|
Post by darthchinchi on Feb 11, 2017 10:40:26 GMT
This is a list of things you can feed your chinchilla either fresh or dried. The list only contains items I have fed my animals. Please remember to do a slow introduction to new food items, both fresh and dried. If your animals mainly live on hay and pellets start out small. As they get used to a bigger virarity it gets easier to introduce new food items. Fresh fruit and veggies needs to be given in moderation because of moisture content. A lot of fruits has a high content of acid and sugar. Remember to cut into smaller pieces beforehand if you want to dry them.
Flowers: Rose - hip, petal and bud. Chamomile Dandilion - entire plant. If you drie the root it's a great source of gnaw material Mallow Marigold Hibiscus (I've only ever tried this dry) Sunflower - petals and seeds Cornflower Common daisy
Fruit and veggies: Carrot - entire plant Parsnip - entire plant Bellpeber Corn (I've only ever tried these dry as they are great gnawing material) Pea (Againg onlye tried them dry and as flakes) Apple - fruit, tree, leaf, flower Pear - fruit, tree, leaf, flower Strawberry - fruit, stem, leaf, flower Raspberry - fruit, leaf, stem Blackcurrant - leaf, stem (not sure about fruit) Redcurrant - leaf, stem (not sure about fruit) Blackberry - leaf, flower, stem (not sure about fruit) preferably with out thorns. Beetroot - leaf, I only feed the root part dry.
Herbs: Parsely Dild Thyme Pebermint Lavender Hops Common nettle (dry)
Other: Liquorice root. Small ammouts/once in a while Colla cactus - the dry steam Opuntia cactus flower Bamboo
|
|
|
Post by darthchinchi on Aug 3, 2018 8:03:58 GMT
I'm looking into Hibiscus atm. There's a lot of different species out there. As far as I can gather, every thing goes. I've just looked into the Hibiscus syriacus today (rose of Sharon). It's edible for human, so guessing it is for chinchillas as well. One site listed it as toxic to dogs, but an other one said it wasn't toxic for dogs, cats and horses. So I think every thing in the Hibiscus family goes.
If buying a flowering plant, I would highly reccomend not feeding them the flowers that year as it can be near i possible to tell if something has been used to spray the plant
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Aug 3, 2018 17:03:53 GMT
Just remember that not all things that are safe for human consumption are good for animals. For instance garlic, onion, chocolate, raisins/grapes, and oranges are all toxic for dogs and cats.
|
|
|
Post by darthchinchi on Aug 3, 2018 17:11:25 GMT
Just remember that not all things that are safe for human consumption are good for animals. For instance garlic, onion, chocolate, raisins/grapes, and oranges are all toxic for dogs and cats. I do agree with you, I'm thinking it's edible for chinchillas as well, as dried hibiscus is a common treat, but I'm not sure what what species the dried one is. I think its the the Hibiscus sabdariffa (the one used for tea), but it looks like every species in the Hibiscus family is edible. I came across one page who mentioned it as toxic to dogs and cats, but an other one mentioned it as beige safe for dogs, cats and horses... Bit of a puzzle tbh. Also a lot of the hibiscus you can buy as plants for keeping inside (Nice big ones that looks like something you would find on Hawaii) has a not with them that says they are not for consumption, but when researching every source out there says they are edible... So it's a jungle.
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Aug 3, 2018 17:21:40 GMT
UGH! No kidding! A messy jungle, LOL! Is is the bloom alone that is safe for consumption, or are the leaves safe as well?
|
|
|
Post by darthchinchi on Aug 14, 2018 19:25:43 GMT
Honestly I think the entire plant is edible, but would only feed the flowers
|
|
|
Post by kdogbella23 on Sept 21, 2018 22:19:14 GMT
While in moderation some fresh stuff is safe breeders have switched to saying no fruits, nuts, seeds, or veggies ever. Since chinchillas have never eaten fully fresh things (in the wild and with breeders) fresh can cause bloat. And overall the less treats the better off your chinchilla is
|
|
|
Post by darthchinchi on Sept 21, 2018 22:27:34 GMT
While in moderation some fresh stuff is safe breeders have switched to saying no fruits, nuts, seeds, or veggies ever. Since chinchillas have never eaten fully fresh things (in the wild and with breeders) fresh can cause bloat. And overall the less treats the better off your chinchilla is It depends on where you are from, and the notion of the wild ones diet is not correct
|
|
|
Post by kdogbella23 on Sept 21, 2018 22:32:49 GMT
Chinchillas live in a cold desert. Many of the foods they were once thought to eat do not grow in the altitude they live in. I have seen plenty of chins die of bloat, sugar shock, fatty liver disease and more because of having veggies as treats not even a full diet. I would love to be able to feed them all natural but it has always done more harm then good. I agree since so little reseach has been done on chinchillas diets there is no way a pellet can be perfect but it has and continues to have chins living longer lifespans when they are on a good one. Improper pellets do cause MANY issues with chins but they are some of the same issues as forage diets
|
|
|
Post by darthchinchi on Sept 21, 2018 22:51:33 GMT
I do not agree with any of what you are saying, but not in the mood to argue or find the proof. I so have some articles on diet in the wild, and general digestion of - the word escapes me - but the type of herbivor chinchillas are, and how their digestive trak works with the microorganisms in the appendix breaking down the different types of plant materiale and so on and so forth. I do respct your opinion though. The illnesses you speak of is just not something we see here, where wee feed a lot of fresh foods I also notice you focus a lot on veggies, that's not my personal main focus.
|
|
|
Post by kdogbella23 on Sept 21, 2018 23:01:57 GMT
I give the same respect to you. Breeders have found these illnesses only through autopsy. I have seen chinchillas have sezuires after one piece of carrot or one raisin. So I and many owners will never be willing to feed many of these things to chins. I totally accept that different countries have different ways to feed chins but this group feels like it pushes a pellet free diet so chin owners from anywhere but Germany or Denmark (and more) will not join. I don't know where this group primarily is but I think some more Chinchilla members are needed from different countries because a lot of the practices I see advised are horrendus in most countries. Not saying its wrong just very different for us. Thank you for keeping this civil and kind!!!
|
|
|
Post by ntg on Sept 21, 2018 23:48:37 GMT
We don't push a pellet free diet for either chins or degus and have no idea where you got that notion from? Our approach is to be open-minded about new information that is presented to us and use scientific knowledge to make an informed decision about the way we feed out pets, with no pressure as long as the basic needs are met if that is what you're comfortable with. And, just to confirm, I feed pellets to both my degus and chinchillas.
What I wonder is why people think chinchilla's suddenly can't cope with natural items but can cope with artificial, compressed nuggets that in no way resemble natural food (and often laden with grains which wouldn't be a natural food item for them to begin with) simply because they have been fed that way for less than 100 years? Evolution certainly doesn't work that quickly, so what you are likely seeing is a reduction in the diversity of the gut microbiota due to the P&H diet and, by quickly introducing many fresh or unusual items into their diet, their intestinal flora hasn't had time to adapt, causing bloat, diarrhoea, and in serious cases possible death. Instead we recommend, if you do feed fresh, to introduce it very slowly before feeding it freely as darthchinchi does to minimise these risks.
|
|
|
Post by ntg on Sept 21, 2018 23:50:32 GMT
As for where our members are primarily located, the UK. However, we take a lot of interest in the German husbandry of small animals as they have proven to be forward thinking for a lot of our small animal species.
|
|
|
Post by moletteuk on Sept 22, 2018 14:09:29 GMT
I think a sticking point is that what people think of as 'natural diet' means vastly different things to different people. I suspect that the shocking bad results of poor attempts at a vegetable based diet are colouring people's feelings about forage based diets, which I suppose is understandable.
The forum doesn't currently offer any official care guidelines for chinchillas, our only agenda for chinchillas is to promote discussion and information sharing. You may see that topics crop up from what you could call the german style of chinchilla keeping, but this tends to be because there are virtually no other English speaking chinchilla places where those views are even allowed to be voiced. We do also have a habit across the degu and chinchilla boards of asking a lot of questions, trying things out for ourselves (where the individual has done their research and feels comfortable) and examining long held beliefs to see if they still hold true.
|
|
|
Post by winic1 on Sept 22, 2018 17:14:58 GMT
As for your Hibiscus questions, here we have Hibiscus syriacus. Rose of Sharon. Only the one species survives here. Grows wild, spreads readily by seeds. Is edible for humans--leaves, flowers, pods. Squirrels feast on the seed pods. We have several large ones right outside the door, once it has become flowering, you go out there and I swear hundreds of squirrels go dashing from the overhead branches to get away from you, it's scary (okay, not hundreds, but seems like it, you're surrounded by panicking, fleeing squirrels, close enough to reach out and touch.) Deer eat leaves, stems, flowers, seed pods. So do ground hogs (like gophers), rabbits, chipmunks, etc, until they grow too tall for them to reach. I use hibiscus branches in my bird cages for perches with no problem. And the wild birds are all over the bushes and the seeds as well.
I see it listed as toxic to dogs, cats, horses. But I don't see any info as to the source or science behind this claim. Our dogs have chewed on and played with hibiscus sticks, just because they're out there. Cats have probably chewed on a stray leaf, flower, or two that wandered into the house on people's feet, since one of them MUST eat anything plant that he can get to, but then he also chews on my toxic houseplants at times (I have them barricaded. he finds a way through, the jerk.)and I usually know because I HEAR him chewing and slobbering as his tongue swells and his saliva gets goopy and his mouth goes numb, but the idiot cat keeps chewing on it anyway, so perhaps his having chewed on hibiscus is not a good evaluator. Would like to see the source of this information, and the mechanism of toxicity, though.
In the guinea pig (cavy) world, it says everywhere that hibiscus is toxic and should never be given to guinea pigs. Started tracking back the information, to find the source and the science behind this, since it went against what I was seeing with wildlife and non-US sources. Kept tracing the statement, and after a while found it all tracked back to ONE person. ONE PERSON put out the statement that hibiscus was toxic and should not be fed to guinea pigs. This same ONE PERSON had evidently actively sought out every guinea pig site she could find, and put up the information. Sought out every discussion of it that came up (for a long time span) and immediately shouted down anyone who said anything different. She was everywhere. ONE PERSON worked hours and hours and hours, over several years, until this information was just being passed on without anyone ever thinking to question it anymore, and it was just generally accepted throughout guinea pig care. It was both fascinating and alarming to follow the trail and see how this had happened. And where did she get her info? Tracing back to the earliest posts she made, she had been in Hawaii, where hundreds of species of Hibiscus grow. She had taken a course on them. (A course. One.) And evidently there is one (or was it two) species that can be toxic. Therefore, she concluded that NO ONE SHOULD EVER FEED ANY HIBISCUS OF ANY SPECIES TO THEIR GUINEA PIGS. EVER. Not-watch out for Hibiscus toxic-kind, or -stay away from this group of hibiscus, because it's hard to tell the toxic one from the others, nope, she shouted across the interwebs that no one should ever feed hibiscus of any kind, anywhere, anyhow, until all discussion of it ceased and her word was gospel.
So.....if you can find good sources about hibiscus, trust them. My current goos wouldn't touch it, but they never had fresh anything in their first couple years at the rescue, so they refuse everything fresh, even fresh grass. So frustrating, with all the good greenery I have available right outside my door. The first two were much more adventurous with their foods.
And....make the effort to find the source of do's an don'ts before just taking current trends as gospel truth. You might be surprised by what you find.
|
|
|
Post by darthchinchi on Sept 22, 2018 17:26:56 GMT
Pretty sure it's that wild species you talk about Ive just planter in our garden. Found a white variation And yes, that's crazy. Didn't I mention the banana drama happening years ago in scandinavia, with chinchillas? Same issue. A guy gave a chinchilla some dried banana. Previous to this it was a common treat. This one animal, however, died after recieving it as a treat. The animal was a rescue animal. Soon it was spreding like wildfire "don't feed your chinchillas dried banana as treat, it kills them. It swells up in the intestines and they will die". I am not exadurating when I say hundreds of chinchillas had this as a treat from time to time. Nothing had happened. And then this one incident, where they didn't even test the cause of death, but just assumed it was the banana, nearly caused a panic about bananas. Bananas are not the best treat, but for compleatly different reasons. It's crazy how one incident vs hundreds can make people think the single one is more trustwhorty than all the others put together....
|
|
|
Post by darthchinchi on Oct 25, 2018 16:18:30 GMT
Some interesting info on hay and fresh grass and other plants, from the book Chinchillas, Diseases and Ailments. Actually I find a lot of info on a considerably more varied diet in older bookes and papers, and all have reference to papers that support the info, where as newer material often state how problematic it is, but with no real reference... Makes one wonder, doesn't it...
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Oct 25, 2018 16:27:33 GMT
It certainly does!! Feels like we are in a culture that relies on "rumor and well circulated but unproven theory" rather than facts supported by study and evidence.
|
|
|
Post by ntg on Oct 25, 2018 17:23:09 GMT
It's astounding the amount of information that's out there that just doesn't add up. For example, I've seen people say cardboard is a complete no no (including those chew tube things) yet the same people will say that everything on certain chinchilla-specific sites sell are safe when they contain birdie bangles... Which is exactly the same material as the chew tubes Chinchilla people make no sense
|
|
|
Post by darthchinchi on Oct 25, 2018 17:28:50 GMT
Same as "plastic is a big no" and then used fleece for everything... Polarfleece is plastic...
|
|