Is she getting proper nutrition?

[Ilovemychin]

I feed Ruby Zupreem chinchilla pellets and a ot of timothy hay (loose) I also give her alfalfa cubes. Is this a good diet? I just want to make sure.
Thanks

 

[tunes]

I am not a huge fan of that particular feed Emily. Most of the pet store feeds are either not as good nutritionally, or if they were, they have sat so long in warehouses and on shelves, that their efficacy is nil. I saw a bag of Kaytee once that was 1-1/2 years old on the shelf for sale, and I was actually stunned to see it had an expiration date on it. It would be like feeding them cardboard at that point. I prefer my feed to be straight from the mill where I know it's fresh and exactly what the shelf life is.

 

[AZChins]

I don't like that feed either. The ingredients are very surprising and make me question if it is really chinchilla feed or just something else repackaged. Does anyone know what I mean?

I definitely agree about using fresh food. The chins like it better and do much better on something very fresh. I personally try to never use anything that's older than about two months. After that it starts to lose it's rich smell and the vitamins seem to start to degrade. Anything over about three to four months seems to just be way too old and the chins won't eat it. It would then either become food for the wild birds or the neighbor's chickens.

A good chinchilla food probably shouldn't have any artificial preservatives in it, a lot of the petstore brands are full of preservatives. The ones that do not are probably very stale.

 

[Mystic]

I feed my chins PANR and loose Timothy hay and they have done very well on it. With a good quality pellet you usually get more for your money ordering it online or from a breeder than you would from a petstore.

 

[Chinniechantel]

I don't like that feed either. The ingredients are very surprising and make me question if it is really chinchilla feed or just something else repackaged. Does anyone know what I mean?

Yes, I totally know what you mean. I got a bag with a rescue recently and it has lots of random vegetables in it, beets, corn is the second ingredient, and beet pulp is the 4th ingredient. I have never seen those in any other chinchilla food, and definitely not in any of the recommended ones. I have used most of the good foods and have found that PANR (Purina advanced nutrition show formula) is the best. My chins do really good on it.

 

[Ilovemychin]

How is Oxbow? I have been thinking of switching her to that but was debating. Is that good?

 

[tunes]

Yep. Oxbow is a good feed. Many people on here use it.

 

[Sandi]

Yes, as tunes mentioned above, Oxbow Chinchilla Deluxe is a good feed and that's what my boys get! )

 

[Ilovemychin]

I have actually decided t switch her to mazuri, as it is easier to get than oxbow. I have heard many good things and she is doing very well with the switch.