Tanzy's Chinchilla Rescue NZ.

I don’t think I can stress the importance of learning about these wee creatures and what they need in order to be happy, healthy wee bundles of fur. Chinchilla owners and fanciers alike, are always learning more as they go along, which doesn’t just benefit themselves, but also their chinchilla’s.

Diet

Chinchilla’s are herbivores, meaning any food, treats and chew toys they have, contain no traces of animal by-products (an example would be rawhide, which contains animal by-products).

They require roughage daily. A good chinchilla diet contains two parts. Staple food (being pellets) and hay. A great diet would consist of chinchilla pellets, hay and lucerne chaff or lucerne hay. The diet of a chin has a huge impact on the chins overall health. Any diet choices should be made carefully, as most chinchilla illnesses are diet related. If the chinchilla does not get what it needs to grow - death can occur.

Pellets

Pellets are offered as a staple food. The pellets provide what nutrients hay doesn’t. However, chin’s cannot be fed on pellet’s alone. This will cause diarrhea and could result in the death of your chin. It is best to choose a pellet that is low in fat and does not contain traces of nuts and fruits. Chin’s have a very boring/bland diet and special ingredients are not needed to satisfy their hunger. Research has shown that feeding foods with the ‘exotic’ ingredients (fruits, nuts etc) leads to fatty liver in chin’s, which is the leading cause of early death in Chinchilla’s.

There are a few brands on the market now, some may be more nutritional than others, read the packaging contents to see which brand contains what.

Many chin owner’s recommend Vitakraft, as it is a nutritionally balanced pellet and contains no treats.

Other Pellets

I decided to put this part in as it is happening and maybe people aren’t aware on the damage it can do and has done.

Some people recommend feeding rabbit or guinea pig pellets to chinchilla’s. I advise against this. Chinchilla’s require different nutrients to either rabbits or guinea pigs and while it may appear your chin is thriving, it could be causing liver failure and/or intestinal damage. Also, if you have breeding chinchilla’s, you may find that the number of kits per litter has decreased, or has been low, and perhaps you are having to give more supplement’s for the mother before birth and/or after, which can be caused by an inadequate diet. When asked what I think of feeding rabbit or guinea pig pellets to chinchillas - I now say, "would you feed a cat on dog food constantly, or a dog on bird seed?" Chins are chins, rabbits are rabbits - different animals altogether.

This topic has caused a bit of a debate between chin owner’s, someone may say "my vet thinks my chins are healthy", which may well be the case, but I highly doubt the chinchilla has had a thorough examination which would include swabs, liver tests, droppings and urine tested to see if there is actually any damage!

Chin diagnosed with liver failure due to incorrect diet

Note: if you find your chin is on an inappropriate diet and want to change it over, please feel free to email or call us (details are on the last page) and we will be happy to go through the process with you as changing completely from one diet to another can cause diarrhea and all sorts of other problems if it is done too quickly.

Droppings from a chin with intestinal damage

Hay and Lucerne

The most important part of the chinchilla’s diet is it’s hay. The hay is roughage that keeps the chinchilla’s digestive system in good shape. It also provides many nutrients that chin’s need to survive. Another good reason that hay should be given is because the roughage helps to keep your chins incisors filed down naturally.

Many chins simply love lucerne (also known as alfalfa), some feed this as chaff, while other’s feed it as hay, either form is good, but remember that some chins may not like the ‘stalk’ and just eat the green leafy chaff.

It’s been mentioned previously (well, frequently really), that chins require roughage - so adding a good handful of hay (clean and dry) is a necessity, it’s an added extra if you can supply lucerne as well.

Treats

Great care needs to be taken when thinking of giving treats, and it should never replace the main diet.

Treats can include:- dried rosehips, alfalfa slims, chinchilla cocktail, chinchilla native. The later two are herbs and a pinchful sprinkled over their pellets or lucerne chaff will go down a treat. The alfalfa slims are also good for helping keep those teeth filed down too. With these ones - give as freely as you like as they have no, or little, sugar content.

Other treats people include are:- raisins, dried papaya, dried pineapple, dried banana chips, craisins. These do contain sugar so if you do want to feed these to your chin - should only be done once a month at the most, if at all.

People also feed treats that include:- peanuts (plain and in the shell), walnut (halved and in the shell or small pieces), almonds - either whole or halved. The reason these should not be fed is due to the fat and oil content and as already mentioned - too much fat will cause great problems.

Dust Bath

In the Andes, Chinchilla’s dusted themselves in the natural volcanic ash. Chinchilla’s do not need to be washed with water, unless the situation is extreme. They do, however, require a ‘dust bath’ at least every second day. Chinchilla dust can be brought at most pet shops, or online.

If you notice some dust is ‘fine, while others are more coarse, and there is some debate about which is better. A good dust is the "vitakraft chinchilla sandy", not too fine and not too coarse. A dust too fine could irritate your chins eye and become lodged, whereas something a little more coarse will be easy to remove, but if the dust is too big, then damage could be done to the eye. Also, if the dust is either too fine or too coarse, it will not assist with getting the chinchilla’s natural lanolin oil’s out of the fur and may look like it hasn’t had a bath the next day.

As for that type of dish or bowl to use there are some on the market that resemble a wee house which attaches to the cage, this is good because as you will notice, your chin will love to roll around, dig, jump in and out of the container and basically, have a grand ole time - so a house type container will contain most of the sand. What can also be used are large plastic bowls or even the round plastic fish bowls. Some use metal dishes. You will need to ensure that what you use is big enough for your chin to roll, dig and do general ‘flip flops’ in.

You can either place the container inside the cage and let the chin enjoy it’s bath time, or have it out of the cage (but under supervision) and let the chin have it’s bath then. About 15 mins would be enough, but some leave it in for 30 mins or so, entirely your choice. Once the chin is finished, remove the container, sift out the debris and yes, you will notice that your chin could leave wee droppings in the dust, but sifting it out will remove the debris and droppings and put the dust into a container with a lid attached. Should you notice that your chin has urinated in the dust - discarding the entire contents can be a good idea. Average amount to be put inside the container/bowl is about an inch thick.

One thing that does need to be mentioned, if you have a sick chins, or bring home a new one, each chinchilla should have it’s own container and separate dust (this also applies to separate food dishes etc). Sharing dust and/or containers can spread illnesses onto the healthy one.

A lovely photo of a chin enjoying it’s bath time

Bedding/Litter

With chinchilla’s spending the majority of their time in cages, bedding considerations are very important. It is similar to the argument that as human’s, we spend 1/3 of your lives in bed asleep, so our beds should be comfy, which also applies to our chins. Each person has their own opinions and likes when it comes to bedding. There are however, some basic health and safety issues that need to be taken into account when making a bedding/litter choice. Remember, your chin explores the world with it’s mouth, so if it’s in reach, they will inevitably try and taste it at least once.

What to avoid

Cedar shavings should never be used as they contain phenol oils and is dangerous to the respiratory health of small animals, including chinchilla’s.

Any bedding or litter that clumps, or expands, when wet. This is important because if your chin eats the product and it expands in the digestive tract it can cause impaction. Impaction means a very expensive trip to the vet, which can lead to the death of your chinchilla. If you choose to use some of the odour adsorbing litter, (which shouldn’t be needed as chin’s don’t smell if their cages are regularly cleaned out), ensure that your chin does not have access to it, as would be the case with a wire base cage.

Most Common Bedding/Litter Used

The most commonly used bedding, or litter for chins is untreated pine shavings and most pet shops sell this.

Some chin owners use untreated saw dust, this can make a bit of a mess as chins love to play and can scatter it outside their cage. Also, with it being different to shavings, it can irritate some chin’s eye’s.

Other’s use newspaper. I, personally, would not as chins urinate on it and then nibble away at the paper. Also, if you don’t replace it daily, when wet and the wee chin sits on it - the fur will become messy from the damp and the ink it contains. But in saying that, if you have a wire base cage then newspaper could be used as the chin should not be able to have access to the paper. Cages also need to be cleaned out at least once a week and remaining food to be discarded and replenished with a fresh supply.