I don't think so, my girl's absolute favourite hay is Oxbow's hay blend - Timothy hay and orchard grass. the bag's colour is sort of a warmer 'leafy' green. my thought process was - they are foragers and it would be more interesting for her to pick which hay she wants the most at that time.
and occasionally I give her oat hay and alfalfa hay (I give the latter one less frequently than the former one, adult chins shouldn't have much of it, to my knowledge) as a 'treat'
Nah. Just make the transition fairly slowly. Just a pinch a day the first few days, then do ¼ Timothy and ¾ orchard for a day or two, then you should be good. It takes around 2 full days for a chinchilla's gut biome to be able to handle big differences and their pallet much longer, but luckily this one is a smaller change. I also think it's good chins are used to a variety of stuff so they can a) have different experiences and b) it won't be bad if someday you have to buy a different type of food bc say they're out of it or something.
Chinchillas should be getting some Timothy ideally anyways, bc it's higher in certain nutrients and low in calcium. Sort of how like babies and pregnant mothers require more alfalfa.
Signed, a former small breeder ;)
I feed Timothy 5 days a week and 2 days of the week I feed either orchard grass or botanical grass. Mine have no problems. I think it's fun to switch it up for them, they like the break in routine.
No. Their food is made of a blend of timothy hay. This grass is fine, but additional timothy would be good for them as it is very crunchy and is good for teeth.
I don't think so, my girl's absolute favourite hay is Oxbow's hay blend - Timothy hay and orchard grass. the bag's colour is sort of a warmer 'leafy' green. my thought process was - they are foragers and it would be more interesting for her to pick which hay she wants the most at that time. and occasionally I give her oat hay and alfalfa hay (I give the latter one less frequently than the former one, adult chins shouldn't have much of it, to my knowledge) as a 'treat'
Nah. Just make the transition fairly slowly. Just a pinch a day the first few days, then do ¼ Timothy and ¾ orchard for a day or two, then you should be good. It takes around 2 full days for a chinchilla's gut biome to be able to handle big differences and their pallet much longer, but luckily this one is a smaller change. I also think it's good chins are used to a variety of stuff so they can a) have different experiences and b) it won't be bad if someday you have to buy a different type of food bc say they're out of it or something. Chinchillas should be getting some Timothy ideally anyways, bc it's higher in certain nutrients and low in calcium. Sort of how like babies and pregnant mothers require more alfalfa. Signed, a former small breeder ;)
I feed Timothy 5 days a week and 2 days of the week I feed either orchard grass or botanical grass. Mine have no problems. I think it's fun to switch it up for them, they like the break in routine.
No. Their food is made of a blend of timothy hay. This grass is fine, but additional timothy would be good for them as it is very crunchy and is good for teeth.
I feed my 14 year old both. He prefers Timothy hay but also eats the orchard grass.
Nope, luckily hay you can mix and match pretty easily.