Honey question

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Pixie66

Active member
Joined
Dec 1, 2018
Messages
39
Location
Port Moody, BC
When I was a proud chinchilla mom 15 years ago, I remember buying chinchilla treat sticks and as far as I remember they contained honey. A quick search to check my memory showed similar hoeny sticks exist on the market today, like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Kaytee-Forti-Diet-Health-Chinchilla-Sticks/dp/B009ETMXQ2

Since I became chinchilla owner again not long ago, I started reading forums and posts again. I noted people now write that honey (even as flavoring or "glue" such as in "snak shak") is bad for chinchillas.
Is this based on research? Is it based on personal experience of breeders / owners? Both?

I an curious to learn more about this, as I remember how much my chinchillas loved their treat sticks 15 years ago. Can any of you help me find a reference to a research or a book (or a post) elaborating on this question?

Thanks!
 
I don't have any research or books to link, I did find this webpage http://chinchillachronicles.com/chinchilla_nutrition_food_and_diet.html that does explain diet pretty well. Chins can't process sugars very well because they aren't designed for a high sugar diet. In the wild sugary foods would be a very rare thing, so they didn't evolve to efficiently digest it (it's generally going to be stored as fat for later use). Too much sugar can cause all kinds of issues including diabetes, weight gain, and tooth decay. Also if too much sugar is consumed all at once the chin can have a dangerous fluctuation in blood sugar which could cause seizures, coma, and death.

I can't find it now (I'm not sure it was online), but I read a study a few years ago about the effects of giving a high sugar diet (in that case daily raisins) to chinchillas. They found that the average lifespan of a chin fell to about 7 years. The primary caused of death were kidney and/or liver failure. I realize you can find people online swearing up and down that it's safe because their chin isn't dead yet or lived until it was 15+, but that doesn't make it safe. It's like looking at smoking or drinking alcohol and saying it's perfectly safe because some people have smoked and/or drank everyday for decades and died a ripe old age.

The problem with those treat sticks, and a lot of other treats sold at pet stores is that they are marketed towards rodents in general. A chin's diet and digestive track is very different then most other rodents. Those ones you linked specifically are bad not just for the honey but also the treat ingredients. Chinchillas also shouldn't be having seeds, they are high in fat. I know chins in the wild do eat seeds, but they also only live 5-10 years and have a very poor quality diet. Where as chins in captivate are fed a high quality diet in the form of a pre blended pellet and have a life expectancy of 15-20 and some live even longer. The chinchilla pellet already contains the a healthy amount/limit of fats, sugars (normally added to make it tasty and as a binder), and other nutrients a chinchilla needs, its a complete diet just lacking enough fiber.

Honestly in moderation a small amount (like the size of a pinky nail) of sugary foods, or fatty foods like seeds and nuts, occasionally is not likely going to do any real harm. However, most people don't understand moderation, and a whole treat stick is not moderately sized. Really most treats are like junk food to chinchillas, they don't really need it, so it's easier to just say none at all. If they never have it they wont miss it. Also just because chins love them does not make them safe or healthy, just like a lot of people love cakes, chips, and candies. There are healthier options for treats, that can be given often and in some cases daily, like the herbs found on Fuzzies Kingdom's website.
 
Thanks for the info and the two links!
You are correct, of course, that the fact that some chinchillas like honey and live well with it does not prove it is healthy for them.
I have a wonderful treat box, by iki kolohi from Hawaii. I was just wondering about the reasoning. I will keep looking for the scientific study you mentioned, as it is very fascinating. This is a factor of two in lifespan, which is really a huge impact. I wonder how big was their control group.

Reading through the chinchillachronicles link, I was surprised to see the recommendation to boil the water (and cool it down :) ).
Does anybody know how are the water in Port Moody, BC in that regard? Shall I just go ahead and start boiling the water for them?
 
As to the water, I have no idea what water is like over in BC, and you would have to test it every single time you use it since although it's always going to be low enough for human consumption, the exact amount of things changes over time. The biggest issue with tap water is safe levels for humans of chemicals and other things is not the same for chinchillas (just like the levels could be unsafe for a newborn human). Aside from the possibility of things like chlorine and fluoride (boiling just concentrates fluoride) in public tap water, one of the more common issues is the microscopic parasites like giardia, even a small amount can make a chinchilla sick. I had to reread what chinchilla chronicles, you actually don't want to distill water, it removes the minerals from the water along with everything else. Filtered, with a filter that can remove microscopic stuff (at least a 3 stage filter) and reverse osmosis I think are the best options. Simply boiling the water to purify it, if it's not fluoridated, is ok too, it will kill off bacteria, any parasites, and cause the chlorine to evaporate.
 
Thanks a lot!
Sorry for all the questions, I like operating based on understanding the reasons and risks :)
I checked and our water are not Fluoridated. So I will keep a bottle of boiled water for the chinchillas usage so I will always have some handy in the fridge.
Thanks a agin for the details and explanations, it helps a lot.
 
Thanks a lot!
Sorry for all the questions, I like operating based on understanding the reasons and risks :)

It's ok, that's what the forum is here for. I think one problem though, is when you want actual hard evidence and most books have very outdated info (even new books are reprints of 20-50+ year old info). More recent information out there is word of mouth and personal experience from people that have had chins for years. Or you need to know who to talk to, like for example the owner of Fuzzies Kingdom has actually studied proper diet for herbivores like chinchillas. Not many studies are done on chinchillas yet, and most have been done by ranchers/fur farmers, which are generally the people with the time, money, and chinchillas to do studies. Unfortunately, since they are frowned upon (sometimes to the point of death threats) they don't tend to publicly publish findings.

If you are interested, another site that has a wealth of compiled info is Cuddlebug Chinchillas, They pretty much cover everything you need to know about keeping a chinchilla.
 
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