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[GrayRodent]

My pet chinchilla's weight seems to be too low. I am guessing it is because of stress from moving to a new place although it's been a while now. His weight is somewhat steady but it is 15% lower than when I first got him about 6 weeks ago. Unfortunately there are a lot of variables including a change of diet from a "deluxe" chinchilla mix to Oxbow pellets in the first two weeks, the move itself, and the fact my chinchilla is probably about 7 months old and may be reaching sexual maturity. He was not well socialized before but he is beginning to act socialized now. He seems to be a very picky eater as well when it comes to hay.

I know yogurt is a good choice but my chinchilla won't tolerate it and I wasn't interested in syringe feeding since this is not an emergency.

I was contemplating supplementing his normal diet with critical care to see if I can get his weight back up and then see if he will keep it on on his own. Instead of critical care I decided to make my own mixture using 1/2 Oxbow pellets, and 1/2 Steel cut oats powdered and watered down. This was based on a recipe for chinchillas with tooth problems. At this time I'm not suspecting tooth problems but I will consider that if the weight loss approaches 30%. I discovered that he will eat the mixture if I make balls out of it but only if it is dried out. I am thinking of adding molasses to make it stick better when it is dried.

I am planning on providing 1/2 a tablespoon of this per day and continuing to monitor his weight. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions on this.

[chinclub]

Have you tried Quaker Old fashioned oats from the grocery store?  Chins love those. I used to have a recipe for a supplement with oats, wheat germ, alfalfa pellets, and clovite. Do you have a farm feed store near you? Clovite(powdered vitamin) or Calf Manna would be good. Chins love both. Alittle is all you need.  Just a few pellets of calf manna a day as a treat OR less than 1/4 teaspoon of clovite on food twice a week. OR dust the clovite on the Quaker Oats and give 1/4 teaspoon of that twice a week.  You will need a store that sells those by the pound not by the bag.  (sorry if this post has errors. I am using my phone and im a terrible texter)

[chinclub]

Side note about calf manna.  You will read on the internet not to use it. About 10 years ago it was very popular with large ranchers.  We fed it everyday in our feed mixed 1 part manna to 4 parts chin feed.  We fed that for well over a year with no trouble.  As the mix became more widly used some started reporting females having larger kits. Some so large that they couldn't birth them out. That wad what stopped everyone from using it.  I also Don't know what ratios others were using it as.  We never saw a problem in our herd.  But obviously we also slowly added the calf manna over time to create that mix.  Too much to fast will give very nasty diareah. We,learned this first hand with an escaped chin that got into a bag.

[GrayRodent]

I am going to see if I can find some calf manna close by since I live in a rural area and use that instead. It would be easier than mixing oats and pellets and it will likely be higher in nutrients.

What do you think of 50%/50% Oats/Oxbow? It looks like 1/2 tbsp/day is excessive. What do you think about 1 teaspoon every two days? I did give him about half a teaspoon yesterday and it appears to have had no effect on this morning's weight.

[chinclub]

I wouldn't be trying to weight him everyday.  I don't think you will really see that much day by day.  Try weekly instead.   Keep in mind that if you are letting him out now the added exercise could cause weight loss.  If he is eatting drinking and pooping normally and isn't boney you don't need to worry.

[GrayRodent]

I was unable to locate calf manna in anything less than 10lb bags. I don't think I have to worry about him getting pregnant I imagine clovite is going to be the same. Do you think 50%/50% Oxbow/Oats is a good idea or should I just go with the 10lb bag of calf manna? I know some people with horses that can use it for a treat so it won't get wasted.

My chinchilla seems to be drinking and eating normally and I don't think he is any bonier than when I got him. The 8 day trend I have now shows a 20g loss at a creepy 2g/day slope. His activity level can vary day to day. Oddly it seems some of his higher activity days sometimes results in a small gain by the next day. His schedule is still more stable than before. I like to weigh every day since it helps me to see what normal fluctuations look like but I recognize I need to be looking at longer averages to make sense of it all. Here is what it looks like:

The first couple of data points may be off since I was learning how to weigh him. As you can see it's starting to look like another downward trend and I now have to expand my scale since it drops below 400.

[glafond]

Have you tried Quaker Old fashioned oats from the grocery store?  Chins love those. I used to have a recipe for a supplement with oats, wheat germ, alfalfa pellets, and clovite. Do you have a farm feed store near you? Clovite(powdered vitamin) or Calf Manna would be good. Chins love both. Alittle is all you need.  Just a few pellets of calf manna a day as a treat OR less than 1/4 teaspoon of clovite on food twice a week. OR dust the clovite on the Quaker Oats and give 1/4 teaspoon of that twice a week.  You will need a store that sells those by the pound not by the bag.  (sorry if this post has errors. I am using my phone and im a terrible texter)

Is 1/4 teaspoon of clovite per chin? I have 4 in 1 cage and 2 in another cange (so 1 teaspoon and 1/2 teaspoon?).


Thanks!

[chinclub]

I would hand feed.  Since it is a vitamin you don't want one eating more than his share.

[chinclub]

Chris, have you looking into Internet shopping for Calf Manna?
http://www.tjschinchillasupplies.com/chinchillafood.html

I don't know that oats by themselves would be enough.  I would suggest something with a bit of a kick like the calf manna.

[GrayRodent]

Thanks for your input. I just ordered calf manna and critical care from TJ's. I will start him on calf manna and have the critical care handy if he gets sick.

[GrayRodent]

I got my order in today from TJ's and everything looks good there. Thanks, Jean for everything. I should know in a few days how effective it will be. The calf manna looks like red pellets about twice the diameter of typical alfalfa pellets but about the same length. We used to feed it to milk goats to sweeten the milk. I am starting with 3 pellets per day (Per Jamie's recommendation) and will spread out the dose over the day to prevent bowel upset. He readily eats the calf manna so I won't have to hand feed that. His behavior is still largely unchanged other than steadily becoming tamer and more social during the day. He is still very energetic and playful when I let him run in the evenings and shows no outward signs of malnutrition or protruding bones.

This morning I have calculated he has now lost 20% of his original average weight and the trend is still about negative two grams per day per week. The oats may have slowed down the loss slightly but may not have had any effect. I should have ordered this sooner but I didn't think it would ever get this bad.

[Snickerdoodlesmom]

In desperate situations, would anyone ever use nuts like almonds to promote weight gain? I know it does bad things to the liver, but would this ever be ok?

[GrayRodent]

I don't think that would be a good idea because nuts cause soft stools and can easily cause diarrhea, coat the intestine making it less permeable, and increase bowel transit time which may result in rapid weight loss. Half an almond can be used as a last resort treatment for constipation though. I suspect repeated exposure to the point of putting on weight might have toxic effects and cause the onset of fatty liver disease.
Hand feeding ground and moistened alfalfa pellets or hay by syringe would be the best thing if your chinchilla has gone off its food and you have no recourse. I've found with mine that offering more treats and oats has not had an effect on his appetite after about 7 days.

[Snickerdoodlesmom]

Have you taken him to the vet?

[GrayRodent]

I plan to if the calf manna does not improve his condition.