Here you have in the house has a new tenant. With the first joy comes a multitude of questions: how to make the animal grow healthy and active. Care at home is not so difficult, most importantly, to provide them with a comfortable and properly fed, given age, gender and health status.
The weak point of this animal is the gastrointestinal tract. Problems in this area can lead to death, which is why nutrition should be treated with special attention. Also important is the appearance of chinchillas. Indeed, the presence of the beautiful soft fur is the result of a balanced and nutritious diet rich in vitamins and minerals.
So what can you feed a chinchilla and what they eat at home? By nature, it’s the rodents who prefer vegetarian food. This animal could eat any parts of plants: roots, stems, with great pleasure chinchillas eat their seeds and fruits.
In nature, furry animal eats a little, but all his food is high-calorie and balanced. So when you decide to get a chinchilla at home, you need to think about its power. It should be nutritious and contain a variety of vitamins and minerals. In modern pet stores are widely represented feed for chinchillas. They are divided into cereal mixture, concentrated feed and green.
What to feed a chinchilla
So what do chinchillas eat? When feeding chinchillas in house conditions it is impossible to feed only one some food. In the diet should be present all the varieties – they complement each other. In the daily diet should include up to 5 types of components. The main ones are wheat, oats, barley, corn chinchillas also like to eat various legumes: peas, lentils, beans. In addition, plant foods you can add food of animal origin: meat and bone meal and fish meal, dry milk.
Special attention should be given concentrated feed, because they’re most likely to find on store shelves. But choosing a box, you should carefully examine the composition and shelf life of the product. It is also important to check the integrity of the packaging and lack of humidity and mold.
In the composition of this feed must include mixed grain, beans and raw sunflower seeds, pumpkin.
Consider what is rich in these components:
- The main component food for chinchillas is oats. Besides the fact that it is rich in b vitamins, proteins, fat, carotene, it also has beneficial effects on the gastrointestinal tract, which is very important.
- Barley is also very rich In b vitamins, A, D, E, PP, it includes fiber, calcium, iron, copper, manganese, but it is worth remembering that it can be given only to adult individuals and in powdered form.
- Corn is very rich in protein, but it need a little as it can cause flatulence.
- Millet is necessary for animals since they contain carotene, especially in red varieties.
Grain mixture, in contrast to the concentrated, you can prepare yourself, but only if you are sure in the quality of the grain. Otherwise it may be fatal, since the product is sometimes treated with various chemicals that are detrimental to the health of your pet.
Plant foods for chinchillas
We should also talk about the greens. A mandatory condition of excellent health of your pet is the availability of plant foods throughout the year. This can be fresh grass and meadow, such as wild strawberry leaves, burdock, sorrel, plantain. But we must not forget that the regular consumption of it can cause stomach upset in chinchillas. Therefore, to feed fresh greens should be no more than two times a week.
But dry hay should be in a cage all year round, because it is an integral part of nutrition. It contains proteins, fiber, various minerals, which help to absorb other nutrients and if the diet your pet will miss them, it can lead to the death of the chinchilla. It is important to remember to store hay in a dry, well ventilated place if it is wet or it is beginning to appear in the mold, the lure is in any case impossible to give.
What eats a chinchilla from plant foods:
- Lettuce is rich in vitamins and minerals.
- Spinach helpful presence of iron that is easily absorbed by the body of the animal. Also, scientists believe that these leaves increase the fertility of animals.
- The leaves of strawberry cultivarsand help with problems of the gastrointestinal tract such as diarrhea. They are also a good diuretic.
Do not forget that there are poisonous plants, which in any case must not fall into the feeder of your pet. These include milkweed, jimson weed, Buttercup, and horsetail.
It is important to remember that all plant foods need to be dried and do not forget to remove the remnants not eaten greens, as this can lead to its decay.
Treats for pet
Chinchillas also like to eat various Goodies. You can buy them ready at the pet store, and you can make your own at home. These animals are very fond of dried fruits: prunes, dried apricots, dried apples, pears and cherries, hawthorn. Chinchillas can be fed fresh fruit such as apples, banana, melon, pear, but it is important to observe a measure not to give too often, as they are big sweet tooth and don’t always know the measure, which in turn can lead to health problems such as obesity and diabetes. Therefore, they should in this limit, it will be enough one or two times a week.
At home the animal can be given not only fruits but also vegetables such as beets, carrots. To add them you need as the fruit in the staple diet of chinchillas. Also, these rodents are very fond of different nuts, so they too should be added to food to your pet, but this product is not a major food why give them to a few times a week. It is important to know that pine nuts contain a lot of fat, which can lead to serious stomach problems in your pet. You can’t give to eat chinchilla meat, fish, dairy products, cabbage, potato all of this can affect not only the health of the rodent, and also lead to disastrous results.
In the wild chinchillas will never have a product that is dangerous for them and the animals that live in the home do not have this instinct, so that should keep their landlord.
Vitamins for your pet
In addition to all of the above in the diet of your pet should always be the vitamins and vitamin supplements. Remember that your chinchilla is a rodent, and from time to time it is necessary to grind your teeth. You can put different twigs from fruit trees or bushes. The exceptions are the branches of coniferous trees, as they contain resin and essential oil, which is very detrimental to the animal. You can also purchase a special sharpening stone that is sold at any pet store.
Although in the wild the chinchilla drinking some water, but at home we should not forget that the animal in the cage should always be fresh water.
It is important to remember that chinchillas are very active night life, so feeding them should be in the evening, preferably at the same time. Also it is impossible to sharply change the feed, if you still want to go to another, you should do it gradually over a few weeks and be sure to keep track of what eats a chinchilla and what is the reaction of her body.
It is important to remember that chinchillas do not need to overfeed, they have enough to move and not sleep a lot in the area. Observing all these simple rules, your beloved pet will be active and cheerful, while staying next to you, his long and happy life.
