In search of an optimal diet
Chinchillas are very fastidious animals in food. It's difficult to please them, because in nature they are used to eating a little, but diverse. Making up the diet of chinchillas, it is important to remember that it will be the key to the health of your pet. Here are the basic principles of eating chinchillas at home :
- benefit;
- diversity;
- ecological cleanliness.
The optimal formula for a daily ration of chinchilla looks like this:
- mixed fodder (20-25 g);
- hay (20-30 g);
- fresh feed (4-6 g);
- delicacies (up to 4 g);
- water (up to 25 ml).
Mixed fodder and hay
Special feed is the main part of what to feed the chinchilla. Food for rabbits or other rodents for chinchillas is not suitable, although, as a last resort, you can feed him a day or two. There is food in granules and in kind, including whole nuts and dried vegetables. Granulated feed is more economical, although some chinchillas refuse it. From the food with inclusions of whole grains and nuts, animals usually choose only what they like, the rest has to be thrown away.
Chinchillas should always have access to the hay, while it should be of high quality, without debris, sticks and other impurities. Very good, if it contains inclusions of leaves of clover, alfalfa and legumes. Before feeding, hay can be decontaminated in a microwave oven by holding it for a minimum of time at low power.
Other subtleties of nutrition
The water must be fresh and clean. Do not use tap water! It is best to give the chinchillas bottled or filtered water.
Dandelion, plantain, horse sorrel, young nettle, strawberry leaves - that's what you can feed the chinchilla from the green forages. Do not give fresh leaves; they need to be washed and put aside for several hours. It will be useful to include in the ration of chinchilla twigs of birch, apple, oak, hazel, aspen, willow, sea-buckthorn, juniper, pine. In addition to nutrients and vitamins, twigs are useful in that they allow the chinchilla to stitch teeth.
You can feed a small amount of chinchilla apple, pear, raisins, dried fruits, rosehip (pre-cleaned from the berry innards), hawthorn.
Sometimes it is necessary to diversify food by insects - especially such food is necessary for pregnant females and young animals. You can offer a rodent a butterfly, a grasshopper, a locust, a horseshoe.
You should remember the list of what can not feed the chinchilla to prevent diseases : poisonous plants (buttercup, spurge, St. John's wort, dope, horsetail, etc.), cedar and Brazil nuts, raw potatoes and cabbage, dairy products, meat, fish, poultry.