Rivendell ChinchillasChinchillas will eat almost
anything you'll give them, but what should they eat?
All chins really need is pellets to help provide them with all of the nutrition they need.
There are a LOT of pellets available, so how do you know that the pellet you
pick has everything your chin needs?
Be sure to ask the breeder you got your chin from what they feed, this is the
best place to start. They may even sell food or at least tell you were you can
get food. Always be sure to get enough food from the breeder for a couple weeks
if you plan on switching their food. I highly advise against any food that has
"treats" in it for several reasons. Usually the chins will pick out what they
like and throw the rest on the floor where it gets dirty and stepped on, so not
only is your chin not getting everything it needs to stay healthy, it's wasting
food. You can also purchase chin food and have it shipped to you. Usually you
can get better quality food shipped cheaper than buying a lower quality food
from the pet store. I encourage the use of Manna Pro Rabbit, Nutrena
Naturewise Rabbit, Tradition Chinchilla
formula, or Oxbow Chinchilla Deluxe. Poor choices of retail chin foods include Sunseed, Charlie Chinchilla, Brown's, and Kaytee Fiesta.
Be sure to check the "mill date" on your feed. It's the date that the food was
actually made at the mill. Often at pet stores the food will sit before
shipping, during shipping and after shipping. Food begins to lose it's
nutritional value 3 months after the mill date.
Chinchillas have very sensitive digestive systems, it is best to allow at least two
weeks to switch chins food.
Some people use gravity feeders (you can get them from the local pet shop or
farm supply, more commonly known as "rabbit feeders") to allow them to eat
whenever they are hungry. When you using larger gravity feeders I don't recommend
filling it to the top. Only put in how much they will eat in two
days. This allows them to have fresh food, but enough that if something happens
you know they have food for the next night. Some chins will dig out the food
just so you put more fresh food in!
If using a dish for your chin's food there are several things to keep in mind. Choosing a dish that is easy to clean and hard to tip over is a good start. Usually something you can hang on the cage is a bonus as well as it can prevent the chin from "sitting" in the dish which often leads to soiled food. A stainless steel coop cup is a great option.
Some people choose to supplement their chins diet, others don't think it's necessary. I supplement my mother's and kits with a mother & kit supplement. Remember that if you supplement don't OVER supplement, or they won't get enough of their staple food. Also it's not recommended to put the supplement on top of their food or they may start digging out the food to find the supplement.