They refuse to eat pellets

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maelos

Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2017
Messages
16
Hello everyone, I tried to slowly give pellets to my chinchilla (mixing with previous food so they get used to it) but thye absolutly refuse to touch them after two weeks.

I tried three brands : versele laga, vitakraft "all in one" and the last one i totally forgot but it was a good brand

I tried givign them a bowl with only pellets in it (i tried with the three brands), thye went to the bowl but didn't take anything, i replaced the pellets by their usual mixed food and they rushed on it to eat

They are active, seem happy and are in good health so they're just being very difficult, do you think it's really that bad to give them mixed food ? any solution to make them eat pellets ?

They are both 1 years old
 
Versele laga does not look like a good food, and vitakraft anything is junk, low quality pellets and lots of junk. Some good brands include Oxbow essentials, Hubbard life chinchilla (use to be called Tradition), and Mazuri.

Chinchillas should not be eating any fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, or animal products (meat, milk, eggs, bone, etc) and nothing sugary. They can't properly digest those type foods. Wild chins do eat some of those things, but they also only live about 5-10 years, where as captive chins can live 15-20 years with proper care and a healthy diet. So yes I really do think it's bad to feed the junk food mix foods, it will shorten your chins lives and cause health problems down the line.

Of course they rush to eat the junk food, it's like giving a kid the choice between a bowl of veggies and a bowl of something like Lucky Charms cereal. If the three brands you tried are all the junk food mix brands I would try just switching completely over to the better food without trying to transfer over slowly. If they are still getting "treats" in their food at all they will hold out for you to give them again. Just make sure you give the chins plenty of hay, they can survive on hay alone so don't worry too much if it takes time before they get the message that the "treats" are not coming back.
 
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