Kaytee Timothy Hay Cubes? Other types of Hay?

Hi!
I have these Kaytee Timothy Hay Cubes (it has some alfafa in it), if they had Oxbow brand I would've purchased that. However they only had the Kaytee brand available for the cubes. I was wondering is it safe to give this Kaytee cube hay treat to my chinchillas? I have one that was born in 3.12.13 and the other is 6-9 months of age. Also my young chinchilla has white teeth, is that normal or do I have to do something to remedy that? I only had her for under a week. No treats what-so-ever under 6 months right? So far I ended up giving her 2 Vitamin C tablets for small animals by oxbow (over the course of the week)...because I didn't realize I wasn't supposed to give her anything before a certain age. Should not give her the cubes either?

Then I was also wondering, should I also feed them oat hay, grass hay, or is chewing toys enough for them?

I also purchased oxbow veggie treat, and dried banana. Let me know what's recommended or not recommended to do. Thanks!

Hay cubes are fine to give, though I would steer clear from anything made by Kaytee. Its just a terrible brand. No treats under 6 months, but you can give an apple or pear twig instead for now. I wouldn't give her the vitamin C tablets either. Oat hay is fine but generally Timothy hay is the most widely given hay. I prefer Kleenmama (available online). Other people give orchard hay and I'm sure some people can give you some other ideas on that. Don't give the veggie treat or the dried banana, even when she's old enough. Its too much sugar, etc for chins to process. Just stick with approved of herbs when she's of age, dried rosehips, sticks, plain shredded wheat/plain cherrios, loofah, and things like that.

I have given them apple wood sticks but they don't seem to be into it. however they LOVE toilet paper rolls. So I should go ahead and return the kaytee cubes, and the oxbow veggie and banana treats? I asked the vet about the vitamin C tablets and she said it was fine. I guess the other treats (rose hips and loofah. cheerios should be fine) aren't easily available at the petstore so I will have to go with the different hays for the treats. Gosh PetSmart may be tired of all the exchanges I am making hah hah. But yea when I purchase ledges and what not, I will have to purchase the other treats along with them. I wish there was a local store available selling all these things.

However I am curious to know, is it mandatory to give them different types of hay?

My chins mostly are given timothy hay. It isn't mandatory to give them different types.

Definitely take back the petstore treats, those can't be good for the chins. Petsmart will have to deal with you returning things to them, I suppose.

I know most kaytee stuff is bad, lots of treats in the food they put out and such, but the hay cubes should be fine if they will eat them, I'm pretty sure they are just hay. I've tried kaytee hay for my guys in the past and they refused to eat it, lol. Chins don't need vitamin C like a guinea pig does, and from what I've seen a lot of vets seem to use guinea pigs or rabbits as the animal they compare a chin too :facepalm:. If you got the apple sticks from the pet store that is probably why they don't like them, over processed with flavor added. I know it sucks but for chew sticks you really need to find a vendor that processes them fresh. I pretty much just buy food at the pet store now, toys, and sticks I buy from a vendor here, hay I can get from a neighbor's farm.
You don't have to give different types of hay but I know my guys enjoy a change every so often, and I've heard different types of hay grind the teeth down differently (maybe stemy vs leafy?), but they do need hay of some sort. Pretty much when young it's best to stick with just plain pellets, hay and water, and wood for chewing on. They need the hay mostly for roughage to help with pooping normally, not just to wear down their teeth.

I'd not give the toilet paper rolls, they can end up ingesting the cardboard, and even if they don't the amount of germs you are going to have on the roll (it sits next to the toilet :vomit: ) ewww.

http://www.foreverfeistychinchilla.org/store-dietary.htm

Is there anything on this page not healthy to get? I was thinking of getting the digestive support thing, rose hips, timothy treats and the biscuits.

Also young chins do have white teeth, they get orange/yellow with age. Timothy is the best hay to give on a daily basis, but it is ok to give them others and they chew it differently, so it wears down their teeth.

Also, not all chinchillas like cubes so offering some cubed and some loose is the best way to go. Avoid Kaytee brand, as others have said. And no treats for young chins. Different woods or different hay types are the best treats in general for chins anyway.

Everything on Forever Feisty should be perfectly safe for your chins. I would say return everything to Petsmart and save up and order chew sticks, treats, and toys from a vendor on here. Oxbow hay and pellets are fine from Petsmart, but that's about it. Most of the vendors will help you pick out just what you need, especially if you're on a budget. Just send them a message with how much you can spend and what you're hoping to get.

Our chins LOVE the Forever Feisty supplement. We give it to them a few times a week in a "salad". Timothy hay and supplement mixed in. They go crazy foraging for it! We also give them a rosehip once a week for a treat.

We have three pet chinchillas and for the most part they only get pellets and timothy hay. We offer only the treats recommended here. The only time we deviated from this was when I gave Edgar "chinchilla safe" dried papaya. Edgar paid the price for this mistake by getting an imbalance and runny poop. A vet visit and almost three weeks he finally was back to normal. I hope my mistake helps people know that it does happen often.

You can go to a local feed store and get fresh Timothy hay. Also look at natural food stores for whole rose hips. In Florida they run about $1.30 an ounce. I don't give my chins any fruit (even raisins) because of the high sugar content. As far as store bought treats go I would do as everyone else has suggested and stay away from them. The only thing I buy at the big pet stores is a flexible wooden ramp made from apple tree sticks that can be bent into a hut shape. The chins love gnawing on these.