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[Deanna]

  Can someone give me some reccomendations on good food and bedding? I just got Otis yesterday, and all I need is the company brand names.

[todd0329]

Here's what my girlfriend and I use...

Food: Classic Chinchilla Food by LM Animal Farms (it's just alfalfa pellets - don't give them pellets mixed with raisins and/or other treats) Our breeder uses another brand. (I can't remember the name).  Someone else will give you other brand names.
Hay: Western Timothy by Oxbow and a bit of Oat Hay sometimes by Oxbox.  We occasionally give them alfalfa hay as well.  Many companies make alfalfa hay.
Bedding: Aspen bedding by Living World.  I keep hearing not to use pine bedding because it can be toxic to the Chins.  We also use Hemp bedding by Life Mate sometimes. 

There is tonnes of info on this forum about food, bedding and hay.  You'll just need to spend some time perusing.   TODD

[Debbie.nl.ca]

What ever he was eating when you bought him should be mixed with any new pellet so he can change over gradually.
Get the freshes pellet you can find. Not pet shop pellets, most are full of treats and have no expirery date.
If you can't get any of the better chinchilla pellets, like Mazuri, Tradition and the like, go with the best rabbit pellet available. Check with the rabbit breeders, they ussualy use the best.
Get a bail of timothy hay from a horse ranch in your area. Not cow hay it's fermented.
You can also give alafalfa hay in cubes or loose, but timothy and a good pellet is the most important.
Most everything else is a treat and should be kept to a min.
Give loads of chew toys, from popsicle sticks to apple branches, small animal chew blocks and cuttle bones are just a few.
Make houses and shelves from kiln dried pine and he'll have loads to chew and keep him busy.
He'll let you know what he likes and doesn't.

[ChinchillAZ]

I'd recommend going with Mazuri pellets.  As Debbie mentioned, you'll want to gradually switch over.  This process should be done very slowly. Chins have sensitive digestion!

The schedule would be as follows:
First week - Ratio of 3 to 1 with 3 parts being the "old" food and 1 part being the new food
Second week - Ratio of 2 to 2 with 2 parts being the "old" food and 2 parts being the new food
Third week - Ratio of 1 to 3 with 1 part being the "old" food and 3 parts being the new food
Fourth week - Switch over to the new food completely

If you find that there are any complications with switching over, such as sticky droppings, you will want to adjust the ratio to include more of the "old" food, taking longer to switch over.

If feeding an alfalfa based pellet (such as Mazuri) you'll want to feed loose Timothy hay.  If you're feeding a Timothy based pellet, you'll want to feed loose alfalfa.

For bedding, I recommend aspen (the brand isn't terribly important and you should be able to easily find it at the pet store) or CareFresh.