Science Selective Chinchilla

[JohhnyBishop]

Hi All,
I hope you are doing well.
Bulk of food my chinchilla eat is actually Science Selective Chinchilla. I would say it's 65-70% of the pellet they eat.
The rest is Oxbow Chinchilla Deluxe.
I have noticed that from last year the price of Science Selective has ballooned by about 30% from £4.3 to £5.70 per 1.5kg bag.
Anything that is below £4 per bag and it's sold in most pet stores is junk.
What are your other recommendations?
I don't necessary want to sacrifice for quality but maybe buying something in bigger bags makes more sense.
I reckon most top brands have already adjusted their prices for inflation.
Thank you

 

[Amethyst]

The top brands for chinchillas specific food are Science Selective, Oxbow, and Mazuri. The other option that tends to be cheaper and "close enough" is going with a good quality rabbit food, which is what larger breeders tend to do. I do notice the price increase on the Oxbow too, which is what I feed, there really isn't going to be any way around everything costing more now a days.

 

[JohhnyBishop]

right so I can switch to bigger bags of pellet for rabbits but they all adjusted for inflation. Too bad they don't sell chinchilla pellet in bigger bags e.g. 5 or 10kg.
Do you know of any good rabbit brands?

 

[Amethyst]

I don't know if you can get them over in the UK but I know Oxbow comes in 3lb (1.4kg), 10lb (4.5kg), 25lb (11.3 kg) and 50lb (22.7kg) bags, and Mazuri comes in 2.5lb (1.1kg) and 25lb (11.3kg) bags. I'm not sure about Science Selective though, I think it only comes in the one size.

As for rabbit food I'm not sure what is currently recommend as being ok to feed. I think Purina show rabbit food might still be considered ok, but not sure. I know brands do change formulas from time to time, both to save costs on production and to make it better for the specific animal it's intended for. So going with a rabbit food you will need to make sure it's still at ok levels of things (correct amount of vitamins and minerals for example) for chinchillas not just rabbits, and doesn't contain anything that is ok for rabbits but not good for chinchillas.

 

[JohhnyBishop]

People have suggested Charnwood pellets in 20kg bags

 

[JohhnyBishop]

I don't know if you can get them over in the UK but I know Oxbow comes in 3lb (1.4kg), 10lb (4.5kg), 25lb (11.3 kg) and 50lb (22.7kg) bags, and Mazuri comes in 2.5lb (1.1kg) and 25lb (11.3kg) bags. I'm not sure about Science Selective though, I think it only comes in the one size.

As for rabbit food I'm not sure what is currently recommend as being ok to feed. I think Purina show rabbit food might still be considered ok, but not sure. I know brands do change formulas from time to time, both to save costs on production and to make it better for the specific animal it's intended for. So going with a rabbit food you will need to make sure it's still at ok levels of things (correct amount of vitamins and minerals for example) for chinchillas not just rabbits, and doesn't contain anything that is ok for rabbits but not good for chinchillas.

I do buy Oxbow in a 4.5kg bag however Mazuri is not available in UK. It looks like Oxbow can be substituted with Charnwood as they look very similar.
People say I should avoid rabbit pellet but you are right I could get away as the breeders do as long as I do enough of research and comparison.
What I hear Science Selective is the best of all.

 

[Amethyst]

You should consider bulk purchases or alternative high-quality brands like Oxbow Garden Select Chinchilla Food or Kaytee Forti-Diet Pro Health Chinchilla Food for cost-effective options without compromising on quality.

Neither of those foods are "high-quality" foods for chinchillas, even if you are able to find them for cheaper they can lead to medical issues which would cost a lot more then just continuing to feed a good quality food.

Although the Oxbow Chinchilla Essentials food is a high-quality food (and considered one of the best chinchilla foods), the other formulas they make for chins are not. Even though they have improved the formula and removed the fruits and veggies from the garden select it still doesn't contain the best ingredients for chins, espeically when compared to Essentials, and most places sell Essentials for cheaper anyway.
(Oxbow Essentials use to be called "Oxbow Essentials Deluxe" but it's the same food in case there is some confusion)

I'm not sure any food Kaytee makes could even remotely be called "high-quality" , it's considered by most people to be a low quality/junk food brand. The Kaytee Forti-Diet Pro health is not as bad as some of the other formulas, but it's still not a good quality food. It's grain heavy (which can cause gas), low in fiber (which can cause digestive issues), contains potentially harmful (or even deadly) ingredients like corn, and made of assorted bits which allows the chin to eat only what they want so they aren't eating a balanced diet.