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12 Jul 2014
RSPCA Feeding Guideline For Chinchillas
Posted By : Guest Filed Under : Nutrition | Chinchillas | Pet Care
Providing a healthy and well-balanced diet for your chinchilla is essential to his health and will ensure he has the best quality of life possible. Most health problems stem from an owner providing incorrect nutrition, which can be avoided with good education.



With so many chinchilla food options out there, how do you know which is the best for your pet? Consider a day in the life of a wild chinchilla. He would spend 70% of his time above ground searching out or 'foraging' for food while keeping a beady eye out for predators, to make sure he wasn't going to end up as someone else's dinner!

His diet would be mainly made up of grasses, hay, herbs and bark - all high fibre foods! His territory would be the equivalent of around 30 tennis courts meaning he'd get a lot of exercise every day searching out food across that area. The chinchilla's whole existence has evolved around this high fibre diet.

Many chinchilla owners do not take into consideration a chinchilla's sensitive digestive tract and substitute a chinchilla's basic diet with lots of treats and dry food mixtures that contain other food items such as rabbit pellets. These owners then wonder why their chinchilla will not eat their standard chinchilla pellets or are experiencing the onset of health issues early in life.

Chinchillas thrive when they are given a properly balanced diet of concentrates (pellets) and roughage (hay). A diet consisting mostly of dry food or pellets is unsatisfactory and diets, which include re-cooked foods such as rolled oats, shredded wheat, puffed wheat etc are also detrimental. Like-wise the feeding of peanuts or raisins must be avoided although the odd raisin can be offered but usually too many are generally given.

There are warnings with doing so and many people end up ignoring the consequences either because of lack of knowledge, not caring about the long term effects, or possibly even feeding the alternative food to save money. The staple diet such as quality hay and pellets is the wrong place to take short cuts or the cheaper option as it is called - if money is an issue, DO NOT get a Chinchilla!



Are you up to date with latest chinchilla feeding requirements?

The European Pet Food Industry Federation, also known as FEDIAF, publish animal feeding guidelines. So here is a summary of the latest feeding guidelines for Chinchillas according to FEDIAF and RSPCA:
  • Chinchillas must have a high-fibre diet
  • Fibre is needed to maintain gut movement and normal fermentation, prevent GIT (gastrointestinal tract) stasis and help wear down teeth.
  • Hay and grass are ideal sources of fibre for chinchillas and when given to them, they receive a balanced diet.
  • Amounts of different fibres must be monitored, including fermentable fibre (digestible); non-fermentable fibre (indigestible); neutral detergent fibre (hemicellulose, lignocellulose); and acid detergent fibre (cellulose and lignin).
  • Good quality hay should make up the majority of their diet, about 80-90% and should be available at all times. A hay rack is a good way of offering hay. Not eating the right diet can result in serious dental and digestive disease.
  • Chinchillas must be fed only a small amount of grass hay based chinchilla pellets/nuggets daily (1-2 tablespoons per chinchilla) in addition to hay. Never feed pellets made from lucerne/alfafa hay or any dry food mixed as a balanced diet. This will cause your chinchilla to consume less hay and water. Pellets or nuggets are fed only as a vitamin supplement and hence only a small amount is fed daily (25 grams). If your chinchilla is still hungry, he must be encouraged to eat more hay.
  • Root vegetables like carrots, leafy greens/dried fruit/grains must be fed only in small amounts (one teaspoon/day) as treats. Avoid nuts and seeds as these are high in fat. If they eat too much of the wrong food, e.g. grains/fruit/sweet treats, they can become overweight, or get ill, and suffer. 
  • Avoid sudden changes in their diet as this could upset their digestive system and make them very ill.
  • Check that that they’re eating every day and they’re passing plenty of dry droppings. Monitor the amount and types of food your chinchilla eats, and how much they drink. If your chinchilla’s eating or drinking habits change, the number or size of droppings gets smaller or they stop, talk to your vet straight away as they could be seriously ill. How much a chinchilla needs to eat depends on their age, lifestyle and state of health. Chinchillas produce two kinds of droppings – hard dry pellets, and softer moist pellets that they eat directly from their bottom and which are an essential part of their diet.
  • Don’t feed muesli or any dry food mixtures to chinchillas – in line with their campaign.
  • Chinchillas must have constant access to clean drinking water from a drinking bottle, checked twice daily. Without water, chinchillas can become seriously ill.


Tags : Chinchilla Feeding Guidelines , Feeding Chinchillas in South Africa , Chinchilla Food South Africa , Correct Diet For Chinchillas , RSPCA Feeding Guideline For Chinchillas
 
  
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