Critters Library: Nutrition



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Feeding Your Chinchilla

Chinchillas are herbivores with continually growing teeth. Originally from a dry, cold, mountainous area, chinchillas appear to have a diet that depends a great deal on dry grasses and other plant material. You should offer your chinchilla unlimited grass hay because the fiber is critically important to proper digestion, and the tough hay strands may help keep the teeth worn properly.

You also can feed your chinchillas greens; offer between 1/2 and 1 cup daily. You can feed an adult chinchilla 1/8 cup of commercial chinchilla pellets daily. The pellets should contain between 16- and 20-percent protein, 18-percent fiber and between 2- and 5-percent fat. Chinchillas can also be offered small amounts of dried fruit and nuts not to exceed 1 teaspoon total volume per day. Chinchillas rarely have a problem with obesity and seem to greatly relish these treats.

Author(s): Susan A. Brown, D.V.M.

Critters Home Page: Critter Library: Nutrition

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