Boxing Day

Chinchilla Food: Five Tips for Feeding Chinchillas

In order to ensure that your chinchilla maintains good health, you will need to feed him a proper diet.  There are a few things you need to know about feeding chinchillas.  This article will give you a few tips.

Pellets

Your chin's diet should mainly consist of specially made pellets.  This is where he will get nutrients from.  If he's like most other chins, he will probably eat about two tablespoons of these pellets on a daily basis.  You don't have to worry about giving him too many pellets because they only eat enough to get full.

Hay

When feeding chinchillas, you will also need to give them hay.  They need roughage in addition to pellets.  Therefore, make sure they always have access to hay.  There are different varieties that you can use including Timothy, oat, and wheat hay.  You can give your chin alfalfa hay periodically.  You shouldn't give it too much because it's too rich in protein and calcium and will cause health problems.

Vegetables

Your chin will also enjoy eating fresh vegetables.  You should feed green, leafy vegetables such as parsley, broccoli, collard greens, and squash.  They also like carrots basil, and alfalfa sprouts.

Bowl

You may put your chinchilla food in a bowl inside the cage.  However, you need to make sure that it's quite heavy.  This will prevent him from tipping it over.  You shouldn't use a plastic bowl because these animals love to chew on plastic.  Alternatively, you can use a feeder with a hopper that attaches to the side of the cage.

Routine

You should be aware that chins love routines.  Therefore, feeding chinchillas should be done at the same time everyday.  This will help prevent undue stress.

About the Author:

These are a few tips for feeding chinchillas. If you've never raised one before, then there are many things you need to learn about proper chinchilla care. So, click here now to start learning about some of the most important chinchilla information you need to know.