Pet Habitat South Africa

<< Back To Blog List

31 May 2014

Dangers of Muesli Type Foods For Chinchillas

Posted By : Guest

Filed Under : Chinchillas | Pet Care | Bunny Nature

Chinchillas have an exceptionally long lifespan, making them an appealing pet choice for people looking for long-term companions. In their natural habitat in the Andean regions of South America, they typically live for 8 to 10 years, but in captivity, chinchillas often live 15 to 20 years. To maximize a pet chinchilla's lifespan, proper care is essential.

When your chinchilla suddenly dies young, between 5 to 10 years of age, especially if they looked healthy and showed no signs of illness, it can be very upsetting. Understanding the history of chinchillas, the breeding techniques and their sensitive digestive system does help explain why many chinchillas can die younger than expected.

In the wild

When chinchillas were first imported from South America - at first into the United States,and then into Europe - people found it really difficult, at first, to keep them alive in captivity. This was mainly because of a lack of understanding of what wild chinchillas eat. Chinchillas are entirely herbivorous - they only eat vegetable matter - and where they live in the wild, most of the vegetation is quite fibrous and dry, not lush and juicy! They eat grasses and other low-growing greenstuff, and chew the bark off trees

Importance of high fibre diet

What is often not understood is that chinchillas need to keep their digestive systems busy with a mix of two kinds of fibre – digestible and indigestible –moving through the gut at all times.

Chinchillas can’t get enough nutrition from fibre as it first passes through the gut. So they pass it through the gut again. Indigestible fibre is moved through their digestive system and excreted as separate, round, hard droppings. This acts to keep the digestive system moving and stimulate appetite.

Digestible fibre is moved up into an organ called the caecum – this is like a giant appendix. Good bacteria in the caecum ferment the fibre (making it easy to digest) which then emerges in the form of clumps of sticky droppings – called caecotrophs. Chinchillas then re-eat the caecotrophs and their systems extract essential nutrition as the digestible fibre passes through for the second time.

Failing to provide adequate portions of the right kind of fibre can rapidly lead to illness or death. At Burgess Excel, they call the correct ratio of these two types of fibre ‘Beneficial Fibre’.

That’s why muesli-style foods are such a problem. Chinchillas can become fussy eaters, and will eat sweet foods as an easy way to get a glucose fix. As a result, they can pick out unhealthy elements of muesli-style foods and leave the rest. This is called selective feeding and will inevitably lead to an imbalanced diet, lacking in calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D. But the most important reason is that all dry food mixtures (muesli diets) contains so much nutrition that a chinchilla begins to eat less hay and then drinks less water. Above all, this behaviour leads to a lack of fibre with potentially fatal consequences.

An adult chinchilla should only be fed a heaped tablespoon of high fibre pellets daily which will provide the essential digestible fibre. The chinchilla will still be hungry and spend the entire day eating timothy hay which provides the essential indigestible fibre to keep the digestive moving.

And finally, the unhealthy ingredients in muesli-style foods are high in sugar and starch. These are difficult for chinchillas to digest and can lead to health problems and obesity. These problems can be avoided by sticking to feeding plan and giving your Bunny Nature chinchilla pellets.

Step 1 – Feeding Hay and Grass. Newhay is a premium quality, sweet smelling, dust free, timothy hay and grass foods should form most of your chinchilla’s diet. You can also feed hay obtained locally, as long as its a good quality feeding hay and not bedding type hay. Newhay feeding timothy hay in particular are especially good for dental health as they contain high levels of beneficial fibre that help to wear down teeth. The teeth of chinchillas are constantly growing and overgrown teeth can be the cause of potentially fatal problems. Alfafa hay should not be fed to adult chinchillas since its major cause of urinary tract problems because of high calcium content.

Step 2 – Bunny Nature Chinchilla Dream pellets. These contain 100% natural, wholesome ingredients, are naturally high in Beneficial Fibre for digestive health and have added vitamins, minerals and prebiotics. Because they’re not a muesli-style mix, they prevent selective feeding. A healthy adult chinchilla needs about a heaped tablespoon of nuggets each day. If he is still hungry, he should be encouraged to eat more hay. In South Africa, beware of pet stores and breeders selling illegal chinchilla dry food mixtures that is not registered with the Department of Agriculture. These foods do not contain all essential vitamins and nutrients because they made with cheap, poor quality pellets which is anyway not meant for chinchillas, but for other rodents. If you feeding your chinchilla these dry food mixtures, then you doing something seriously wrong.

Step 3 – Bunny Nature Treats. These healthy, nutritious natural snacks are ideal for chinchillas as they promote emotional health - preventing boredom and encouraging bonding and interaction between you and your pet. They can be fed daily because they're packed with goodness, and all made with pure, natural ingredients. Some are specially designed to be fed by hand which helps pets to get comfortable with human attention.

Step 4. A plentiful supply of fresh, clean water must always be available.

Your chinchillas will love to eat fresh fruit and vegetables – but too much of a good thing is actually very bad for them. Around a teaspoon every day or every other day is perfect for an adult chinchilla. Some foods should be avoided altogether and you should be careful never to overfeed – because that can cause bloat, which can kill.

GOOD - apple, blueberry, carrot, celery, grape, orange, potato, pumpkin, squash, sweet potato. The snack that chinchillas love most of all however is raisins.

BAD - asparagus, peas, cabbage, corn, lettuce, broccoli, rhubarb & rhubarb leaves, spinach.

An inappropriate diet can cause health problems in chinchillas. Obesity and malocclusion are common problems in chinchillas due to feeding of concentrate foods, selective feeding on ‘muesli type’ foods and lack of hay in the diet. A recent study in rabbits has indicated the extent of health problems caused by muesli foods (RAW, 2013) and due to the similarities in the dietary requirements, digestive system and dentition of rabbits and chinchillas, it is likely that those concerns are applicable to chinchillas. It is therefore advisable to feed a pelleted diet and avoid any dry food mixes.

A sudden change to the diet should be avoided which can cause serious digestive upset. So any changes must be made very gradually by mixing a very small amount of new food to their old food and gradually adjusting the proportions over at least 14 days.

Did you know that there are currently no scheduled vaccinations that a chinchilla is supposed to have and that they are less attractive to flies, fleas and mites than other pets? This is great news, but it does not mean that you can be less alert to their health needs. There are still some health problems which your chinchillas might have if their diet and living conditions are not sufficient. Here is a brief guide:

Dental Problems

Malocclusion ( mal, meaning 'bad,' and occlude, meaning 'to fit' or 'to align' ) is the misfit of the teeth. It can occur in the front or the back teeth of a chinchilla. Malocclusion of the molars has caused the most trouble in the chinchilla. It is usually a fatal condition. Most chinchillas that are going to malocclude will do so by the age of three, but it can show up as late as five years of age or more. When maloccluding, one or both eyes may look wet, the chinchilla may lose weight, or the chinchilla might drool or have a wet lower jaw called 'slobbers.' There is usually little use in trying to correct the maloccluding back teeth. They are difficult to trim, regrow quickly, and the fatal spurs are left intact. Malocclusion of the front teeth can be much less serious, and survivable if tended to correctly. An injury, usually resulting from a fall, an abscess, or food or debris wedged between the teeth can cause the teeth to malocclude. This kind of malocclusion is easier to treat. The front teeth can be trimmed back or corrected so that the animals can eat and survive.

In general, recessive mutations during poor breeding like ebony, sapphire, and violet, along with hybrids, are more likely to malocclude than standard grey and dominant colours, although any chinchilla can potentially malocclude. Also, chinchillas that grow rapidly, and chinchillas with the extremely short brevicaudata head shape are more likely to malocclude, as are inbred chinchillas with the above traits. It is also suspected that an inability to absorb calcium and other nutrients plays a role in setting a chinchilla up to malocclude. Diet, including the intake of excessive simple sugars from dry food mixtures all contribute to malocclusion.

An easy way to check for early signs of malocclusion is to run your fingers along the bottom of the jaw bone, until you get to the large soft jaw muscle. You are looking for "tooth bumps", which are palpable roots of the maloccluding teeth. They feel like small hard round bumps, about 3-5mm in diameter, and are usually located just prior to the jaw muscle. Don't confuse these bumps with the jaw muscle itself. You can also feel along the bottom of the eye sockets for roots of maloccluding upper teeth. It is best if someone experienced with checking for malocclusion can guide you through the process the first few times.

Even if you own a chinchilla with weak genes, you can still prolong its life and help prevent dental disease by ensuring a good balanced and healthy diet. Remember malocclusion can develop in later life due to incorrect diet, especially one lacking in the correct calcium to phosphorus ratio or through trauma to the teeth or jaw.

Respiratory Problems

You should keep a close eye on your chinchilla’s breathing. Look out for wheezing because this is a sign of chest infection or pneumonia. A mucusy nose is linked to the common cold and chinchillas can also be susceptible to ear infections so check ears are clean. Chinchillas can be sensitive to draughty and damp conditions, leading to colds and infections so make sure they are protected.

Constipation

Chinchillas can suffer with constipation so be on the lookout for signs such as a bloated tummy, fewer droppings than usual and smaller and thinner droppings. Constipation is usually caused by stress, pain and a lack of fibre in the diet.

Diarrhoea

This can be a common problem with chinchillas and is often a sign that he is eating too much. An excessive amount of vegetables or treats can also cause this problem. Another cause can be stress, lack of fibre or a simple reaction to some bad food. Avoid feeding any treats if your chinchilla has diarrhoea.

Bumblefoot

Bumblefoot, also called ulcerative pododermatis, can be identified by ulcers on the feet and can be incredibly painful if the ulcers become infected. Check the chinchilla’s feet regularly to make sure they are not cracked or flaky. If they do look to be cracked or flaky contact your vey urgently.

The key to your chinchilla's health is therefore a high fibre diet conistsing of 80% high quality hay. Although muesli type food is convenient and cheaper than nuggets/pellets, chinchillas will just take out the bits they like – leaving the rest to go to waste.

The result is that no matter how well balanced the dry mix food happens to be, your pets change all of that by only eating a proportion of the ingredients which makes it an 'unbalanced' diet.

If you feed a heaped tablespoon of special formulated chinchilla nuggets daily, you are guaranteeing a consistent amount of essential vitamins and nutrients in each bowl, opposed to dry food mixtures which varies from bowl to bowl. And even though good quality nuggets like Burgess Excel cost a little more than regular food, it’s well worth it for the health and happiness of your chinchilla.

Tags : Dangers of Muesli Type Foods For Chinchillas South Africa , Never Feed Chinchillas Muesli Type Foods South Africa , Why Chinchillas Die From Eating Muesli Diets South Africa , Facts About Chinchilla Life