Anyone have experience with ZuPreem Chin food?

Marcham93 · Mar 21, 2013

Hi everyone.

I've been feeding OxBow Essential Chinchilla Food to Gizmo.

http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/products/type/detail?object=1535

It is a great mix, but difficult to find locally and I'd prefer not to have to order it online. For my parrot I have used and always trusted the ZuPreem brand.

Does anyone have experience with the ZuPreem chinchilla food?

http://www.zupreem.com/our-food/sma...se™-timothy-naturals™-premium-chinchilla-food

I would prefer to transfer him to the ZuPreem Timothy Naturals. The link is above and below is the description.

------------

ZuPreem® Nature's Promise™ Timothy Naturals™ Premium Chinchilla Food is made from long strand, high-fiber, premium Western Timothy Hay for a fresh aroma and taste your pet will love. Formulated with Omega Fatty Acids which promote a shiny coat and healthy skin. Tested and monitored for pesticides -safe for you and your pet. No artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Fortified with vitamins and minerals.

Tested and monitored for pesticides

No corn
No artificial colors, flavors or artificial preservatives
Made from certified noxious weed-free timothy hay
High-fiber diet for good digestion
Pellet shape promotes better chewing and dental health
Fresh aroma and garden vegetable taste
Provides a complete and healthy daily diet when fed with Nature's Promise Western Timothy Hay
Balanced nutrition in every pellet
Formulated by nutritionists and veterinarians

Cuddlebug · Mar 21, 2013

Although Zupreem makes some good food for other animals, the food they make for chinchillas is pure crap. I would stick with the oxbow.

Marcham93 · Mar 21, 2013

Cuddlebug said:
Although Zupreem makes some good food for other animals, the food they make for chinchillas is pure crap. I would stick with the oxbow.

What exactly makes the ZuPreem food undesirable?

ticklechin · Mar 22, 2013

They have changed the ingrediants-they used to have corn as a top ingrediant.

The problem with any pet store food that is bought off the shelf-and that goes for oxbow and mazuri bought there also is the stuff is usually stale since pet chinchillas are not exactly mainstream.

Also, the protein and fat contents are really low, too low for chins long term IMO since fur quality will suffer and they will look scruffy in a few months.

Ingredients
Sun-cured timothy hay, Soybean hulls, Dried alfalfa meal, Soybean meal,
Wheat middlings, Dried molasses, Sodium bentonite, Flaxseeds, Salt, Calcium
propionate, Zinc propionate, preserved with Mixed tocopherols and Citric
acid, Choline chloride, DL-Methionine, Zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement,
Dried Yucca schidigera extract, Copper sulfate, Ferrous sulfate, Manganese
sulfate, Niacin, Calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A supplement, Riboflavin,
Pyridoxine hydrochloride, Thiamine mononitrate, Sodium selenite, Biotin,
Vitamin B12 supplement, Calcium iodate, Vitamin D3 supplement, Cobalt
carbonate, Folic acid, Dried Bacillus lichenformis fermentation product, Dried
Bacillus subtilis fermentation product, Copper amino acid complex,
Manganese amino acid complex, Rosemary extract

Crude Protein (min.) 14.0%
Crude Fat (min.) 1.5%
Crude Fiber (max.) 30.0%
Moisture (max.) 12.0%

AZChins · Mar 22, 2013

There are a lot of things that make it really not a good food. The poor quality ingredients, low protein, staleness, etc. It's also probably going to be just as expensive as getting pellets sent to you directly that will be very fresh.

I don't really like how petstores work for selling product. They normally don't do a good job of rotating through their stock and making sure that people get the freshest product or that their feed has been properly handled. It could end up sitting in a hot truck or hot area for an extended period of time and then go sit on the shelf for months (or years).

I'm not a huge fan of the timothy based pellets myself. Some chins may need to have them. Young chins may do fine with a timothy based pellet until they get older or they may not get enough protein to grow to their full potential. It just isn't as healthy as an alfalfa based diet, in my opinion.