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[Heoke]

Hello all!

I am a new chin owner (I've had him for about 4 months) and I just have a question about how much hay he should be eating? He does eat his hay, because I have seen him do it, and he is in good health, I just worry he isn't eating as much as he should. I know it is hard to judge these things, but as he is a young chin and I am a novice chin mom, any advice you could give me would be great.

Thanks!

[GrayRodent]

I know the exact amount will depend on the size of your pet and the quality of both the hay and pellets. Both should be constantly available to your pet. My chinchilla is around 510g and eats about two tablespoons worth of pellets each day. He also eats about a small handful of timothy hay each day. The hay is a bit subjective because he tramples about 1/3 of it through the wire mesh floor I keep the hay on and his pellet consumption seems to be more constant day to day.

Decent pellets are typically alfalfa based and should have no fruits, nuts, or treats mixed in. Treats should be limited to two raisins per day or equivalent volume of dried fruit. Chinchillas should never be given meat, nuts, vegetables, fresh fruits or berries. These things can be very poisonous.

A good hay to feed is timothy hay and it should be fresh and green. Check your hay and pellets each time you feed for any smell of mustiness or moisture. If the food smells off do not feed it to your pet. Sometimes chinchillas will go off their hay if the hay is sour. (Been there, done that, caused illness)

If your pet does chew on wood, pumice, or other items in the cage (a constant supply of wood is a necessity for rodents) on a regular basis and you see evidence of chewing then you're probably okay.

Wire hay balls should not be given to chinchillas as they can get their heads caught in them. Be cautious of any kind of hay feeders. If in doubt just put the hay on the floor. It does get wasted but it does work and it's safe.

Sometimes my chinchilla will eat more hay if I keep a pile of it on the floor or pack it into a toilet paper roll. (But don't let your pet eat too much paper, there is no nutritional value and some chins are bad about overdoing it on paper) If you're still unsure you can get an exam done by the vet to make sure he is at a healthy weight. If there are issues with teeth typically your pet will be underweight and bony and there will be an overall decrease in food consumption. At least that is how it was with my first chinchilla who did have problems.

Also a chinchilla can be restricted from having pellets without having too much of a problem but hay must be in constant supply to prevent malocclusion from tooth overgrowth. Any changes in diet should be done slowly over a period of 2-3 week to prevent digestive upset.

[Heoke]

That was an awesome amount of information, thank-you so much!

He has timothy hay and we do put it on the floor, and he definitely tramples it, which is why I was concerned about how much he was eating. It's hard to tell when it all gets compacted into the base of his cage! But his pellet consumption, chewing, teeth, etc are all well, so I guess he is getting enough! He is never without his hay, and he eats every last bit of his pellets.

Again, thank-you for your feedback, it was very very helpful

[susansu]

Hi there,

How much hay should a chin be eating - I have been struggling on this for a long time and spent a lot of time to search the information but haven't got a standard answer.   Here are what I have found:

- from the Oxbow Chinchilla pellet bag, it says, 20g pellets per day and 75% of Chinchilla's diet should be grass hay.  That means really a great amount of hay.

- When searching English web site, I rarely see people give specific common on how much exactly hay a Chin needs or minimum they needs.  Most of the people seems just let them eat as much as they like.  A small handful of hay could only be 1-2g, that's the amount of hay my chin would eat if I let her be.

- When searching Chinese web site, I see many people say: a Chin shall eat at least 10g of hay daily.  In order to make them eat, the deal is one day pellet only, one day hay only.  But I am not sure if this is right way to do.

I guess no matter we make our chin eat more or less, we may not be able to see the difference in short time.  But I guess it could affect their life span or see the difference after long time.  I really hope there is authoritative or standard saying about how much or minimum hay should a chin eat.  Is there anyone here have raised their Chin up to 15 + year old?  Could you share your experience with me? 

Thanks so much!

[GrayRodent]

There are several who have posted here who have had some pretty old chinchillas. I hope someone will comment soon.
I expect they feed their chins hay and pellets and make sure they are both constantly present as well as numerous chew toys. That is the recommended method.

I know from experience my chinchilla's hay consumption is be variable and sometimes depends on the batch of hay he gets. He is quite picky about his hay and so was my last chin. His pelleted diet consumption is very steady, about 2 tablespoons per day. If you are concerned about it you can try a loose hay only diet. Make sure he gets alfalfa hay in addition to the timothy hay. He may loose some weight on it if you go that route so make sure it doesn't get out of hand. If he ever gets sick his lower weight may affect his ability to survive but I know of people who do this successfully.

Since my chinchilla tramples and wastes about 1/3 of his hay through the cage floor I have no way of estimating his intake with any degree of accuracy. Just enough to know whether or not he's actually eating it. The only way to do that is by weighing the hay every morning on a high precision scale and getting most of the fragments. It would not be an easy task which is probably why you are having a hard time finding a definitive answer.

[Jasonred79]

popsicle seems to waste about 2/3 of his hay... AARGH.

Just changed brand of hay in the hopes of improvement.

[kageri]

I wonder if the quality of hay or the variety grown in other places has to do with having to force chins to eat more hay.  The pellets could make a difference too since a pellet that is made of mostly hay is going to be different than a pellet made of mostly grain and then there are the people who feed sugary junk mixes that have no good nutritional value and fiber.

Most US chin owners just give unlimited hay and unlimited pellets and let the chin eat as much as they want.  It's been repeated to me over and over again that a chin will not over eat on good quality foods like that so only treats need to be moderated.  There is no minimum because every chin needs a different minimum.  There are differences in size and shape that make differences in weight, different animals need a different amount of various things even if they are the same weight, different ages need different amounts of nutrients and overall amount of food, different cuts of hay and varieties of hay will require different amounts ingested, etc.... there are endless variables so we can't say to feed x amount of hay.  Especially if we are talking the entire world where what's available as chin food may have few similarities.  Feed as much hay as your chin will eat and no more than you can replace as it becomes soiled.

[susansu]

Thanks a lot Gray, Jasonred and Kageri for your comments.

I am from China.  My Chin is about 500g.  I always give my chin pellet and hay of best quality  I can find.  They are all imported mostly from the US.  For pellet, 60% is Oxbow 40% is Mazuri (I did not give all Mazuri because my chin loves Mazuri so much I want to keep her interest by not giving all to her hehe).  For hay, I have APD 1st cut, APD 2nd cut, SPS, SPS 3rd cut, oak and wheat grass etc.  They all look nice, fresh and smell nice and they are not kept for long time (at least from my side).

My chin used to eat a little bit of hay every day (small handful).  Perhaps it is summer, her appetite is not as good as before.  For hay I provide constantly and refill every 12 hours.  But she now would only touch every other day and eat 1-2g each time.  That's why I am worried.  When I show her different kind of hay and put in front of her mouth, she makes exagerate emotion she turns her butt to me and run very fast right away to show me how much she hates it. LOL.

If I give her less pellet she would staff herself until the next day the pellet comes.   Last night I start trying giving her hay only, she is not happy obviously but she eats about 4-5g.  Her health looks okay so far, she is grumpy.  She loves chewing, not always to chew toys but my furniture too - sigh.  Well, it is better than no chewing though.

I am not sure of the best way to deal with her eating 1-2 g every 2 days.  If some says his chin also eat this little and still live a long life (up to average 15-20 years).  Then I would be very happy to hear that.  Thanks again.

[GrayRodent]

What is the room temperature? Take a reading during the day and another at night. My chinchilla consumes most of his food and water at night after I go to bed. Most are like that. If it is too hot that can negatively affect their activity level.

[susansu]

Yes she eats most at night.  Temperature is not a problem.  I have air con running 24 hours a day  (I need 2 blankets to sleep at night) but just she has less room to run staying in a smaller room with air con other than bigger rooms in winter time.

[GrayRodent]

If you're sure it's only 2 grams of hay per day that is not a good sign. If this goes on for several more weeks you may want to get your pet's teeth examined by a vet.
Also weigh your chinchilla about once a week to check for weight loss which is an indicator of illness. My chinchilla eats about a handful of hay per day. I weighed it just now and it's about 15 to 20 grams (my scale is accurate to 2g).

My last chin ate about the same amount but he had tooth problems that developed later probably due to improper diet before I got him but it could have been genetic. My current chin is from a reputable breeder and is very healthy. If the hay is dry, green, and smells fresh it should be fine.
Your chinchilla should be safe up to 75F (23.8C) so you don't have to freeze yourself out.

[susansu]

Wow, really?  15g of grass to me it is not handful but I need to hold it with both hands.  Perhaps you have a bigger hand than mine:), or maybe the grass you have is heavier than one I have?  My scale is also correct.  So that means my chin is really not eating enough hay.  Yes I took her to Vet last month and had her teeth check and also did X-ray.  Her teeth look very good but from X-ray there is some space (air-gap？) at the root.  The Vet didn't explain why it is like that but said a perfect healthy Chin usually there is no space.  They told me no need to do anything yet but to go for another check 6 months or 1 year later.  Before my Chin came to me, she was with someone else for 6 months.  They fed her with bad quality of pellet without any hay.  Maybe that made her grew with with bad habit.

Thanks Gray very much for your advice so that I know I need to do something to change her habit.

[GrayRodent]

When you see a dark space near a root on a dental x-ray it usually means there is some kind of infection or inflammatory process. There are several things that can cause that that should be investigated. You may want to find another vet and get a second opinion.

I haven't seen your x-rays nor am I a veterinarian so I can only speculate. If it is infected I think it is likely the tooth will need to be removed if they cannot find a cause for it. Sometimes an infection can be caused by something getting caught beneath the gum line and can be treated with antibiotics. I recommend discussing this with your vet. If it is a problem with the root and tooth must be removed sometimes it is recommended to remove the opposite tooth as well so it won't overgrow.

If you are given antibiotics please be careful that your chinchilla does not stop eating because of them. You should be prepared to hand feed and obtain the supplies and instructions if that happens. Veterinarians not familiar with chinchillas may underestimate the danger of this.

I think the diet you are feeding is very good. You should not change it. Monitor your chinchilla's weight. If it starts to fall you will need to supplement with a recovery diet such as critical care until you can get the proper treatment.

[susansu]

Thanks Gray for your very knowledgeable comment.  You are right I shall find another Vet and see what they say.  As this is another topic I may want to create a separate post later.  The sad thing is the medical condition for Chinchilla is not very good here.   Let's see what I can do.  Thanks again for help Gray.

[Jasonred79]

I think that I got popsicle too used to pellets, and he knows that they are tastier and have more nutritional content than hay, so he only eats it for variety.
Or so it seems anyway.

...

Is there a problem if a chin subsists on ONLY pellets? ... I wouldn't do it, but I'm just curious whether that would have a detrimental effect.