Should i switch?

[whiskers387]

Ok im on Mazuri, Whiskers seems to be doing fine, but im wondering if i should keep her on Mazuri or maybe change to PANR or something else?

 

[threewingedfury]

I wouldn't change food unless you see something wrong with the Mazuri or you don't have access to it anymore. I would leave Whiskers on Mazuri if everything is working out just fine.

 

[Cat75]

I agree. Unless there is a problem no need to change foods.

 

[whiskers387]

Ok and im about to go pick up some PDZ, if they have like 50 pound bags of Mazuri do you think it will go bad before whiskers can finish it or do you think it will be fine?

 

[threewingedfury]

50 lbs will go bad before one chin could finish it. You could always sell a bit in small quantities, or find someone to split the bag with you.

 

[mishellyshel]

I bought a 25lb bag of mazuri and i have 2 chins and even that is alot.............i gave about 6 or 7 pounds to someone who helped me with my chins & i still have a ton left!

50lbs is WAY too much, see if they have the 25 pound bag and just donate it to a shelter in your area or something............25 lbs from a feed store is still cheaper than 3lbs from a pet store!

 

[whiskers387]

Yeah i don't know if they even have Mazuri, but they might. Thanks!

 

[jmdebb]

I wouldn't switch either, I say that because I did try to switch mine off it just because I wanted a food that had less protein in it, even thou Mazuri is still a good feed.

But when I attempted the switch over, and i did do it slowly, some of my chins got loss stools, so I decided to just stay on Mazuri because I don't have that problem with that food. Some people do, but some people don't. So I agree, if your chins are doing fine on it, then stick with it.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Jean

 

[Carol~Anne]

I'd think a 50lb bag would be way too much for only one chin. As mentioned, you could buy it and sell a bunch or you could just buy a smaller bag to make sure it stays fresh. I wouldn't change from Mazuri either if everything is going well. If you do change for some reason, then do it gradually and over time so as not to upset their intestines.

A little off topic, but I had four of my boys on Mazuri for a year, one of them for three years and then I got a new chin that came with a different pellet so I'm in the process of switching him over to Mazuri as well.

I don't want to call it experimenting on my chins but I guess that's what it really is. My boy Zeke was on AlderPark pellets (Aldberbrook Chins & Park Place Chins have their own pellets milled) and I noticed that he started to pick out the Mazuir more than the feed he came with. Maybe he was just bored with the Mazuri? I don't know.

In the meantime I added a little bit of AlderPark pellets to my other four boys diet and I've noticed over a few months time their coats looked so nice and fluffy and they just look amazing all around.

So now I'm in a bit of a dilemma b/c Zeke seems to prefer the Mazuri and my other four boys seem to enjoy AlderPark pellets so I'm not sure if I should use both, half and half in each bowl or just switch entirely to AlderPark pellets. I love how my chins are looking right now but I would have to order them b/c these pellets are not available in stores.

Right now I'm leaning on keeping their diet half and half but I'm really not sure how it will end up.

 

[tunes]

Nancy used to do a mix of her chinchilla pellets so that if she ever ran out of one, the others would be familiar to the chin. If you like the results you get with a mix of the Alderbrook pellets and the Mazuri, then I would just keep mixing it. There are several other people I knew who did something similar for the same reason. If they look good, like it, and are healthy, the amount Zeke is throwing away would have to be very minimal if he's picking through and just eating the Mazuri. He may just be picking the Mazuri out because it's new and he's thinking it's a treat.

 

[mishellyshel]

if you can afford it and you like the way your chins look than go for it.

i mix mazuri with a little panr & a little oxbow (mostly for variety since i only have 2)
they all have a different look and there is a little of each left in Stitch's bowl every night when i change his food.

In richies cage, one night i try oxbow, one night mazuri & one night PANR and he really doesnt eat any of it yet. when i ground his pellets to make his mixture i use mostly mazuri (cause i got a big bag of it) and a pinch of the other two.

the variety issue is probably more for me than them. i also give them a few types of hay and they seem to like the variety of that and right now that is all richie is really eating.

 

[whiskers387]

What if i just mix like a pound of PANR and a pound of Oxbox with 5 Pounds of Mazuri just to make it stretch? Also one more question, should i give an unlimited amout of pellets or only a certain amount a day?

Thanks

 

[mishellyshel]

my mix is 1/2 mazuri & 1/4 PANR & 1/4 Oxbow, so your mix sounds just fine to me.l

i give mine unlimited and they never finish it.

i scoop 1 TB of mazuri & 1/2 TB panr & 1/2 oxbow and there is still some left.
(they are probably a little more like heaping TB)

 

[Carol~Anne]

I feed my boys unlimited pellets but I've had them all long enough to know that my Grey Boys eat twice as much as my White Boys' pair so obviously I give the Grey Boys more pellets. They also eat way more hay too. You'll get to know how much your guy eats over time and for now I'd put a few tablespoons in his bowl and see how much is gone in the morning.

Not sure if you're throwing the old pellets away each day, I never used to do that and just topped them up. Now I throw any pellets away that haven't been eaten and start fresh each day. I don't really waste much b/c I've gotten to know pretty well how much they eat. Also, the few pellets that are left have poops in them so I definitely want to get rid of the old stuff.

I think I will continue to do the half and half thing since it's going so well for me at the moment. My pet shop Pip has thinner fur than the rest it seems and he can start to look raggy really fast. I had a hard time keeping his fur nice and lately he looks like a big giant marshmallow and I'm pretty sure a lot of it has to do with adding the AlderPark pellets to his diet. That's really the only thing that I've changed lately.

 

[mishellyshel]

ditto what she said.
i used to top off until i read that sometimes they only eat half the pellet and then throw it back. was wondering what all those halves were!
now i jsut throw what they dont eat plus my one chin sits on his bowl and poops in it sometimes!

 

[whiskers387]

So it could be harmful to not give fresh?

 

[mishellyshel]

i dont know about harmful.........but if you dont dump it and they ate all the halves they wanted or there might be a poop in it, he might not eat it.
start with the 2 TB, since that is the "recommended" amount and then if whiskers eats it all then add more. if not dump it and give a little less the next day or night or whenever it is you do your feeding routine.

 

[Carol~Anne]

I don't think it would be truly harmful to not give fresh pellets b/c I do know that others who have a lot of chins top up their feeders and don't constantly dump them out. Their feeders are on the outside of the cage though so the chins can't poop or pee in them. I do know one breeder though who does empty out feeders every day.

If you have a smaller amount of chinchillas, and in your case just one, then it's easy enough to dump out yesterday's pellets and poo and whatever else gets into their dish. Like I said, I've gotten to know how much my guys will eat and I really don't toss out that many pellets at all and I think fresh is always preferable over stale.

 

[whiskers387]

What if i were using a J-feeder? Wouldnt the extra space be kinda pointless?

 

[Carol~Anne]

You can get small j-feeders but even so, with one chin you're still not going to need to fill it up. People who have several chins to a cage use a lot more pellets so j-feeders are a good idea.

I use stainless steel coupe cups (I think that's what they're called) that attach to the inside of the cages and stay in place with either by hooking onto the mesh and in one cage a ring is screwed in place and the cup sits firmly inside the ring.