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[Jasonred79]

I bought these pellets for my Chin cause I thought the food looked more "appetising" than plain old hay pellets or such... but now I'm reading the ingredients and more informed, I'm a bit more skeptical whether this stuff is safe to feed my Chin!

It contains apples, bananas, carrots, yeast, algae... I didn't find the word "hay" at all on the list of ingredients!

... Is feeding this to my chin a really really bad idea? Should I just chuck the bag and eat the loss, or should I keep the stuff and only use it for treats, or what?
Or is it actually safe to feed my chin?

http://www.versele-laga.com/nutri/nutrition/Pages/Products/index.jsp?lng=3&fam=224&ani=-1&ran=20644&pro=20687#Productvoorstelling

I'm a bit leery since I opened the bag, scooped out a random fistful, and I got 3 slices of banana in the mix, which is a lot to me, since I would only give Popsicle 1/4 slice of banana as a treat a day maximum, so 3 slices of banana a day seems too much!

[GrayRodent]

It's definitely a very bad idea to feed what you describe as a regular part of your pet's diet.
You can pick the fruit out of it and serve it as treats. You can donate the rest to an animal shelter that has rabbits if you'd like. I've donated to my local veterinarian who does animal boarding.

Food with treats in it usually will cause your pet to pick out the sweet stuff and eat less hay. This causes deterioration of the teeth resulting in malocclusion, and a related early death. On top of that digestive problems often occur when chinchillas are fed too many vegetables and fruits predisposing them to parasitic infections and diarrhea. There's also the Ca/P ratio that can result in calcium deficiency if the food is not formulated properly. Chinchillas are more sensitive to these issues than most and the list goes on.

High quality chinchilla pellets are made out of hay, usually alfalfa, and contain grit that helps keep the teeth trimmed and are not sugary which causes tooth decay. High quality rabbit food can be a good alternative but there is a select list of them that are chinchilla safe while others are not. If there are absolutely no better options for you I recommend that you go to a hay only diet and feed a mixture of timothy and alfalfa hay which is a perfectly acceptable diet for chins. The pellets do have advantages as a supplement but are not necessary. When changing your pet's diet try to do it gradually over a period of 14 days if possible to prevent digestive upset.

I hope this helps.