In the wild, the chinchilla’s natural diet consisted of grasses, shrubs, roots, and the occasional berry. Fortunately, special food pellets designed for chinchillas are commercially available and make feeding a balanced diet quite easy. It should be noted that chinchillas like to grasp food pellets with their forepaws and eat from their hands. As a result, the size of the pellet offered is important. Short pelleted foods are difficult for the average chinchilla to handle, and will lead to mal nourishment.
Pellets should be offered in a sturdy, hard plastic, metal, or ceramic food dish. Feed your chinchilla approximately 12ounce of pellets in the morning and again in the evening. In addition to pellets, you can supplement your pet’s diet with nuts, raisins, or dried cherries. However, such supplementation should not exceed 15 percent of your chinchilla’s daily dietary intake.
Because their digestive tracts are designed to ferment foodstuffs in the lower portion of the bowel, chinchillas require a good source of dietary fiber. For those kept as pets, hay provides the best source of this nutrient. The average chinchilla will consume up to one cup of hay per day. Chinchillas that are not provided adequate dietary fiber will develop potentially life-threatening enteritis. Hay racks should be hung from the sides of the cage and kept full at all times to help prevent such a problem. Finally, because a chinchilla’s teeth are in a constant growth mode, provide a hardwood chew block and/or tree branches (e.g., elm, maple, birch, apple, pear, peach) to help keep the teeth worn down properly and to satisfy the chinchilla’s desire to chew. Avoid branches from trees such as cedar, redwood, cherry, and oleander, as these can be poisonous.
Pellets should be offered in a sturdy, hard plastic, metal, or ceramic food dish. Feed your chinchilla approximately 12ounce of pellets in the morning and again in the evening. In addition to pellets, you can supplement your pet’s diet with nuts, raisins, or dried cherries. However, such supplementation should not exceed 15 percent of your chinchilla’s daily dietary intake.
Because their digestive tracts are designed to ferment foodstuffs in the lower portion of the bowel, chinchillas require a good source of dietary fiber. For those kept as pets, hay provides the best source of this nutrient. The average chinchilla will consume up to one cup of hay per day. Chinchillas that are not provided adequate dietary fiber will develop potentially life-threatening enteritis. Hay racks should be hung from the sides of the cage and kept full at all times to help prevent such a problem. Finally, because a chinchilla’s teeth are in a constant growth mode, provide a hardwood chew block and/or tree branches (e.g., elm, maple, birch, apple, pear, peach) to help keep the teeth worn down properly and to satisfy the chinchilla’s desire to chew. Avoid branches from trees such as cedar, redwood, cherry, and oleander, as these can be poisonous.
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