Too much treats...

Hi all,

I thought I'd let you all know something most of you possibly know already, if you give your Chinchilla alot of treats it builds enamel on their teeth which makes it harder to grind down and can cause overgrown teeth aswell as many other long term issues.

I'm curious where you came up with that, I have heard to too many treat rotting teeth but not making them stronger. Tooth enamel is made of minerals (primarily calcium, iron, and phosphorus), so unless the treats you are giving are supplying the chin with an over dose of easily absorbed minerals (like cuddle bones, and mineral sticks) it's not going to increase the amount of the enamel to the point of it being too thick or hard. Not giving the chin enough appropriate chew toys (various wood, lava chews, etc) and not giving your chin hay would cause teeth to over grow though. Or if the chin refuses to chew things or refuses to chew much that can cause overgrowth. I did have a chin years ago that refused to chew much (he had some unknown/non diagnosed health issues), so he had to have his teeth trimmed regularly, no malo that I know of, just a lazy chewer.

Ditto what Amethyst posted.

This is what a vet told me? Ignore this info then. If I ever need to know anything I'll ask on here

There is a theory that a lot of teeth issues are due to the domestic chinchillas diet and the vitamins, minerals and protein they consume. The good quality diet adds to the thicker enamal, the good quality diet adds more protein that the wild diet so the chinchilla does not need to eat as much hence chew enough to feel full, so now you have more durable teeth and less chewing going on so it leads to over growth which leads to elongation, elongation is actually more of a issue for the domestic chin than malo, in a study done by Dr. Crossley a few years ago 30% of domestic chinchillas had some degree of elongation. The ideal diet for the chinchilla is extremely low protein and high fiber, it leads to a scruffy looking lean chinchilla not acceptable for fur quality nor for a cute pet.