What is a chinchillas daily diet?

Question

What is a chinchillas daily diet?

Answer 1

Mine just eats some of his chinchilla food and loves raisins.

Answer 2

im pretty sure they eat food.

Answer 3

A Chinchillas diet is very simple.  Their system is very simple so less is better.  They can't have a lot of sugar in their diet because it is very bad for them and it can kill them.  Chinchillas love raisins so I just give my little guy two raisins a day as a treat.  I give him plain Nutriphase pellets for Chinchillas.  They don't eat much.  I give him an unlimited amount of timothy hay.  Make sure that fresh water is always available.  Don't use wood shavings for bedding.  It isn't good for them.  Use carefresh.  Give them wood chews to keep their teeth from growing out of control.  Also, they need a dust bath two to three times a week or their fur will get greasy.  If you dust bathe them too often then their skin will get dried out.

Answer 4

Here is a list of things that you will need when getting a Chinchilla. It will help you get started.

1. Large cage, the taller the better since Chinchillas love to climb. (plastic can be toxic to them so try not to buy a cage with plastic)

2. Exercise Wheel to keep your Chinchilla healthy and strong.

3. Bedding ( do not use pine or cedar) Must use Care Fresh or Aspen

4. Fresh Water Daily (best to use bottled water or sterilized)

5. Pellet Food made specifically for Chinchillas (do not use other kinds)

6. Chewing toys to keep the teeth healthy (certain wood can be harmful)

7. Fresh Hay Daily (must use loose Timothy Hay)

8. Dust for a bath (must not be scented)

9. They need an environment that is never too hot (try to maintain less than 75 degrees)

Pellet Food

A high quality pellet is the staple to any chin diet. I use Mazuri.  Chinchilla Diet. Mazuri specializes in exotic animal food. Most local pet stores carry this food.

A constant supply of hay should be kept in the chinchilla's cage at all times. Hay is important for many reasons. It is a wonderful source of fiber, as well as calcium and protein.

With chinchillas though, it is also important for helping them to keep their back teeth from overgrowing and causing health issues. Cube hay will not help back teeth nearly as much as loose hay does.Timothy, alfalfa and oat hay are all good for chins. Alfalfa is much higher in calcium and protein, which an be harsh on chin's digestive systems, especially if the pellet portion of the diet is alfalfa based.

Also make sure you always provide plenty of different sizes of chew sticks for their teeth as well. A basic rule of thumb is that if your pellets are alfalfa based, as Mazuri is, you need to feed timothy hay. If the pellets are timothy based then feed a alfalfa hay.

Water..........

The fear of any chin owner is a bacterial infection happening to his or her chins. Contamination of water is pretty easy to prevent but hard to fix.Bacteria is the most common of contaminants in chinchillas' drinking water. It can come from a dirty water bottle where it has cultured itself and grown to a concentration that is enough to affect the animals or it can come from the water source. The consequence of the bacterial infection is usually diarrhea and can be fatal if not treated promptly. There are several different types, some are worse than others, but all are parasites that chins are much better not having.

Heavy metals, fluoride, arsenic, lead, and other chemicals either added intentionally or not can be harmful as well. This is why tap and well water can be dangerous. Even if the concentrations are not high enough to make humans feel ill, in chinchillas it can still cause problems. The consequences can be the poisoning of your chinchilla or even neurological problems that can affect a chin for the rest of his life. If you think that your chinchilla is suffering from parasites or poisoning, get him/her to the vet immediately!!

Regular bottled, purified water is just fine for chinchillas as is reverse osmosis or distilled water. They don't need the expensive bottled mineral waters and shouldn't be given carbonated water (this could really cause problems..use only flat water!) However, if you are sure that the water you are giving them is clean and contaminant free, then it's probably going to be just fine.There are just too many possibilities of contaminants in the well water so As a last resort (or maybe a first), the water may be boiled to kill any bacteria. This is pretty highly effective at making water safe for chinchillas and humans alike.

Chinchillas love sweets, there is no doubt about that. Chinchillas love sweets, especially raisins and will eat as many as you are willing to give. When feeding a chinchilla you need to be very careful and not give too many treats. Too many treats can lead to diarrhea ( a very bad stomach ache ) , obesity, liver damage and kidney failure. Treats should be limited to a few a day.

Chinchillas need to maintain a healthy diet. Never buy a pellet food that has treats mixed in. They will simply eat the treats and leave the pellets. Mazuri is a good pellet food that is sweet in taste that chinchillas love. It has absolutely everything in it that a chinchilla needs.

A chinchilla has a very sensitive digestive system. Not only is too many treats a bad thing but changing brands of food too quickly can cause huge problems for them. If you are going to change foods, always mix in the new with some of the old bit by bit until they are used to it. This is to not shock their system. Never give a chinchilla any kind of rabbit or guinea pig food. It can cause liver damage.

It is hard to say no to a begging chinchilla but remember too many treats is not so sweet. Love your chin enough to say no.