Getting a new Chin this week!

[proudmom25]

I will be getting a 7 mth old standard grey chin this coming week. I spoke with the previous owner and was told that she gives the chin 10-15 raisins a day. I know this is not healthy for the chin. How do I go about correcting this? Do I take her off all together or slowly? I don't want to upset her little tummy.

Thanks in advance!

 

[tunes]

Good Lord. The very first thing I would do is get my hands on some acidophilus and start giving that to him. I would be hesitant to just cut those raisins out right away. I can't imagine what his blood sugar level is like. I would start weaning him off, but I wouldn't just immediately stop with the raisins. Maybe just give him 2 a day, just enough to satisfy him, but not that horrid amount she was giving him. After a week I'd go down to 1 a day, then every couple days, then stop them completely.

Provide lots of good hay too, to try and distract him, lots of chew toys, and dust baths.

Geez - what are people thinking??

 

[proudmom25]

I will definitely do the acidophilus. Do you know how much to give her?

I just hope there isn't much damage to her tummy. Poor thing.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[alli713]

Oh dear! I'm with Peggy on weaning him off, the poor guy!

Like she said just make sure and provide a bunch of good hay, and good pellets during the weaning process. I'd hate to think the type of pellet he was on too, so you may find that he'll be picky with eating pellets. Hopefully not, but he may not want to eat many pellets at first if he was spoiled with treats.

 

[tunes]

My apologies - you have a girl, not a boy chinnie.

You can get acidophilus capsules and open them and sprinkle them on the food. For the first little while I'd do it every other day, then you can take it back to once or twice a week. You're not going to hurt them if you pour on a capsule because on food, a lot of it is going to fall through to the bottom anyway. Lifeline would definitely be a good thing in this case. You can order it from chocolatechinchillas.com. It has all kinds of things in it that will help with digestion and chins really like it. Some will eat it straight off a spoon like a treat.

Allison has a good point as well about the pellets. I'm going to guess with that kind of raisin giving, that the pellets are pet store junk. You're going to want to get a good quality pellet for her and switch her over to it.

Nutrena Naturewise 16%
PANR
Oxbow
APD
Tradition
Mazuri

All good pellets.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

How horrible - Hopefully her digestive tract is ok and her kidney/liver function.

 

[Ziora]

I saw a suggestion somewhere about cutting the raising in half and giving at different times. It might make cutting back a little easier if she thinks she's getting more than she really is.