www.chinchillaplannet.com

[clarinuto]

So, I've been searching out more websites because I'm a big nerd and love to read and read and read about all of my animals. I was checking out chinchilla planet today and came across some things that seem suspect to me. Tell me what you think? (so I have my facts straight!)

Chinchilla Planet claims that all of these are safe but I haven't heard that some are safe and have heard that sugary foods like fruits are not safe since they cannot process sugar:

Fresh Apple
Plain Cheerios
Dried Cranberries
Plain Shredded Wheat
Raisins
Organic Cranberry Juice
Prunes
Fresh Grapes
Bran Flakes Cereal
Dried Apples
Frozen Grapes
Banana
Uncooked Elbow Noodle
Wheat Germ
Peanuts (unsalted in the shell)
Chamomile Flowers
Dried Dandelion leaves
Dandelion Flowers
Nasturtium flowers
Red Clover Flowers
Dried Clover
Oats
Dried Olive Leaves


They also claim that "In addition to the above two items, chinchillas should also be given a vitamin and mineral-enriched seed mix. A teaspoon each day per chinchilla is what we have learned is the proper amount. Chinchillas will eat all of this seed mix in one sitting so you can't simply fill up a dish and expect them to spread it out over several days. Also, have one dish with the seed mix per chinchilla to ensure that each of your chinchillas gets a chance to eat it."

I've never fed and was under the impression not to feed them a seed mix. I do use Oxbow Papaya... but seed mix??? Thoughts?

And another interesting tidbit... "Martha Stewart has 15 pet chinchillas."

Hmmmmmmmm????

 

[AZChins]

Yikes...I know that peanuts can cause bloat.

 

[starleomach]

The bad thing about the internet is there is just as much bad information as good. If you search long enough someone will say what you want to hear

 

[menagerie]

From that list, here are the only things that are considered safe.

Plain Cheerios
Plain Shredded Wheat
Wheat Germ
Chamomile Flowers
Dried Dandelion leaves
Dandelion Flowers
Nasturtium flowers
Red Clover Flowers
Dried Clover
Oats

 

[kathiva]

They say that with feeding chins lots of nuts, they can get a greasy liver or something like that, I think it makes sense though

 

[caiti]

It's not that they can't process sugar it's that they have difficulty digesting simple sugars...or is it they can easily digest simple sugars? Oh jeez I forget...ya know what? It's 3 in the morning...I don't know the answer anymore. I don't know anything anymore.

CAITLIN GO SLEEP NOW

 

[ticklechin]

They say that with feeding chins lots of nuts, they can get a greasy liver or something like that, I think it makes sense though

Hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver) happens because chinchillas cannot metabolize fat well. Fat globules build up in the liver cells and it decreases the ability to do their natural function. Anorexia also causes hepatic lipidosis when the triglycerides are mobilized to the liver from stored body fat elsewhere in the body also decreasing the ability of the liver to function properly.

The internet makes it "interesting" to get proper information on chinchilla care, a good portion is wrong and that info is poached by other websites and the wrong info ends up everywhere.

 

[Claire D]

That site was on sale via eBay a couple of years ago as a money making site. It is part of a "professionally written" series which include gardening, fishtanks, investing, IT etc ......

Questions and Answers
This site is part of the Akri Content Network -- an informative set of web sites with professionally written content. Access to these sites is completely free and you're certainly welcomed to explore each and every one of them. If you come across anything you like, please consider spreading the word by submitting it to your favorite social media site. Thanks!

That's why it is full of adverts from companies or about products no proper chin owner would want anything to do with.

 

[Stackie]

Websites like this one are the whole reason why I buckled down and made my own. In hopes that people would find mine before all the others with the crazy information they provide.

Unfortunately my website hasn't been around long enough and hasn't received enough publication so that it can outweigh the others that have been around longer and thus, received more visitors. You can help by spreading the link to CnH & my website chinnation.com ...so hopefully new chin owners will find the good websites before those crazy ones.

 

[~*=Phoenix=*~]

Remember that girl on the other information site that claimed to talk to many breeders with vast amounts of information? Thought that ebonies carried malo and what not. Turned out she was a member here, and never went and corrected the videos when people made a big post about all the bad information - the site never removed them either. Some people just never want to admit they made a mistake. :/

ETA: It was the Expert Village site. It's now been moved to eHow.com

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

When I first got Rodya and Sonya, I went to chinchilla planet and a few other very poor sites and followed their advice. I offered fresh grapes, apples, and one time a strawberry. Rodya ate 2 grapes, the apple skin, and part of the meat of the strawberry. Sonya refused all of it. I shared pictures on cuteoverload.com and was pointed to this website by a very kind person. A very mean person told me I shouldn't own chinchillas
I still feel beyond terrible about giving them that stuff...a little less than a year ago. The guilt I feel about it is about the same as the guilt I feel over Orson's death. But not as much as Ivan's.
I have pictures of Ivan, Orson, and Rodya eating fruit all in the same folder. It's my 'these pictures make me feel bad but at the same time they're adorable' folder. Don't go there very often.

 

[kathiva]

Hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver) happens because chinchillas cannot metabolize fat well. Fat globules build up in the liver cells and it decreases the ability to do their natural function. Anorexia also causes hepatic lipidosis when the triglycerides are mobilized to the liver from stored body fat elsewhere in the body also decreasing the ability of the liver to function properly.

The internet makes it "interesting" to get proper information on chinchilla care, a good portion is wrong and that info is poached by other websites and the wrong info ends up everywhere.

Yeah, that's what I wanted to say "Lipidosis hepatica" I just wasn't quite sure of the translation in english, I figured that it would be almost the same, but got that information on the chinchilla club from Spain, and they have lots of info in there,

here's the link to it: http://chinchillasclub.es.tl/Productos-para-Chinchillas.htm

 

[KristinC1983]

Fatty chinchillas?!

Fresh Apple
Plain Cheerios
Dried Cranberries
Plain Shredded Wheat
Raisins
Organic Cranberry Juice
Prunes
Fresh Grapes
Bran Flakes Cereal
Dried Apples
Frozen Grapes
Banana
Uncooked Elbow Noodle
Wheat Germ
Peanuts (unsalted in the shell)
Chamomile Flowers
Dried Dandelion leaves
Dandelion Flowers
Nasturtium flowers
Red Clover Flowers
Dried Clover
Oats
Dried Olive Leaves

I give my chin either 1plain cheerio every night, maybe once a month an unsalted sunflower seed, maybe twice a month a raison, maybe 2-3 times a month a little alfalfa, and once a week a couple rosehips. When I first got him, the breeder gave me a small bag of a few different treats in it that she says are ok. I am still using the raisons and sunflower seeds she gave me. Cheerios were also in the bag, but since they are the usual treat, they go much faster. I also heard that fresh fruit should seriously very, very rarely be given and only a tiny bit. I read on one website that some lettuces are good, but treats are a complicated subject for chins-soooo many different sites and people say different things. Some saay one a day, some say 3 a week. There's all different opinions on different treats. Some say lettuce is good, some say cheerios are ok, some say nuts are horrible, some hate sunflower seeds, most love rosehips...I've never read about the seed mix as a must. It's soooo confusing. But some of the things listed above I would not give my chin, like peanuts, which are oily and fatty. And cranberry juice-that's a new one for me I have hear shredded wheat is pretty popular. That list is a little off in my opinion!


P.S. I love Martha Stewart, lol! I can't help it-she's a powerhouse And the fact that she has chins only strengthens my love and support for her!

 

[starleomach]

That list is Way off IMPO and No lettuces or any fruit

 

[KristinC1983]

And Brittany Lynn, don't feel bad. There's sooo much info out there that is inccorrect, but you get it from websites that you truly, honestly believe should be right! It's a shame that such websites cannot be trusted, but it isn't yoour fault-you did the research you were supposed to do-unfortunately the sites sucked, but it's like a wolf in sheeps clothing-it looks good and right and helpful, only turns out to be wrong and bad. It isn't your fault you listened to CHINCHILLA PLANET, a place that seriously should know about chins and whats good and bad for them! Don't beat yourself up over this! Before I got my chin, I did days and weeks of research, somehow missing that peanuts weren't good for them, so I bought him a chew toy ball thing with peanuts inside. Luckily I read on a site that peanuts should be given like once a year, so I got them out and gave him 1. Then I read on a few other sites that they are super fatty, oily, and just not good for them, so I feel guilty over the one peanut and threw away the other one I was saving for next year (lol, I save everything that will keep), but it wasn't my fault! I just listened to the wrong website. And I know it won't cause him any damage from one peanut once in his life (or I pray it won't) so I've let it go and focus now on this forum and some websites I know are just great with really good info, like www.petchinchillas.info :

The treats she lists:
Quaker Slow-Cook Oats (not the instant kind). These make a great treat in pinch-sized servings.
Rose Hips are an excellent source of Vitamin C, which your chins need anyway.
Plain Cheerios (one or two per day)
Unsweetened shredded wheat squares (cereal) - broken in half
Whole Oats
Oxbow Papaya Tablets
Wood twigs (scrubbed, boiled and baked)

She's on here, too, but I found her website first. ANd I never read the part about hayracks before on that page until now so now I want to go back and fix an answer I did today

But it isn't your fault you listened to someone you honestly beleived you can trust. Everyone makes mistakes-learn from them and don't chastise yourself over them. It makes me sad that you now know you were wrong and don't do it anymore, but still beat yourself up over it. So stop it!!!!

 

[ticklechin]

The info from that site was compiled from forum information, its just put together in one site and easy to use.