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[Toyger]

I have recently rescued 3 boys and 2 pregnant girls, and am a first time owner so want to do right by them. Gotten wonderfull help here already about caging for the girls, so now I want to ask about neutrition as reading online gives too many different answers.



Hay:
Lets start with hay. My local petstore sells mostly mountain meadow hay, whatever that means. Being the only thing available they have used it for a short while.

But today I finally found Timothy and Alfalfa at my vet clinic. So question is, should I only use those, never the ordinary hay? I read pregnant and nursing chillas need the alfa, should they have only that or combined? Should the boys have some combined with the timothy?



Wood:
Are apple sticks the only wood they should have? Are there any other safe woods I can find in the wild? (Norway, northern hemisphere so mostly same kinds as North America available) I only use bought apple wood at the moment.


Food:
They are picky eaters and shouldn't have foods where they can pick their favorites nor too many treats I read. I found a food that they really love, but fear it might be "too good" and only should be used as treats.


Their main food is a pellet mainly made of timothy, which sounds like might be the correct food to give them. I have two brands, first I find localy the other is harder for me to get




Treats:
But those sticks with seeds on them, though marked as chinchilla, I read they are wrong for them, don't give them at all. Is this true or can they have them just sparingly? Is it better not to?
I read there are few safe treats and all used sparingly, but healthier to give none at all, so I get worried. One of them had almonds with it when I got him, should they not have those either?
And what about this snack, dried dandelions as far as I understand:

And these are made of carrots and raisins, both I've heard negative things about:

This was sold as chinchilla snack, has yoghurt, milk and egg as well as seeds:



Stones:
The boys have a pink himalaya salt stone in their cage, so I wondered if maybe the girls needed that too, but semed more like it was wrong. Should it be removed?

The other boy had a small white disk that also seems might be some kind of salt, but not sure.


I found a big pink gnawing block that was suposedly for chinchillas. Might have been calsium or the like. Is this something they should have? Boys and girls both or only the pregnant ladies?


I also have general gnawing mineral stones for rodents, shaped like fruits. Good or bad?


I also have gnawing stones from the Andies for their teeth, but seems to only be for their gnawing habbits and ever growing teeth.



Other?
Is there anything else they need or thing I need to know about? All help is highly appreciated
If you have an opinion even on just one of these items I'd be happy to hear it =^_^=

[GrayRodent]

Wow. You sure came to the right place to get those questions answered.

Hay - I recommend putting the pregnant chins on alfalfa and keep them on it until the kits are done nursing. Then switch to timothy. It's okay for the kits to eat the same hay, as they will be eating some during the nursing stage and more until they are weaned. The meadow grass hay is fine. I use timothy with my pets because it's cheap and easy to find. Either one is fine.

What I've been doing lately (I only have two chins so they don't go through a huge amount) I just got a big 50lb bail of hay, broke it up and filled two mesh clothes hampers with it that are being stored in my garage and gave the rest away to a friend who has horses. Although you may want keep more of it around because you have more chins. See how fast they go through it. This will save you big bucks compared to getting it in pre-packaged small quanities.

I have another smaller container that I put the hay in that keep near the cage that holds about 2 weeks worth of hay for them. When it runs out I fill it from the big baskets in the garage. I highly recommend this system. Just make sure it stays free of moisture and bugs. If the hay smells damp or sour it must be discarded immediately. You can use it as mulch. If you have cattle you can use it as silage. But chins are extremely sensitive to mold and it can poison them.

Safe woods - There are a few safe woods available, not all as easy to find. Apple is widely used with chins and known to be safe. Aspen and white pine are both common and safe.

Mixed diets - Yes, the bag of "Basic food" is anything but basic. Might be good for a hamster or a gunea pig but not a chinchilla. Use the Versele-Laga complete. It's an okay diet but you're probably not going to find better in Europe. And ask about what local (and reputable) breeders are using. I'm not as familiar with European brands.

As far as treats dried dandelions are known safe. Carrots not. Raisins marginal. The yogurt thing I'd say don't. Don't feed seeds either.

Remove the salt. That really is dangerous if they start chewing and consuming it. Chinchillas are known to eat ridiculous things to their detriment. They don't need added salt anyway. Not sure what the white disk is either. If you can't identify it discard it. If it's cuttlebone you're good. In fact you may want to put a cuttlebone in with the pregnant chins, and even grind some up and sprinkle it over the food a couple of times a week. It's a good calcium source but some chins won't take an interest in it.

I think the gnawing block is not good. It's a mineral block. Some minerals can be toxic in high doses and if a chin decides to take interest in chewing on the block can easily consume too much. I'd get rid of those.

Lava stones /pumice (that grey cube) is a good thing. You should probably get more of those. Chins like them and they're good for their teeth. Mine like it if I cut the block up into smaller pieces small enough they can pick up and put them on the cage floor. Make sure to discard the pieces if they become soiled by urine.

That's all I can think of for now. Wishing you success with your kits.

[Toyger]

Thanks for all the help!
I removed their salt and mineral stones as well as the unidentified thing.

I googled the trixie gnawing stone, since I couldn't remember what the box said it was, but was for chinchilla only. It was cuttlefish bone and ment for the teeth, so maybe it's ok?
I'll leave it out till I know for sure

I feel the current hay bags I find are decent enough in price to no need to buy bigger
They don't go through them all that fast (maybe the timothy will go faster though, they might eat more of it since it suposedly tastes better :p )

I'll use the "basic food" as treats only. I think the individual pars in it are safe, they just shouldn't use it as a main food. I'll use it very sparingly

[GrayRodent]

Sounds good. If it's cuttlebone that's a good thing to have so definitely look into that.