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[Jasonred79]

I like to give my Popsicle a bit of variety in case he gets bored, so I change up his pellets every now and then. I usually just wait til one pack is empty then switch to a new pack though.
Why are we advised to use 50% mixes and such though? (I didn't know at first so I didn't do it, doesn't seem to have any problems though)
Is it cause chins might be fussy about trying out new foods? ... that would surprise me, since I heard my chin isn't unusual in that he will chew on and attempt to eat just about anything that is chewy or crunchy or plant based or... heck or basically anything that he thinks has even a POSSIBILITY of being food... ... ... the thought of my little fella actually refusing to eat ACTUAL chinchilla food sounds weird to me, lol...
...
Nah, can't really imagine it... "Squeek! Oh look, wooden furniture! (attempts to eat it)... oh, look, books and papers! (attempts to eat it) fingernail clippings, dead skin, rubbish, chips! (chews on them!) hmm, here's some of my own poop! (tries to eat it) ... oh, wait, a new brand of food pellets? (turns away in disgust)"
hahaha...

Ok, but, really, has that actually happened to anyone? Anyone have a non-sick chin refusing food? ... or maybe my chap is just a greedy non-nom-nommer?

[GrayRodent]

The reason of switching chinchilla food gradually is because of their physiology. There is a delicate balance of enzymes, bacteria, and other microbes in their intestines that is responsible for digesting their food. If you're really curious check out info on hind-gut fermentation. Changing the food changes the chemical balance of the system, Ph levels, etc. which causes waves of changes through the intestine. Sometimes, and I don't hear of this much, but it does happen, things get messed up and diarrhea or constipation occur or sometimes inflammation of the lining of the intestine. Of course this can make the animal very sick, or even vulnerable to parasites or pathogens that exist in the intestine to take hold. Chinchillas are known having a greater sensitivity to this problem than other rodents.
I am convinced the latter actually happened to my chinchilla when he got some contaminated hay and stopped eating hay for a couple of weeks. Shortly thereafter he had to be treated for coccidia which is a fairly common parasite. I think he had it when I got him but the symptoms were mild and went away. This time they were pretty bad and required treatment.
That is one important reason. Another reason is the one you mentioned, especially if you're switching from a diet with lots of treats and sugars in it, to one that is healthy. This can cause the chinchilla to stop eating its pellets altogether and can compound the problem even more. I do know of at least one case where a chinchilla did stop eating its pellets when it went from one diet to another and both were decent diets so it's going to depend on the case and the animal. It was several weeks before it adjusted to a new pelleted diet.

[kageri]

All animals (humans included) have the problem of needing enough of the right bacteria to digest each ingredient of the food they are given.  If one food includes an ingredient another doesn't or a lot where the other has little there will not be the bacteria colony necessary to digest the food.  Then any excess food beyond what the useful bacteria can convert will cause intestinal irritation and help feed damaging bacteria leading to lots of gas.  All combined it can range from mild diarrhea to full stasis where the intestines are too irritated and full of gas to properly move food which is rapidly life threatening.

A better way to give variety is to rotate more frequently.  Swap pellets frequently so it's basically like feeding the 2 pellets mixed together. Before bacteria dips too low from feeding the first one you are ready to switch back to it.  Used to have to feed a different kibble weekly to my akita as a puppy because she was very picky and unlike most dogs would actually starve herself to health problems.  I've also had picky hedgehogs that we rotate every 5-7 days 2 or 3 carefully chosen cat kibbles that are similar despite having a different main meat ingredient.  Eventually they'll eat them all blended.

Pellets don't provide much variety though since most are aimed at the same nutritional profile.  Your chin will better appreciate trying different hays.  If you can't find or know how to pick out good local hays there is botanical hay (a sweet grass hay with herbs), orchard grass, and timothy from oxbowhay.com retailers and bluegrass and timothy directly from kmshayloft.com.  You can also find oat hay with just started oat heads to feed sparingly at some petstores.  I got a small pack from petco once.  There are larger amounts on ebay but you run the same risks as picking out your own local hay.  You need hay knowledge.  Oxbow makes an oat hay but it's cut well before seed heads form and mine mostly found it unappetizing.  Only my bottomless pit who eats anything cleaned his up.  Most just dragged it out and laid on it.  The rest went to the rabbits.

You can also give all sorts of woods.  I think we have 6 varieties right now.  Kiwi, pear, pecan, elm, willow, cactus, and soon we are getting another load of fresh local apple.  Just check out the various online chinchilla sites for bulk wood.

[Jasonred79]

Hay is just dried grass right? ... Would it be healthy or unhealthy to take a chin for a romp in the lawn? I can already foresee him munching on the grass... would that be good or bad?

[GrayRodent]

I think grass would be the least of your concerns. If you value your pet at all PLEASE DON'T!

[Jasonred79]

I think grass would be the least of your concerns. If you value your pet at all PLEASE DON'T!

Seriously? Why? It'd be too hot? He'd run away? He'd get chased by dogs or something?

[kageri]

A lot can happen.  We did it all the time with the guinea pigs when I was growing up and we did lose some.  We lost a sow and litter running in the fenced in yard to a small dog who could fit under their hiding spot.  We had a dog dig in to a rabbit hutch set upside down and kill a guinea pig.  It didn't happen to ours but I have seen them carried off by birds of prey.  We also had the occasional temp issue.  We had a sow abort and almost lost a dozen guinea pigs to heat stroke because my mom put them outside with water and a towel for shade thinking I knew they were there.  I found them hours later with their bottle knocked off and their towel blown away all sprawled out dying.  With quick action we saved them but the pregnant female aborted.  There are also parasites both internal and external.  Whenever we got a new guinea pig we just automatically treated with ivermectin because it was nearly guaranteed they picked up skin mites or internal parasites.  I lost some guinea pigs much later when I was living alone to an unknown cause.  We now suspect coccidiosis in the soil from the wildlife since they responded to no antibiotics and had no parasites.  I lost about 3 dozen rabbits when I was raising them in horse stalls to cocci because of a rash of humid weather making it impossible to keep the floor dry.  More jumpy, nervous animals than guinea pigs like rabbits and chinchillas can spook so bad about something they break their own neck or back slamming in to the pen.  Finally there are escapes.  It takes such a small hole to escape.  If you don't have wire down that connects to the sides all it takes is a dip in the ground a couple fingers wide.  If you use too light of pen they may flip it if not anchored well.  Tops that aren't secure enough.  Getting the animal in to and out of the outdoor cage without it escaping.  I've chased rabbits and guinea pigs.  I'd hate to think what trying to recapture a chinchilla would be like.  Given their personality and how they are raised they probably would have no concept of staying in the area and making a home base which is what saved us many times with the other animals.  They would often return to the place their pen was in the grass or run through the building where the others were so we could corner them.

As for the grass there is pesticide and fertilizer concerns and again it's a great place to pick up parasites.  The moisture and sugar content is higher than the dried hay.  Lawn grass in particular is very high in sugar because it's kept short and soft in a constant growing state.  Spikes in growth and younger plants will release lots of sugars.  It can kill large livestock in the spring and that's on grass that isn't mowed.  Hay is considerably more mature than that.  Dry tougher plant matter is what you are after if you want to try fresh foods.  Wild chinchillas don't get much green grass.  They might get some tougher grass and seed heads but mostly they get cacti, bark with the green layer, occasional berry bushes, and tough plants that grow in the cool, rocky area of the mountains.  I can go look up the exact species of plants if you want because I've been researching wild and the evolution of captive diets in order to improve my chins' diet beyond what is commercially available.

[Jasonred79]

ooh... thanks.

Anyhow, I wasn't thinking of putting him outside PERMANENTLY... it's far too hot in my country. I thought of just letting him see what it looks like outside of my house, to get in touch with his rodenty nature.

Me: So, what do you think of the great outdoors?
Popsicle: It's beautiful... it's HOT!!! ... Rodent's don't appreciate beauty, I'm going back into the AC, dude. SQUEEK!

...

Well that's what I thought might happen anyhow, lol...