Hay

Just a quick question about hay. I have a rabbit and a few other animals that eat hay along with the my chinchilla. I sometimes buy Standlee Hay pellets and cubes for the rabbit and other animals. My question is would they be safe for my Chinchilla?
My chinchilla gets fed a mixture of the following: Timothy Hay, Botanical Hay, Meadow Hay, Orchard Grass, Alfalfa Hay, and Oat Hay. Those are all loose hays (Most of which are Oxbow Brand). I do give him Timothy Cubes to eat also. (Yes, he also gets fed regular Oxbow Brand Chinchilla Pellets. Figured Id mention it just so no one thinks he is on a hay only diet.)

I was thinking about purchasing him some Pellets or Cubes of Timothy, Alfalfa, Oat, Bermuda Grass, or a mixture of all all the above. The reason I want to get them for him is I figured the different shapes and textures of hay might be away of keeping things interesting for him.

Any thoughts on this. Also, are there any other types of grasses or hays that are available for chinchillas besides what I had already listed. Since he cant have treats, a variety of grasses/hay might be the next best thing.

Hay cubes are great for chins, it does make it more interesting to eat. I've only seen timothy and/or alfalfa cubes, but others would be fine too. I really don't know about the hay pellets, sometimes they add things as binders and stuff. The different hay also each helps wear down their teeth differently so it helps in preventing dental issues so a variety is good. A few more hays I can think of are blue grass, brome, and mountain, but any grass hay is good. Just don't feed fresh grass, it needs to be dried or it can cause diarrhea.

I'm not sure why he can't have treats, but if and when he can just so you know, there are chin safe treats. Safe treats include, roses (petals, buds, and rosehips), plain cheerios, shredded wheat, and old fashion oats. All treats in moderation though, one treat a day max (as in one rose hip or one cheerio).

One thing just to mention if you don't already know, be careful with chins around rabbits. Rabbits can be carriers (but show no symptoms) of a bacterial disease (pasteurella) that is fatal to chins and is very contagious. So wash between handling them and don't keep them in the same room if possible unless you know for sure your rabbit doesn't have it or carry it.

Thanks, My Rabbit is not in the same room with the chinchilla. I've had him for years hes been to vet and everything else and to my knowledge has no type of diseases but I keep there cages separated anyway... mostly due to lack of room. Chinchillas cage is too big. I decided to not feed him treats do to the fact of when i Received him that's basically what they were feeding him. His food was loaded with it and they had all types of chews for him that were for rabbits and guinea pigs and not chinchillas. The pet stores also don't sell any safe chinchilla treats like the rose hips, herbs, etc. Those I have to order online. The other stuff you listed I could get at the grocery store, but I think he needs a break from treats for a while. That's why I'm looking to get different types of hay in different forms. Just to keep I'm interested. Thanks for your in put Ill do some online searching especially for blue grass, brome, and mountain grass/hay. I've never seen either of those kinds before in the pet stores or local feed mills. So ill keep my eye out for them.

i switched to small pet select western timothy hay. My chins seem to like it a lot more then the oxbow they were getting. They have videos on there sites of rabbits going for it to. I ordered a 60lbs bag... didnt realize how **** big that box would be! Way more then i need.

In an effort to get one of my chins eating more hay (hes a pellet eater) i got him various hay cubes. A 50/50 timothy/alfalfa hay off a website, and a bag of Standlee alfalfa/oat hay cubes. They are marketed for horses, but safe for chins. Only down side is it only comes in a 40lbs bag.

So between the 60lbs SPS hay, the 40lbs bag of hay cubes, and the other hay cubes i had over 100lbs of hay... and 5 chins

If your looking for so called 'treats' to give him considering that he was on bad ones for so long, you could stick to the simple things like wooden ledges and twigs. (Ledges arnt much of a treat but its safe to chew on.) And twigs you dont have to worry about limiting like you do with rose hips or other treats. And they are good for his teeth too.

I went out an purchased a bag of Standlee alfalfa/timothy pellets. He like to carry them around and chew on them. So far they seem to be a good investment. I'm trying to get a hold of the mini hay cubes but hard to find this year for some reason.