Dried fruit?

[Beena]

Hey all )
Just wondering if Banana Chips are an acceptable occasional treat? I've seen/heard several different views. Turns out I trust this website (and all the people on here) more than random "Yahoo questions"

 

[AZChins]

I think that for an occasional treat, once a week for the daily treat, it would be fine. HOWEVER, do not give more than a tiny piece. In the past people have overfed on treats and caused diarrhea or over time damage to the kidneys or liver in their chins. This has led to everyone saying not to feed any dried fruit at all. If you do feed treats of any type, you must be responsible and not give too much at all. It's better to not feed treats at all if you have no restraint on what you are giving to your chins.

Also, it's a good idea to rotate treats daily to prevent the chin from getting too much sugar or fat or whatever is in whatever treat that could be considered to be detrimental if given too often.

 

[Beena]

Thank you. I don't over do the treat thing. I was giving them half a chip each, once a week. They haven't had diarrhea, but I don't want to risk liver or kidney problems. Maybe once every two weeks is a better idea.

Again, thank you )

 

[Tagna]

Personally I wouldn't give any fruit or veg ever. I know some people do but there are so many other safer treats.

 

[Beena]

Yeah, I think I'll phase them out soon. It's just so funny to see them go nuts when I get the little container I keep them in. I was thinking of trying Rosehips. Has anyone tried them with their chins? I saw them in a Web store. But I'd like to hear how other people's fur babies liked them. Are the whole ones better? Or the cut and sifted?
So many questions.

 

[ticklechin]

Give then chin a chew stick, lasts longer and it helps the teeth, much better than a sugary treat. It will take you one time dealing with bloat and no more sugary treats will ever pass your chins lips!

 

[RDZCRanch]

There is sugar in the bark of the woods we give as treats to chins. My chins eat the bark off their twigs and leave the not so sweet inside of the stick sitting in the cage. As long as the dried fruit is in small quantities and spread out, it won't do any harm. If you actually look up percentages of sugar per gram, fruit is not that high and it does contain vitamins and enzymes that can be beneficial to an animal.

I would worry more about bad feed or bad hay causing bloat than I would a small piece of fruit.

 

[Tagna]

I adopted out 2 chins to a family who went through my adoption process. I told them not to give any fruits or veggies as treats. They said they understood, a week later 1 chin was dead and the other was in stasis. The only difference was they had been giving them dried fruit as a treat. I will never think dried fruit in any amount is okay.

 

[lilchinchilla]

A small quantity in moderation, of dried fruit is not harmful. If you actually look up how much sugar per slice of banana chip is (5 grams of sugar to every 20 pieces or 1/3rd cup of dried banana chips.), and look up what sugar content is in dried rosehips (1 gram of sugar to 28 grams of rosehips.), is not that huge of a difference. You'll find sugar is in just about anything your chinchillas eat, even hay or pellets.

Chinchillas primary source of energy is through carbohydrates, and much of that is natural sugars.

I usually recommend nothing more than a chinchilla's bite size piece of fruit. Natural sugar in dried fruit, is not nearly as harmful as the artificial sugars in some treats or supplements that people give their chinchillas.

I would consider stress and the transition from home to home, was what caused the issue with the chins, not the fruit alone. I've heard of multiple chins over the years who have stressed out and refused to eat at all, due to stress from transitioning from home to home. Did you have a necropsy done on the chins that stated that fruit was the cause of death?

 

[ticklechin]

I will not ever feed sugary treats, the bloat I dealt with was 1000% because I fed a sugary treat to my group one evening because people on the net said it was okay, the next morning I had three with bloat and two with loose poo, almost lost one and 100s of dollars later from the vet bills it just is not worth it, people can go on and on about sugary treats being hunky dory, you will never EVER convince me of that fact. All these "facts" that are spouted out about how GREAT sugary treats are for chins are NEVER backed up with anything, I have asked again and again and all of a sudden crickets are singing. What in a chins diet of pellets and hay is lacking that needs to be filled with a banana chip or raisin. No one can explain other than "I said so because I am right aboutn everything".

And if a apple stick has sugar (no one has ever shown a study of how much, are we takling a trace or cup of sugar, I asked again with the crickets) then at least the teeth are getting a work out also, still see NO NEED for treats, its the owner who needs to do it, the chin does not need it.

 

[lilchinchilla]

You only fed sugary treats once to your chinchillas back then? I am sure there was more than once you fed them, without bloat being a cause or effect.

Did the necropsies say it was caused by sugar or dried fruit? By chance, had you happened to have switched food or hay at that time? As I find it is more common to have bloat or trouble with the digestive tract, in regards to the pellet or hay diet or stress, than treats. Bloat is caused by an overgrowth of bacteria putting off gas in the intestinal tract.

I have backed up facts in previous threads to my comments when it comes to dried fruit. I don't feel the need to continue to repeat myself over and over again on each new thread where this controversy comes up. As I do have a life off the internet.

I've never said that treats were necessary or a must (you will never find that in any post of mine.), but I have always said if one feels to give a dried piece of fruit in small moderated amounts, that it is perfectly fine to do so.

I have also never said that anything was lacking in a diet, that meant someone had to give a sugary treat to make up for it.
Some owners feel the need to reward their chins once in a while with a small treat. There is no harm done in that. Some owners have chins who have low blood sugar levels after playtime, and have seizures...there is nothing wrong in offering a small treat to a chinchilla if they have that occurring to them. Vets usually give them pure glucose when this happens.

 

[ticklechin]

Lucky for me they did not die, just were very sick and it took days for the bloat to go away, even with drugs. Some long time members will remember this from CNQ, I had always been anti sugar, its well known, but this one time I "treated" them and was left devastated with the result. And since this a forum with new people on here all the time facts need to be presented again, no use giving information claiming a fact and if you are asked to back it up to decline to do it, most of us repeat things over and over again, its what happens on a forum, people want to learn and scientific studies that are not just propaganda on the net are a great way to learn.

 

[RDZCRanch]

I don't remember saying anywhere that fruit or ANY treat has properties that MUST be added to a chinchilla's diet. All I did was point out that fruit is more than just sugar. Everyone points out the "benefits" of other treats like rosehips. No treat is really beneficial to the animal, it just makes the owners happy.

 

[RDZCRanch]

Lucky for me they did not die, just were very sick and it took days for the bloat to go away, even with drugs. Some long time members will remember this from CNQ, I had always been anti sugar, its well known, but this one time I "treated" them and was left devastated with the result. And since this a forum with new people on here all the time facts need to be presented again, no use giving information claiming a fact and if you are asked to back it up to decline to do it, most of us repeat things over and over again, its what happens on a forum, people want to learn and scientific studies that are not just propaganda on the net are a great way to learn.

Did you have that treat tested for possible fungus, mold or other harmful substances? If not, saying that the sugar in the treat is what caused the bloat is just conjecture. How long after giving the treat did the bloat occur? It is not an instantaneous process. It can take between 12 and 48 hours for something bad to hit the caecum and cause overactive gut flora. You have one anecdotal case, I would hardly call that a scientific study.

 

[ticklechin]

If you actually read my post, I said it happened the next morning, and REALLY have the treat tested??? With all the bloated chins on this forum, I would really like you to tell everyone to test those treats, its just too much. And scientific study, now that is a joke right? I can't count how many times I have asked for things to be backed up and people disappear.

 

[lilchinchilla]

REALLY have the treat tested??? With all the bloated chins on this forum, I would really like you to tell everyone to test those treats, its just too much. And scientific study, now that is a joke right? I can't count how many times I have asked for things to be backed up and people disappear.

Well you haven't really shown any scientific proof or studies, any necropsies where a vet has diagnosed that sugar or dried fruit was the cause of death. Yet you ask us to show you scientific evidence, when it has been presented before.

Again, I do not spend oodles of hours of my time on a forum to address this. People are welcome to check out my past posts for that information.

Some long time members will remember this from CNQ, I had always been anti sugar, its well known, but this one time I "treated" them and was left devastated with the result.

I was a long time member of cnq. I joined cnq in 2001, and you were on there since 2000. I remember you very well over the years, Dawn, since we used to be friends. I remember when that happened, and I also remember the members from cnq back in those days who used to feed 10 or more raisins a day, with no ill effects. I am not saying that sort of treat giving is right to do. I used to ask people to moderate their treat giving, back in those days... because moderation whether with herbs, supplements, treats, etc... is best. Too much of anything is never a good thing.

 

[ticklechin]

Geez people you really need to read posts, I never said one died, I never said that the problem happended instantly. Rather than attacking, reading would actually be beneficial. There would be no need for a forum if people just "looked" up old posts, might as well make it a read only forum and why bother to come on if you are not going to repeat yourself, things are repeated again and again on the forum, its what is done.

 

[melbur10]

I've gotta say To the OP- as you can see and already knew there are a variety of opinions on this subject. This is ultimately going to come down you and your personal choice at your own personal risk.

A few things people should be aware of-
1. MANY dried fruits you buy at the store and do not prepare yourself have ADDED sugar. (for this reason alone if I feel a need to feed a treat in this category I choose a goji berry. Some thing I know is not coated in extra sugar, and some thing I feel HAS a benifit of being a super food. -do they need it?NO do I feed it weekly even? No, they get one or two every so often. Do I feel there are any true benifits to feeding apple or banana chips? No not realy... I would rather some thing that is a super food if I'm going to feed some thing with a higher natural sugar)
2. There are several fourms of sugars and it's important to understand how simple sugars, starches(which is still sugar) and complex carbohydrates(also sugar-digested by hind gut fermentation) are digested.
To properly hind gut ferment there needs to be this delicate balance of good bacteria and flora.
Throw in a whole lot of sugars that need to be hind gut fermented if that gut flora is even a slight bit off ..your results are NOT going to be good! (additional sugar can exasterbate existing medical conditions)
3. You will Infact find sugars in feed sticks and hay.
Looking at Hay -the fructan (non structural carbohydrate found in feeds plants hays) levels vary GREATLY and vary even more depending on seasonal and environmental conditions. You find high amounts of fructan in Timothy, orchard, brome and rye grass.

If your chin is pigging out on hay very high in fructan which is already taking along time to process in the hind gut and we come along and go ohhhh chinny here have some sugary fruit- and now youve flooded that fermentation process with MORE sugar... What will happen? Don't you think this could potentially throw things off?

While bloat and stasis are not primarily caused by sugar I do Belive it can certainly help the gut get thrown out of wack and lead to it that way.

So every one should use at thier own risk. I don't think we should as a definite say yes or no. But we should share all the information available for people to make thier own choice based on the information given.

 

[Beena]

Okay, well. Wow.
The banana chips I give my chin are made in the store I buy them from. I used to work there and I know that it's actually banana cut in to slices and put in a dehydrator.

I am by no means saying anyone is wrong... But perhaps it's different for every Chin.
I joined this site not too long ago, so I have had my chin for a year and a half without asking these questions. She has been getting a small banana chip once a week-ish for about a year. She is not sick, she's actually in great health.
I understand these forums are to help people that have Chins. But reading some things scares me to death. I cried thinking that I may be hurting my little girl. I am going to stop feeding them to her as frequently, because yes, she doesn't NEED them. Buuuut I don't need Reeses minis, or Tostitos and salsa. But I like it, and so does she. Lol
Thanks for all the info. Some of it, not so much, but if it's the truth. Yikes.

 

[NiftyKat]

At what age can you start giving your chins a treat from time to time? Is a rosehip a day too much?