|
Post by bouncy on Jul 10, 2017 15:29:32 GMT
Oh yeah, I know muesli isn't good. Unfortunately, the pellets they were on had such a high percentage of wheat and fillers. Didn't keep them on it long, just enough to work out the long-term plan
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2017 19:46:16 GMT
Flaming hell I've been looking at chinchilla videos on IG of people feeding their chinchillas fresh and dried forage and they're all being SCREAMED AT saying they're gonna kill their chinchillas - nuggets and hay only - everything else is poisonous or extremely bad because they can't pass gas and that their chinchillas are going to die extremely painful deaths.
🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
|
|
|
Post by zenaida on Jul 10, 2017 22:31:33 GMT
If I had a stronger backbone (and chins), I would keep doing it and keep posting. Post pictures of the poop, post pictures of how active they are, post about how they chose forage over pellets. I would turn off the comments if necessary.
If I had all the capacity for it, I would take an expedition to the wild and film chins out there eating things and then feed the exact same stuff to mine at home.
Drown out the idiots with anecdotal evidence first, then data later as it went on.
|
|
|
Post by randomname on Jul 11, 2017 5:31:13 GMT
because only forage causes gas? That makes no sense.
|
|
|
Post by bouncy on Jul 11, 2017 7:01:37 GMT
As I said at the start, what do you think they eat in the wild? Because it certainly isn't pellets lol. I just don't understand those that won't even consider fresh food.
|
|
|
Post by randomname on Jul 11, 2017 7:24:03 GMT
but they feed them breakfast cereals. 'cos, you know, shredded wheat trees grow all over the Andes. I hear the locals feast on cheerios when they harvest it in summer too.
Just given mine a small bowl of dry forage - dandelion/hay mix, a pinch of cut peppermint, a couple of apple wood sticks, some corn silk & some parsley stalks. They hate the corn silk, looks like a ginger beard (or worse) but they eat everything else. They went straight for a rummage in the bowl, ignored the pellet bowl I'd just filled. I love seeing the foraging behaviour, they never did it before. I have a mopani log thing in there I sometimes scatter the forage & pellets on, they spend a while rooting around & come back to it off & on 'til it's gone. Surely there's something to be said for managing to get them to show natural behaviour & to make their day more interesting too?
Edit : would anyone be interested in a thread where I document what I give the chins & degus for forage in a week? I'd be interested to see it on paper as I just work my way through them methodically so they don't get the same thing twice. I can't be precise about quantities as i don't measure, but it may be relevant to beginners to show how much variety they need too. Also I would welcome any advice about nutrients & feeding them in a balanced way as I haven't really taken time to do so. I could do it with pics if someone points me to a good hosting site. Does anyone use imgur? Have been considering it.
|
|
|
Post by bouncy on Jul 11, 2017 7:33:47 GMT
Cyprus has its own version of P@H called Animal House. They share the same crap advice, too. However, there's a lovely place near me. Yes, the chins have pellets (look like the JR Farm grain free), but it's only for supplementary feeding as they also get a huge serving of fresh fruit and greens every day. Despite being in a pet shop enclosure, I've never seen such happy and healthy chins. They're active, interact, alert.....
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2017 7:41:51 GMT
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Jul 11, 2017 16:58:21 GMT
I would too, Randomname!!
Bouncy, if the pet store would let you, and if you were willing, I would LOVE to see some pictures of those chins with the food, and hopefully some capturing their vitality and interactions.
|
|
|
Post by bouncy on Jul 11, 2017 17:53:11 GMT
I'll ask the lady. You'll have to just ignore the pet shop accommodation, though
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Jul 11, 2017 21:47:43 GMT
Glad to have grace for the accommodation in this instance!
|
|
|
Post by darthchinchi on Jul 12, 2017 9:31:39 GMT
People talk about selective feeding with chinchillas as well. Not sure someone actually looked into it though. In my experience they eat all their food. They are given what they can eat in a period og 24 hours. If they do not eat it all, they get less the next day. If all is gone they get a bit more. A lot of storebought musli mixes is filled with about 50% food and 50% junk. That's why I prefer to mix myself. I usually mix in a couple different pellet brands, some flowers and dried green mixes, dried pea flakes, safflor seeds and so on.
|
|
|
Post by darthchinchi on Jul 12, 2017 9:42:43 GMT
I don't get the breakfast cereal either. The gass thing is a big misunderstanding. Every animal with a gut has to pass gas. A horse passes gas even though it can get bloat. Same with chinchillas. Wrong feeding can cause bloat, that's not the same as them being able to pass the gas. But we've had this discussion in an other thread with the fact that one undocumentet accident makes everybody freak thinking they know the cause with out any examination.
I would never feed my animals on great ammounts on fresh fruits though. This is only based on the data on their natural diet. But wouldn't feed them cereal either. That's just bad for them. Added sugar and most animals get problems when they are fed processed grains - so why on earth would someone think processed grain in the pellet is an issue but okay as a treat? Makes no sence at all.
I keep out of social platforms that thinks going green will kill the animals. It's common practice in Germany. As far as I can tell they do not see an increase in dead or poorly animals. Far from it. Again with the "I knew a person who had a pet that died" anology... or "I fed my animal fresh and it diet" - never bothers to mention they didn't introcude properly. It's up hill. In Denmark there is a change. I only want people to know they can do what ever suites them. If they want to start on a more green diet that is fine. If they prefer pellets, hay and the odd snakc that's fine too.
|
|
|
Post by randomname on Jul 12, 2017 13:45:38 GMT
|
|
|
Post by darthchinchi on Jul 12, 2017 14:07:37 GMT
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19gMMn4Wmw3BNLWMojEy7kgrjnjVB2JlMSwd1s-nYyUc/edit#gid=0 if you go trough their spreadsheet every single mammal on it farts. If we look to animals with similar GI tracks (pseudoruminants), they all fart. To be honest I think the none farting idea comes from wrong feeding causing bloat. People love comparing chinchillas to horses (in both behaviour and digestion), but apparently not on the fart part...
|
|
|
Post by randomname on Jul 12, 2017 14:20:33 GMT
hahaha fart part
i am a child & i apologise
|
|
|
Post by darthchinchi on Jul 12, 2017 14:29:14 GMT
I was thinking the same random
|
|
|
Post by bouncy on Jul 12, 2017 19:12:49 GMT
We're all children at heart. One of my dad's favourite things for Christmas is a fart in a pot.
|
|
|
Post by moletteuk on Jul 13, 2017 10:33:44 GMT
The gas produced in the gut is a direct by-product of the bacterial digestion process, so any animal that uses bacteria to digest food produces gas. I presume bloat is when a food item suddenly feeds a particluar bacteria very quickly, too quickly for the gas to be comfortably dispersed, so it's the normal process but just a sudden burst of it. So any chinchilla with a varied and healthily populated gut that gets a regular supply of the right food to feed the good bacteria will be at far less risk of bloat and be better able to deal with any unusual foods or slightly more challenging foods or foods possibly with surface bacteria. It's all to do with a healthy gut flora.
Did anyone see the programme about the gut on bbc4 last week? It was saying (amongst other things) that smell of your farts depends on your gut flora - some bacteria have hydrogen sulphide as the main by product (which is the eggy stink) and others produce methane (which is odourless).
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2017 11:59:51 GMT
What one of the big FB chin groups recommend.
|
|