Chinchillas come from the high Andes and have adapted to the sparce and rugged vegetation that is found at high altitudes.

They MUST have lots of fibre in their diet and hay available all the time. We firmly believe that just pellets or pet shop mixes and hay are not sufficient for chinchillas.

Please take the time to look at the research by Amy Deane into wild chinchilla diet.

Malocclusion

Unfortunately, many chinchillas suffer from dental problems known as malocclusion.
The upper and lower teeth can elongate and the roots grow into the eye and brain.
This is very painful for the chinchilla and usually leads to the chinny being put to sleep.
Dental surgery may help in the short term, but often the end result is the same.
There has been some research regarding malocclusion, and the evidence seems to indicate that the diet of captive chinchillas may have a role to play.

For further information, see our health page.

The dried vegetable and herb diet

We found that research on wild chinchillas showed that they seemed to prefer to eat dried leaves and such that had fallen to the ground. This got us thinking. At the same time, Donna received a dehydrator for her birthday - many thanks Jill ! We started to dry all sorts of vegetables and herbs to feed our chins. At the very least, it gives them a more interesting and varied diet and they all seem to love it !

This is NOT a miracle cure, however we have had some remarkable findings. One of our little furry candidates came to us a while ago with her mum who was very badly affected with malocclusion and had to be put to sleep. Her daughter had no root elongation, but did have uneven wear which was causing her to crumble her pellets. After a few months on the new diet, we found that she had stopped crumbling her pellets and can only assume that the new diet has helped to wear down the unevenness of her teeth.

All our veggies and herbs are dried slowly to retain as many vitamins as possible. We also dry herbs and provide plenty of safe woods for them to chew on. We will keep everyone posted on the effectiveness of this diet.

All are chinchillas are fed on a varied diet. We use a mixture of dried vegetables, dried herbs and berries, hawthorn and apple twigs and branches, a few hemp seeds, occasional raisins, dried apple, dandelion leaves both dried and fresh, apple and blackberry leaves, 'readi grass', hay and chinchilla pellets. This diet hopefully helps to keep them stimulated as well as being healthy. The chins certainly enjoy this varied diet and seem much more interested in their food. They seem to spend much more time eating throughout the night, which in itself may help to wear their teeth properly.

If you want to try any of our mixes, we often have them for sale in our shop. We also sometimes put items on Ebay. All proceeds go to help the furries.

Take a look at Basils and Robins story for information on a fresh vegetable diet.

Warning !

Always introduce vegetables and any new food slowly and carefully. Introducing new foods too quickly can give a chinchilla loose droppings or other digestive problems which can be serious.