|
Post by polly on Oct 22, 2016 11:29:29 GMT
How many chinchilla owners are currently active on this forum now, I wonder. It would be really nice to see this section a little more active than of late! If you own chins, please come forward and make yourselves known, and then maybe we can get this section off the ground and moving a little more.
|
|
|
Post by natnat899 on Oct 22, 2016 18:12:01 GMT
Hi Polly, I am still around - not as active as I used to be though! Hope everything is going ok for you
|
|
|
Post by polly on Oct 22, 2016 19:07:25 GMT
Hi Nat, Nice to hear from you. Yes all is well here. I have seventeen chinchillas now, all boys, and all stunning. It's a full time job looking after them all, so now working less hours to make sure they all get the time and attention they deserve. I lost one to teeth issues earlier this year and that was heart breaking. I've just finished bathing and feeding them all, and then exercising a few of them. They are all well, healthy and good weights. How are Peanut and Pickle getting on?
|
|
|
Post by natnat899 on Oct 23, 2016 0:26:21 GMT
Sorry to hear that; I bet you did all you could for him (hugs) Seventeen chinchillas, wow! I hardly have space for 2 they are good, it's been a bit of a strange time with pickle since the last time we spoke - moved the cages around to create more space and he became really withdrawn and almost depressed it seemed! It took another cage move around and a good few months to knock him out of it; he is a sensitive chinchilla, bless him. Pickle has always been slimmer than I would like, but he has managed to put on a bit of weight; and I'm not too sure if peanut is too big!
|
|
|
Post by skardsen on Oct 24, 2016 12:05:42 GMT
I'm somewhat active here and I've had my girls for about a month and a half. Nice to meet you.
|
|
|
Post by polly on Oct 24, 2016 16:19:45 GMT
Hi Skardsen, Nice to hear from you, and hope you are enjoying your chins. It would be good to get regular dialogue between chin owners going on here again, so hope you are up for it. I'll read your posts when I get a minute to myself. Seventeen chinny boys to sort out first
|
|
|
Post by randomname on Oct 24, 2016 22:18:01 GMT
Hi, I'm around too. Just got 2 boys after losing my first guy a few years ago. Would really welcome some up to date diet posts as I don't know enough about it. 17 chinchillas seems like a lot of poop polly, I seem to sweep up all day after my 2 (& 4 degus) so I imagine you must spend a lot of time with a broom in your hand (& a chin in your other one, maybe one in the hoodie, one in the pocket, one on your head lol )
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Oct 25, 2016 0:09:21 GMT
Sounds like the perfect fashion accessory for sweeping, LOL!
|
|
|
Post by polly on Oct 25, 2016 16:20:02 GMT
Hi guys, yes, spend quite a bit of my time cleaning up after my little darlings, but love every minute of it, and yes, a couple of them do enjoy cuddling up in my hoodie . If you list your chin diet questions, I'll try my best to answer them, and anything else you want to ask. There is a lot of conflicting information posted on the web, and I've found the learning curve challenging. Keep your posts coming and I'm sure others will join in.
|
|
|
Post by randomname on Oct 25, 2016 19:03:34 GMT
Which commercial nuggets are best? How do I get them eating hay/forage (don't think they've seen it before!) Are nuts/seeds safe? If so, which ones? What treats are good for training but still healthy? What fresh food is good? I've only tried herbs & oat grass so far. hahaha just everything really. Am kinda just trying everything, but they seem to ignore everything except nuggets. Oh & ribwort seems the only forage they'll eat.
|
|
|
Post by polly on Oct 25, 2016 19:29:52 GMT
Pellets I would recommend are Beaphar Care Plus, Duggins, and Charnwood. All my boys are fed Beaphar as it contains no GM, but it's expensive. Duggins is very good also, as is Charnwood. These are available online, not through pet shops. Chinchilla muesli mixes are a big no no as chinchillas will selective feed and simply pick out the rubbish usually contained in muesli. Timothy hay should be used as a chin's staple hay. Oat hay is fine, but should only be given a couple of times a week in small quantity. Make sure your chins are comfortable with pellets and hay first before you progress to treats. Fresh food of any sort should be avoided at all cost. Chins can develop bloat and GI stasis very quickly which can prove fatal. Herbs are good, as is plantain/ribwort, but again, only in small quantities, and not every day, My boys enjoy alfalfa hay once a week, and also a small amount of porridge oats mixed with a little wheat germ, again once a week, various dried herbs, dried apple leaves, pear leaves, willow leaves and hazel leaves (dried), and copious amounts of willow, apple and pear sticks (dried) for chewing. I can give you a list of safe herbs, but check out Galens Garden as all the products on this site are chin safe.
|
|
|
Post by polly on Oct 25, 2016 19:36:04 GMT
Forgot to add, never feed chins nut, seeds or raisins. Nuts and seeds are far to high in fat and raisins are too high in sugar, possibly leading to a diabetic chin.
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Oct 25, 2016 22:59:10 GMT
Do chins have difficulty processing the fat in nuts and seeds?
|
|
|
Post by randomname on Oct 26, 2016 1:03:27 GMT
Thanks polly. I don't let muesli food over my doorstep! They're on science selective at the moment, is that any good? (It's what their previous owner had them on) Am looking at JR Farm's grain free pellets too. I mix 3 types of nuggets for my goos, would that be ok for the chins too? (with chin nuggets obviously, not degu food!) I have meadow, botanical & timothy hays that I use as main feeds, with a forage mix (of dried dandelion, ribwort, green oats, thistle, redigrass etc) which I change every day so they don't get the same thing twice in one week. Their previous owner had been giving them a raisin every day (!!) & made me promise to continue. I said yes & threw them out! Poor guys are begging every day for them, but I'm not giving them any. My other chinchilla was addicted to dried apricots when I got him - a whole one a day. Some people are literally clueless, but I'm hoping the damage hasn't been done already. Cold turkey for the fruit addicts I'm afraid. I've tried using the fresh herbs mixed into their hay to encourage them to eat it, but no joy (with either)
|
|
|
Post by skardsen on Oct 26, 2016 1:32:46 GMT
While I understand the need to keep high protein and fat out of their diet, is this not a case where small amounts of nutritionally beneficial seeds would be good for them? Degus have very similar dietary needs, yet it's good for them to have a very small amount of high calcium seeds daily. I feel as though the same size serving would have a positive impact, and the concern over fat and protein negligible.
|
|
|
Post by randomname on Oct 26, 2016 2:04:45 GMT
I remember several vets telling me the same about fresh food & degus years ago, also the same with seeds & nuts (One of whom now phones me with degu questions occasionally!) It does make me wonder if there'll be more information in the future that will ok them for chins, but until I chat with someone who knows more, I'll keep to what I know is safe. There's still a lot of people & websites who advocate occasional raisins & other fruit, but I can't find any evidence of fruit in their diets in the wild. I know most chins love flowers (especially mallow) but my guys don't seem to know what they're for, they just drop them. Cage looks pretty now though
|
|
|
Post by polly on Oct 26, 2016 7:46:00 GMT
Chins have livers that simply cannot process the amount of fats and oils present in nuts and seeds. It's better to avoid them than run the risk of fatty liver disease and worse. The balance of calcium/phosphate within a chin's diet is important, too much, or not enough calcium can lead to health problems.
|
|
|
Post by moletteuk on Oct 26, 2016 13:02:20 GMT
This reminds me of the situation with degus 5 or 10 years ago, when most people thought that fresh forage caused bloat and seeds were fatty and to be avoided, and now we realise that forage and seeds are a crucial part of a healthy degu diet. I understand that there are a couple of issues with sensitivity to some seeds like hemp, but in Germany (where all the modern degu feeding ideas have come from), chinchillas are fed mostly forage (fresh & dried) and some seeds, same as degus (and guinea pigs and rabbits), this is after all what they eat in the wild.
Excess fats will cause liver disease in degus and chinchillas, but seeds are an excellent source of vitamins, minerals, esential fatty acids and other important nutrition in moderation.
A variety of dried forage should always be unlimited in small herbivores and fresh forage should be introduced very carefully.
|
|
|
Post by polly on Oct 26, 2016 14:48:14 GMT
I rescued a male chinchilla about two years ago, he was grossly under weight and his whole back end and tail coverered in green diarrhoea. This was the result of his original owner feeding him fresh food and forage. This boy has cost me many hundreds of pounds, caused me countless sleepless nights and unimaginable stress to bring him back to full health, but I managed it thankfully. He's now two and a half, healthy, and beautiful. I took him to a vet, who is fully experienced in chinchilla nutrition and husbandry, and was informed that if I had not have taken him when I did, and halted his original diet, he would have been dead inside six weeks. He suffered green and mushy poop for nearly six months after he came to me, resulting in cage cleaning several times a day, and I nearly lost him twice. His gastrointestinal tract is thankfully undamaged.
|
|
|
Post by moletteuk on Oct 26, 2016 15:19:15 GMT
Well done, I think this shows that chinchilla diet choices shouldn't be taken lightly I think every animal and situation is different, and that each pet keeper is responsible for assessing and reacting to the needs of their individual pets, and so what is right for many chinchillas might not be right for every chinchilla and equally what doesn't work for one chinchilla isn't necessarily bad for every chinchilla. I think this is a very sensible warning that fresh forage needs to be introduced very slowly and carefully to allow the gut flora to adapt, and that we need to bear in mind that there could be the possibility that some forage plants may not be will tolerated by some individual chinchillas and that pollution and contamination could be an issue.
|
|