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[dmbfan128]

Hey everyone,
Myself and my girlfriend recently adopted two baby chins =). They are absolutely amazing, from the first hour we received them we already had a nice story. Long story short on our way home one escaped from the box they were in and ran around the car. It was quite a first encounter with our little guys. They are still adjusting to their new home but love to come out of their cage and play around especially doing little tricks off the walls and climbing all over the furniture in the place, its quite a sight. Anyway we have been feeding them a 50/50 mixture of chinchilla food and hamster food as the breeder told us was a cheaper way to feed them because chinchilla food is kind of expensive especially for us college students. We also feed them alfalfa and they seem to go through that relatively quickly. I was wondering if we should keep the hay ball container thing filled with alfalfa all the time or not. So far we have but we are worried about over feeding them, what should we do?

Thanks a bunch!
Ben

[Jo Ann]

  

They are absolutely amazing, from the first hour we received them we already had a nice story. Long story short on our way home one escaped from the box they were in and ran around the car. It was quite a first encounter with our little guys.

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Chinchillas!   They decided to start training you faster than most.   

A big welcome to the Chinchilla Club Forum, also.   We are all here to share the ups and downs, the funny and the sad, the healthy and unhealthy about our chinchillas.  This is a learning site ... never feel shy about asking questions ... we were all "new chin parents" at one time, too.        Learn to chin-proof and not to sit down on a piece of furniture, if your little ones are not in plain site ... they love to hide in the smallest of places ... even in the springs of the couch or chair  ... all they need is a 1" x 1" hole and they will have instant access to more than they should.   Chinchillas will chew on anything they can get their little teeth in ... from aluminum to plastic, from cleaners to deodorizers  ... they'll "taste-test" most anything ... just keep in mind the "anything" (or most things) they taste test may not be good for them, so carefully put away things you would keep out of the reach of a toddler, then look again ... there's always more a chin can get into ... they're smaller and faster than a toddler!  (As you have already discovered.)

A chinchilla can, if cared for properly, and if they are genetically inclined to, can live to be 20+ years old, the average live span being from 10 to 12 years of age ... this is a big commitment to make.  Your chins are still babies (kits), to get a good start on life, they do need the proper diet and care.

Hay is a must for these little guys ... it is full of vitamins and nutrients they need every day.  Hay also provides them with a way to help keep their teeth ground down to the proper size. Careful of the kind of container you use to dispense the hay.  If you check around this site on some of the other parts of the forum, you will be told of kits that have gotten their heads stuck inside the hay ball dispensers. 

Over feeding your chin a good quality food or hay is not usually in question ... they usually do not eat more than they need of the good stuff ... but ... if you feed them a diet full of treats and sugars, you can severely hurt their chances of a long happy healthy life.

Mazuri Chinchilla diet is not that expensive and is of good quality.  I think some WalMart stores carry the Mazuri.   Oxbow and Traditions also produce a quality chinchilla feed.   Please, do NOT give them food that has additives or is labeled "Deluxe" and or have other colorful "treats" mixed in them.   Chinchillas are just like children ... put a bowl of collard greens and a bowl of ice-cream in front of a child ... which are they going to eat, if given a free choice?  Same with the chinchilla ... if there are treats, they will fill up on them first, leaving the good-for-them-stuff behind in the feeder bowl.  Many of the added "treats" in these feeds are not good for your chinchilla, even as treats.  Most manufactures do not do their "home work" when it comes to developing products for different animals that are listed under the same category.  Chinchillas are in the rodent family, but many things a mouse or rat can have, would kill a chinchilla.  Many manufacturers seem to conviently forget this.

Keep in mind:  You buy your stuff for your chinchilla, you are the one with the $$s.   Therefore, manufacturers advertise to appeal to you ... not to your chinchilla.   What may "look" good or "sound good" to you, may not always be good for your chinchillas.

I feed my dogs dog food and my chinchillas chinchilla food .... BUT ... should the available dog food be stale, old and without nutrition, I will give them my food or cat food to insure they will not starve and will get as much of the good stuff for them as is possible, until I can get the proper FRESH food for them again.   The same way with chinchillas ... mine are fed chinchilla food ... should for any reason I might not be able to get it for a short period of time, I will feed them hay until more fresh quality chinchilla feed is available.   

What some hobby breeders or individuals with a large number of chinchillas will feed their chinchillas may be cutting corners to save expenses, because they do have so many to feed.  But this does not mean it is healthy for a chinchilla.

Personal opinion ... this is not aimed at you ... but, anyone wanting/having/breeding chinchillas should have only the number of chinchillas that they can afford to care for properly.  I don't know who the breeder is, nor do I want to know, I just do not understand the message they are giving by giving instructions on "how to cut corners" when it comes to the nutrition that is needed by a chinchilla, especially a kit that is at the peak of it's growing and development stage of it's life.  I'm a real stickler on this subject. 

We are all here to help learn and share our experiences with chinchillas.  Cutting expenses by building your own chinchilla huts, shelves and chew blocks will save you more money than adding hamster food to your chin's food.   You are just learning, we've all been there, it just takes time and patients.   

   Jo Ann


 

[Debbie.nl.ca]

 
Nice to meet you and your two new little furballs. Yes they are so much fun to watch bouncing off the walls.

I never thought chinchillas were expensive to keep. They eat so little in the run of a day, and mostly hay.
Oh and timothy hay may be a better choice as they age. I do give alfalfa as well but mostly to kits and expecting mothers.
Most feed/pellets are alfalfa based, so I use it as more of a treat.
Pellets for 2 chins would not cost very much at all.
I have just bought a new hamster & was told not to feed it the seed mix sold for them but, rather stick with the pellets made for them.
Even the seed& pellet mix sold for hamsters is not good for them, so I sure wouldn't feed it to my chins.
Out side of pellets and hay they only get treats that I would eat myself.I stick with unsweetened cereals, dried and /or fresh fruits, and maybe a scattered striped sunflower seed.

yes I remember well getting my first whom also got loose in the car, but I paniced LOL
They are so much fun, so curious and entertaining, I know your having a blast.
We'd love to see them

[ahappycamper]

If your budget is extremely tight, you can also purchase PURINA MILLS ADVANCED NUTRITION RABBIT SHO FORMULA.
It is a rabbit food, 50lb for less than 20 dollars at most feed stores. I think they have smaller bags than 50lb. It is one of the few rabbit foods that can work for a chinchilla, the only thing is, if you don't have many chinchillas then going through 50lb before the nutrients "die off" is probably not going to happen, so maybe if you have friends that you can give or share the rest of the rabbit food with.