Quote:
Originally Posted by han89
hey, i've had my boys for about 7 years now, they are very alert and friendly and feed them on a diet of charlie chinchilla plus treats and fresh fruit n veg. I am very concerned that they are underweight, i want to make them gain some weight but in a healthy way... they have good muscle mass however i can feel there ribs...
can any one help?
thank you x
hannah
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Most people recommend that you feed pellets (Charnwoods are the most popular) rather than Charlie Chinchilla as chinchillas are notorious for just eating their favourite bits out of the mix and leaving the rest
How heavy are your chinchillas - anything over 550g is a good weight for an aduly chinchilla. I prefer the look of the more agile chinchilla - some of the bigger chinchillas you see are just overweight with rolls of fat.
If you are concerned, get them checked over by a vet to make sure they have no teeth problems. If everything is OK I would not worry so much about their weight - like people chinchilas come in all shapes and sizes and bigger does not always mean best.
For feeding up an underweight chinchilla, I buy rabbit/cavy supplements to feed a few times a week, or feed porrige oats as a treat. I usually add cranberry juice to their drinking water once or twice a week - most of my animals are now approaching double figures in age so it must be doing them some good.