Health Diet Chinchilla

[RoyalPeach]

We have a pet food store called Pet Valu up here in Canada (though I think there has been some expansion into the states) who's store brand Chinchilla food really troubles me. Not because I'd consider feeding it to my chins, but people who pick it up due to the cheap price etc.

I want to write to the company about it, so heres a list of ingredients.

Protein - 19%
Fiber - 13%
Fat - 3.5%
Moisture - 12%

Wheat middlings, soybean meal, wheat bran, calcium carbonate,soybean hulls, oat hulls, dicalcium phosphate, soybean oil, cane molasses, flax seed meal, DL-methionine, choline chloride, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, manganous oxide, menadione, sodium bisulfite complex, d-calcium panthothenate, copper sulfate, riboflavin, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, calcium iodate, folic acid, cobalt corbonate, sodium selenite.

Obviously what stands out is the complete and total LACK OF HAY! And thats probably what concerns me most. Also I think it is incredibly low fiber, but I'm not positive because I only compared it to Oxbow so far... Anyone else want to point out the other lower quality ingredients so my letter can be full and prove a good point?

 

[iayla]

It sounds like it was intended as an omnivore rodent diet, not plant based like chinchillas need. I would simply point out that chinchillas need vegitation such as alfalfa or timothy hay and not a grain-based feed. That alone would cover almost everything, since the ingredients would affect the overall nutritional content.
~Barb~

 

[ticklechin]

You might wait until some of the UK members chime in before you condone it, pellets in the UK are higher in protein and lower in fiber than our pellets. They can tell you how they do. A link to the nutritional data of some of the popular UK pellets.

http://www.greenwoodchinchillas.co.uk/pellets.htm

 

[Tagna]

Good luck with writing to Pet Valu. I emailed them once about a problem I had and never heard from them. Honestly, it's not just their brand of chin food that is bad. There are so many bad ones on the market. Not to mention those shack snacks and tons of other garbage. Pet Valu always has those death balls on "sale" too.

 

[RoyalPeach]

@ Ticklechin: Thanks for the link! I was unaware that pellets in the UK were made mostly from wheat. I'll be interested to hear what they have to say about it.

@Tagna: I really can't believe those stupid Snack Shack things sell at all. Horrible all around. Then again there are tons of terrible products polluting the pet industry...