food question,

[Jake]

Hello everyone. i recently came accross a great deal on craigs list for 2 chinns plus a HUGE handmade cage and all supplies for a steal price. luckily my birthday is coming up in a week and i think i found my present LOL. anyway, i asked a few questions about the chins and one of them was what their diet was. the lady said it was this http://www.petco.com/product/104153/Sun-Seed-Sunscription-Vita-Prima-Chinchilla-Formula.aspx Now, i was wondering if thats a pretty good brand of food? im most likley going to switch them over to mazuri becuase ive heard great things about them and there very reputable. but for the time being is the food in the link ok for them?( i would make the food transision very slowly each day, ive read that chins have very sensitive digestive tracks.). also, what are some good treats for chins that i should give them with the mazuri food? Thanks everyone

 

[inzeos]

It is not hat bad of a food mixture. When you feed it to them pick out the few bits of "bad mixed in treats." We have a bag that we are still working on for one of our chins who is being transitioned to Mazuri.

 

[Ash]

That is a horrible food, not to mention you don't know how long it's been sitting on the shelf. Just do a straight switch to a good feed and be sure to provide plenty of hay and some acidophilus to help with any possible upset tummies.

While the ingredients may look the "same" as good feeds, the ingredients aren't as stable and from the same sources every batch. Go with a proven good feed, skip the crap. Chins kept on feeds like this, Kaytee, Charlie Chinchilla, etc also tend to have poor fur and vitamin deficiencies due to the lack of consistency in ingredients and the length of time the food sits on the shelf. I found this out when asking a few other members why these foods are bad when they appear the same.

 

[Jake]

okay, thanks for the quick replies. just to make sure, mazuri is a good quality chin food right? alot of people have said it is, but im just making sure. so i should just imediatley switch foods and not do it slowly? also what is acidophilus? and where could i get it?thanks again for the info.

 

[Jake]

Okay. so I should make the switch instantly and dont do it slowly like they recomend? so i should get the Mazuri chinchilla food? what are some good treats for them? Thanks

 

[caiti]

Acidophilus is a probiotic that helps digestion. A lot of companies use the term acidophilus as a general term for digestion probiotics. Lactobacillus acidopphilus is a species of bacteria that is a probiotic. Not sure which one is being referred to. Probiotics are live bacteria which have health benefits for whoever eats them. I am not certain on the specific chemistry with chinchillas and every type of probiotic bacteria, but I have heard of people giving acidophilus to chin. They come in capsule form usually which you can buy at a health store I'm assuming. A lot of fermented foods (yogurt, milk dairy stuff) have probiotics in them. I'm not sure how you would administer this, maybe someone else will post.

Chinchillas don't really need treats for nutrition as they have particular requirements. I find that most pellet feed is a little to high in fat for my taste so treats with nutritional energy (sugar) are discouraged. A lot of treats have sugar to taste good. A great alternative to that is chew toys. A chin will never get sick of their favorite chew toys (whihc is what you may have meant and I'm misunderstanding you) and they usually don't have much nutrition in them. Most of them are high in fiber because they're from plants and chins need lots of fiber. I just bought some chewies from quality mutations and my chin loves all the kinds I've given her so far (get the variety pack. It's cheap and you'll figure out your chin preferences).

As for the food thing--I don't really know any other way to judge the quality of a feed's nutrients other than its reputation. It's not like you can go to the factory and monitor how they make their food.

 

[Jake]

Thank you for the reply. by treats i mean, most other animals require a pelleted diet, supplemented with fresh fruits and veggies. is that the same for chins?, or so they get all their requirements from the hay and feed? and fruits and veggies are "treats"? I just ordered 5 pounds of mazuris chinchilla food. I was looking for hay and i must say, theres a lot more kinds that i ever thought there would be! lol what kind would be best? I was thinking this, http://www.chinchillas.com/estore/detail.aspx?ID=93 . but is there a better kind/brand? Thanks for all the help

 

[Ash]

A chin gets all the nutrients it needs, really, from pellets and hay. You want timothy hay, which Oxbow carries. Other hays are good as a "treat".

Other good treats for chinchillas are (these are given sparingly 1-2 a week) plain cheerio, a pinch of old fashioned oats, unfrosted shredded wheat, rosehip, rose bud, hibiscus petals, pet pasta (sold be menagerie).

Treats that can be given more often? Wooden chew sticks, lava bites.


As far as switching feed? In a situation like this, just do a cold switch and be sure to provide lots of timothy hay. And yes, Mazuri is a good feed.

 

[Jake]

Okay. is this the hay i should get? http://www.chinchillas.com/estore/detail.aspx?ID=89

 

[Essentia]

The best hay you can get is the hay your chinchilla will eat. Some chins like a certain brand over another. I've had pretty good luck with Oxbow.

On a side note, I have someone surrender a chinchilla to me with that food you posted. It smelled like straight up licorice. I have no idea why but it was horrible.

 

[Jake]

did you mazuri smell like licorice or the Vita Prima Chinchilla Formula? ill try the oxbow hay and see if they like it.

 

[Essentia]

The Vita Prima.