Best chinchilla pellets?

[Ejg18]

Hi. I'm a fairly new chinchilla owner as I got my chinchilla from a rescue in late September. Since he has gotten here I've fed him unlimited Timothy hay and "oxbow garden select" pellets. Recently I was reading on this site and found that a lot of people said that the garden select was bad for Chins. Can anyone tell me if they are bad or not? If so what are some good chinchilla pellets? I've heard of other oxbow pellets such as deluxe and essentials, as well as other brands such as traditional and mazuri. Anyways if you have any good brands or tell me what you feed that would be great!


Eric

 

[ticklechin]

I feed essentials, they eat it fine. I think one of the more important things is freshness-check the bag and try to get one that is well away from its expiration date.

 

[Amethyst]

The garden select is bad, chins should not have veggies. The oxbow deluxe and essentials are the same thing, it use to be called deluxe but the name changed to essentials. Also yes the other popular good brands are tradition (I think it's now called Hubbard Life Chinchilla Pellets) and Mazuri. If you have a lot of chins some high quality rabbit food is also ok, like MannaPro and MannaSho (depending on your needs), and Blue Seal Show Hutch Deluxe. Most rabbit foods come in big bags that is why I say "if you have a lot of chins", it's cheaper per pound but you will have a lot of waste if you don't go through it quickly.

Growing up I fed my chins Mazuri, I now feed my current ones Oxbow essentials. It just came down to what one was easily available where I live. The best one out of the primary 3 (oxbow essentials, tradition/Hubbard Life, and Mazuri) is really what your chin eats and you can get easily.

 

[cozychins]

I've always fed our girls Oxbow essentials. I believe the essentials were the original safe and healthy kind. You are exactly right about the garden select being unhealthy. I have tried Mazuri as well, and in my opinion those two brands are the best on the market. I have also heard that (I believe) you can feed them some types of rabbit food, such as Purina Rabbit Chow Show or Manna Pro Sho. But I stick with Oxbow Essentials.

-Danielle

 

[rocket29]

Hi, I use The Power of 5: Chinchilla food for my chinnies. Should I swap to Oxbow pellets too?
Thanks.

 

[Amethyst]

Hi, I use The Power of 5: Chinchilla food for my chinnies. Should I swap to Oxbow pellets too?
Thanks.

I would just switch to Oxbow. That Power of 5 food isn't the worst, but grains like wheat have been known to cause gas, which can lead to bloat so keep an eye on that. Also you have to be extra careful not to add anymore grains or grain hay (wheat. oats. barley, etc) to the diet. I normally would give the grain hay, like oat hay, as an additional treat hay not as a normal everyday part of the diet.

 

[SaraMarie25]

I use science selective chinchilla pellets, anyone know if they're ok? I read the ingredients of all the available pellets and mixes thoroughly before choosing and this one contains hay, plantain, parsley, alfalfa, linseed and wheat. I'm getting conflicting reports about wheat but all of the options (UK) had wheat in them and this one contained the least. Thank you xx

 

[Amethyst]

I use science selective chinchilla pellets, anyone know if they're ok? I read the ingredients of all the available pellets and mixes thoroughly before choosing and this one contains hay, plantain, parsley, alfalfa, linseed and wheat. I'm getting conflicting reports about wheat but all of the options (UK) had wheat in them and this one contained the least. Thank you xx

Science Selective is currently considered the best pellets you can get in the UK since I've heard that the other good brands like Oxbow and Mazuri aren't easily/cheaply available there. The problem isn't specifically wheat, it's the amount in the food especially when it's combined with other grains as well, like the the Power of 5 food mentioned above which contains oat hay, oatmeal, wheat hay, wheat middling, and barley hay.