically it should work, but it doesn't. Hay alone does not replicate a wild chins diet-the thought behind the theory of why domestic chins have issues. My thoughts are in the wild malo chins and chins with bad chewing habits are weeded out with darwins theory, they die and are not reproduced like domestic malo chins are. If feeding pellets is bad then all of our chins would have teeth issues, and they don't, There are plenty of chins living until 15-20 without issues.
 
But would they get enough nutrients from hay only? But then again, I do not know what they eat in the wild.
I am reminded of a person I knew on a guinea pig forum several years back who had starting feeding his piggies an all natural diet..hay, fruits, vegies. No processed treats or pellets. Lost contact with him, so not sure how it was working. But for piggies, all that food is OK for them.
 
Perhaps post the name of the vet? We have alot of UK members and they may be able to post the opinion of the vet. I know Dr. Crossley believes that malo is due to domestication of chinchillas for the most part.

I personally do not care if a vet or a human Dr. is rude as long as they are the best at what they do.
 
Marie5656 said:
But would they get enough nutrients from hay only?
Click to expand...

From my limited personal experience I don't believe they get enough nutrients from hay only. I have a young animal that is choosing to only eat a small amount of pellets, but is my best hay eater. He is extremely skinny, I'm in the process of trying to find a pellet he will eat.

I have another chin that has digestive issues, and at one point was only eating hay, and ignoring pellets. She weighed 520g at her lowest. With a well balanced diet (hay, pellets, herbal supplement) she is now at 776g, and hasn't topped out yet.

In another thread someone mentioned that many large ranchers don't feed hay at all, and the chins are healthy. I'm still trying to understand how this is possible because again, in my limited experience I've noticed that hay consumption is directly related to healthy poop out put. Additionally, I've always heard that pellets don't grind down back molars the way that hay does.
 
A quote from Dr. Crossley's Chinchilla Dental research project:

By determining what is going on during tooth elongation and during development of tooth deformity it is possible to identify many of the factors that influence disease progression, such as the amount of tooth wear (or rather lack of tooth wear) and the pattern of chewing used for different foods being major factors, these being further influenced by dietary mineral and vitamin balance. Unfortunately it is very difficult too manufacture commercial food with an ideal balance as vitamins deteriorate with time. To counter this, manufacturers add excessive amounts of vitamin A and D, sometimes approaching toxic levels, and definitely much higher than found in the chinchillas natural diet.

Once the relevant factors are taken into consideration it is possible to develop strategies for prevention of at least some of the dental problems suffered by chinchillas. The main priority should be to provide them with a diet that as nearly matches the wild diet in form, consistency and content. This is extremely difficult to do and in Europe the best thing is to feed a good quality summer cut hay from UNIMPROVED/UNFERTILISED pasture. This will make a good basic diet that can be supplemented with SMALL amounts of other foods, avoiding high energy items and anything with a high fat/oil content.
 
Well, this was Ross at Hollyhouse Vets in West yorkshire. I had a word with Sarah at the vets who said chinchilla pellets were fine.
 
I have never heard that chinchilla pellets were bad, this is an interesting topic, but I have to agree with everyone else, that hay alone could not give chinchillas everything they need..
 
ticklechin said:
I personally do not care if a vet or a human Dr. is rude as long as they are the best at what they do.
Click to expand...
By any chance are you a House, M.D. fan? ;)

Domesticated chinchillas have lived on pellets for a very long time. Before I switched to alfalfa, my chinchillas barely ate any hay at all and they were as healthy as ever only eating pellets. If pellets were so bad to cause malo, many, many more chins would be diagnosed with it.
 
I have noticed that a lot of vets seem to try to lump rabbits and chinchillas into the same category (although a supposed "exotics specialist" should definitely know the difference). We treat a lot of rabbits at the vet clinic where I work and lately we have been recommending lots and lots of hay (plus veggies, greens, etc.). Of course, lots and lots of hay is also good for chinchillas, but I believe the pellets are a very important part of the diet as well. It seems absolutely crazy to me for a vet to recommend getting rid of pellets all together.
 
Chinchillas bred in captivity have a longer life span than those in the wild from everything I have heard. To me this seems to indicate we are doing something right with their care. I'd go with those who say chinchillas get malo due to chinchillas with the gene who would naturally die in the wild getting bred in captivity. Also, in captivity when people do not know what they are doing chinchillas aren't offered enough things to chew to properly wear down their teeth. I think malo is two fold and is both environmental and genetic. Whether it is started genetically and then made worse by environment it is hard to see. All I know is it seems most people find more malo chins in petstores and from unknown backgrounds than from quality breeders who give chins proper care from day one.
 
Has any study been done to determine if a chin in the wild has a lower rate of malo or better health? Wouldn't it also depend on the brand/quality of the pellet? I feed pellets, alfalfa cubes and tons of loose timothy hay and nothing else, no treats, only chew treats they don't acutally eat; all of the chins seem healthy, no malo, beautiful fur, bright eyes.
 
I agree with Dawn's theory on natural malo. And I don't believe that there is any research that says that there is no malo in wild chins. I'm quite sure that would be false. We just don't "see" it because they don't live in our homes and the vets don't examine them yearly.
 
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