Hay and Oats, and Other things

[nikkik0720]

Hay
How horrible is the Kaytee Wafer Cut hay for chinchillas?
The guaranteed analysis are pretty much identical to other brands. The reason I am asking is because my girl refuses to eat anything but that. I have tried several brands, different cuts, and giving it to her in different ways. (in a hay holder, free/loose, in a container/bowl). She will not eat any other brand.
My mom picked up Carefresh Timothy hay for me one time because I was out, and she stopped at Petco for me. It looked and smelled good, and was a better deal, so she figured it wouldn't be any different. My boys couldn't have cared less, hay is hay to them. Willow pulled all the hay out of the holder and threw it outside the cage. When I went to give her more the following evening, she kecked at me and wouldn't move from the hay holder. She was pretty mad when I (gently) pushed her off to put some in. I didn't want to just leave it empty, in case she decided she wanted some. But again, she threw it all outside the cage and kecked at me when she saw me getting out the storage container of hay.
So I tried 2 other brands over the course of 2 weeks, all with the same disapproval. The boys don't care what brand it is, they go crazy for it (you'd think I never fed them before!).
Finally after her refusing to eat her hay, I went back to the Kaytee brand. It doesn't look near as nice, and has a fair amount of brown pieces, but it's all she will eat. I don't like giving it as it's clearly not the best, but I know they need hay to keep their teeth healthy. So I guess I'm stuck with it.
How horrible is it?
I also am only "allowed" to feed them Kaytee Hay cubes. It's the only kind Willow will eat, and the boys seem to like them best too.

Oats

Now that all my chinnies are over 6 months old, I have introduced 'another treat' in addition to their grape twigs and hay cubes.
I was baking christmas cookies (for the family dogs) and had leftover oats. They are Old Fashioned Rolled Oats by Quaker Oats. I made sure they are safe for chins. The boys get 1/2 of a single oat every night after I fill their hay, water, and pellets up for the night. They think it is the best thing that could happen to them. It's like a god-sent for them. It's pretty funny to watch them in the cage when I pull out the baggie I keep the oats in. They look like giant grey bouncy balls. They start squeaking, and popcorning, and Gizmo actually quivers with excitement. It's too cute.
Who would think that HALF of an oat would be so much to a chin? Especially because the oats aren't really that big to begin with. But to them, it's like giving a child ice cream before dinner.
Willow usually gets a whole small oat. She only gets a whole one because she's bigger, and eats better. Plus, she does a 'trick' for it. I taught her to ring a bell for an oat. It's one of those kabob things that you can put wood/fruit/treats onto and it hangs from the cage. I only put wood on it. But she rings the bell that's on the bottom of it. She picked up on it relatively quick. (After about 3 days, she began ringing it when she saw me pull out the oat bag and open her cage door. She's my smart little girly.)
She gets excited about it after she has it. She'll carry it around for a minute or two before finally settling down on her wood perch to eat it. She usually will eat half of it, and leave the other half for later.
I know I will probably get the whole "treat" speech, but it's the only treat they get (other than their grape twigs, which are a 'treat' in their eyes, but in actuality it isn't). Plus, since I began doing this (it's been about 3 weeks), they have been happier, more alert, their fur is softer and looks healthier, and less fur flies when they jump like maniacs around the cage (they don't pull fur out, but you know how dead hair will fall on it's own). Their poop also looks a lot better and has a more 'regulated' appearance, even in the mornings when it's usually a little smaller.
I've seen a nice improvement since I started giving it to them, so go ahead and give the speech if you want, but I wouldn't do it if it weren't benefiting the chins.

And onto other stuff
Can they be given pieces of antler to chew? Like the ones sold for dogs? I have seen several places, and several sites that offer them for chins to chew on. Mine just go through pumice blocks so fast, but they really like them. Gizmo managed to get a hold of one before, and seemed to enjoy chewing it (I took it away as soon as I realized he found it). So would it be safe? As long as it's properly cleaned? I'd assume the ones sold for pets are already sterilized and cleaned.

http://www.petco.com/product/122635/Higgins-Sunburst-Wild-Flower-Meadow-Gourmet-Treats-for-Small-Animals.aspx
Would this be a safe treat to give to the chins every once in awhile? I wanted to get opinions before buying it.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4235061&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3598089&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11393832&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

Any comments/experiences with these?

 

[akane]

The nonfruit oxbow treats I would feed but I wouldn't trust any other petstore treats. You can give a little more oatmeal than that. Pellets are often a hay plus oats, wheat, barley, etc..maybe molasses and then vitamins and minerals. You can also give plain cereals like a cheerio or the occasional square of wheat. We get ours from the health food section of a local grocery chain so it doesn't even have preservatives much less sugar. Just a grain or few listed.

Unless you want to try ordering hay online like oxbow and kmshayloft or getting something local most commercial timothy is pretty much equal. Sometimes they actually like the tougher brown pieces. I dig out those pieces to handfeed to katsu because he loves to destroy branches and looks at tough brown hay the same. Hay does not have to be 100% green for them to like it. We use hay tunnels sometimes but they are rather expensive for how long they last. Even the 10week old can eat through the roof so she has 2 pieces within a couple days.

I've heard of people giving antlers but I haven't researched in to what makes up a deer antler yet.

 

[Amethyst]

As akane said most commercial hay is the same, but I still prefer to go with better brands or local hay(most because I find they tend to look and smell better), but if kaytee is all your one chin will eat then kaytee is what you should buy for her. Also I don't really trust pet store treats either, too many additives, stick to the basics which tend to be cheaper anyway. They can have a whole oat, they aren't that big, I normally give mine a small pinch (4-6 oats to share) in their treat bowl. The hay tunnels are fine, but I've heard some people have problems with their chins peeing in them, and if the chin really likes it it doesn't last long. The blue cloud chews are fine, but you can get them cheaper from vendors online
As to giving antlers it's not a good idea, chinchilla's are strict grass herbivores not carnivores or even omnivores. Antlers would have too much calcium (antlers are bone) and other things that the chin can't digest, also they might be too hard and you run the risk of splinters.

 

[ticklechin]

Oats need to be fed in treat quantities, not at feed levels. Oats are low in vitamins and other nutrients also have an inverted calcium-phosphorus ratio. Chinchillas need calcium and phosphorus in a 2:1 ratio (twice as much calcium as phosphorus). But oats have a 1:5 ratio (five times as much phosphorus as calcium). So for every gram of phosphorus ingested in the diet, the chinchillas body must match it with another gram of calcium or else the phosphorus won’t be absorbed. If the required calcium isn’t available in the chins diet, the body will grab it from wherever it can such as the bones and teeth, so oats need to be carefully fed.

 

[nikkik0720]

I know oats need to be fed only as a treat. That's why my boys get 1/2 of one and my girl gets one (she is bigger than the boys, weight and size in general).
I did read that you can give them a pinch of oats as a treat, but my chins are more than happy getting the amount that I give them. Plus, since they get it every night, I feel more comfortable giving them (boys) half an oat.
I know you can get the blue cloud rocks cheaper, I just wanted to see other people's opinions and experiences with them.
I know the 'rule' is no fruits/vegetables for chins, so I would definitely stay away from the fruit treats from Oxbow, but the Timothy treats seemed like they'd be okay.

I probably will eventually start giving plain cheerios and/or wheat squares, but I didn't want to introduce too much at a time. I figured starting small with an oat (as it's one of the ingredients in the pellets anyway), and giving them awhile to adjust to that before moving on to anything else.

 

[mercynursie]

Kudos to you for giving limited safe treats to your babies! They are all little con artists when it comes to treats so limited and safe are two beautiful words.

 

[saphire]

I would keep it very simple for treats. Something they need, like and will not compromise their well balance quality feed and hay intake.

Give them wood twigs about 1/2 to 1 inch long. They love twigs. That is my way to go.