Skinny Chinchilla

Question
The facility I work for has 3 chins that I care for, a mom and her twin daughters.  The mom is of average weight as is one of the daughters.  The second daughter is an unusual critter she is gray in color when the other two are black velvets and she looks almost rat like, long sleek and skinny.  I worry the other two are taking her food.  We currently have them separated.  She is eating well but doesn't seem to be gaining fat storage.  My question is how do we fatten "Chalupa" up?  Or is it the particular type of chinchilla that she is? We feed them a good quality rabbit food, protein 16%, fat 5%, fiber 18%. Thanks Holly

Answer
It is recommended to feed Chin's either Chinchilla food/pellets or a diet of fruit and veggies. Rabbit, guinea pigs, and other foods are not nutritious enough and can cause lower pregnancy over time and can cause a Chin to become sterile.

What you can feed to your Chin is:

Raisins(fiber/energy)
Apples(vitamin c/immunities)
oranges(vitamin c/ bones)
grapes(potassium/ nervous system)
carrots(vitamin a/good for spleen or stomach)
celery(vitamin a/good for the kidney)
blueberries(Vitamin K /blood functions)
shredded wheat
alfalfa(vitamin B)
broccoli(high in vitamin c)
greens including spinach
squash(heart disease)
pears(colon health)
plums(DIGESTION)
pineapple(digestive system)
strawberries(anemia)
papaya(digestive track)
parsley(inhibit tumor formation)
sunflower seeds(good for the shiny coat)


Corn, cabbage, and lettuce are "no-no's" as since they cause gas and are very hard on a chinchilla's tender digestive system. Also give fruits in only 2 tbsp due to high sugar levels.

There is a great website that I recently found that gives food percentages on fruits and veggies:

http://www.healthalternatives2000.com/vegetables-nutrition-chart.html

http://www.betterjuice.com/charts.php

http://www.dole5aday.com/HTML/Kids/Nutrition%20Database/Nutrition%20Chart.html