Chinchilla diet: what to feed every day

What is the best food for chinchillas?

Good grass hay. Every source we read puts it first, and for a clear reason: a chinchilla's gut is built for large amounts of rough fibre, and its teeth grow all its life. VCA says chinchilla teeth grow 5 to 7.5 cm (2 to 3 in) a year, and only long, tough strands of hay wear them down properly. The MSD Veterinary Manual says chinchillas that live mostly on pellets are more likely to get dental problems, because pellets crumble instead of grinding the teeth.

So think of the diet as hay with a little extra, not food with some hay on the side. Here is how the parts fit together:

How much hay does a chinchilla need?

As much as it wants, all day and night. VCA, the RSPCA and PetMD all say hay must be available 24 hours a day. Burgess gives a handy guide: at least a pile the size of your chinchilla, per chinchilla, every day. Throw out the old hay and give fresh daily, because damp or soiled hay can grow bacteria and damp growth.

Pick a low-calcium grass hay: timothy, meadow, orchard grass or oat hay. Alfalfa (lucerne) hay is too rich in calcium for adults and can lead to bladder stones, say VCA and PetMD, so keep it for growing youngsters, pregnant or nursing females, and the odd treat. Put hay in a rack or on shelves, not only on the floor, because chinchillas will wee on floor hay and then refuse it. Our page on which hay chinchillas can eat compares the types.

How much should a chinchilla eat in pellets?

About 1 to 2 tablespoons a day per adult chinchilla, which is roughly 10 to 20 g (0.35 to 0.7 oz). That is what VCA, the RSPCA, PetMD and the MSD Veterinary Manual all give. Food makers often give more:

Which should you follow? We would start at the vets' 1 to 2 tablespoons, because pellets are high in calories and the main job of the diet is getting your chinchilla to eat more hay. If an adult is losing weight on that, or it is young, pregnant or nursing, move up towards the makers' figures and ask your vet. Wood Green suggests scattering the pellets around the cage rather than using a bowl, which turns dinner into foraging.

Which chinchilla pellet food is best?

A plain pellet, where every piece looks the same. Muesli-style mixes with coloured bits, seeds, dried fruit or nuts let a chinchilla pick out the sweet pieces and leave the rest, which PDSA links to painful dental disease and Burgess to weight gain. Check the label for these:

• Made for chinchillas, not a "small animal" or rabbit food.
• Every piece the same, with no seeds, nuts, dried fruit, corn or coloured pieces.
• No added sugar, honey or molasses.
• Crude fibre high, ideally 18% or more.
• A best-before date well ahead, and a bag you will use within a few months.

Here is how the best-known brands compare on their own published labels:

All three are plain pellets, and all three are mostly alfalfa. That is normal for chinchilla pellets and fine in a measured portion: the calcium problem comes from feeding alfalfa hay freely, not a spoonful of pellets. At 1 to 2 tablespoons a day, a pair gets through about 1.2 kg (2.6 lb) a month at most, so a 25 lb sack is mainly for rescues and big groups; a smaller bag stays fresher. Kaytee and Burgess also sell chinchilla foods; apply the same label checks to whichever you can buy locally.

What to feed a chinchilla as treats

Treats are not needed at all, VCA says, so keep them small and use them for taming and foraging. Keep all treats under 10% of the diet; Mazuri's label suggests under 2%. The safest choices are dried plants, which chinchillas tend to prefer to fresh leaves anyway, says Burgess:

• Dried herbs: dandelion, nettle, plantain, raspberry leaf, blackberry leaf, basil (Wood Green).
• Dried flowers: rose, marigold (calendula), hibiscus, chamomile, cornflower (Wood Green, PetMD).
• Dried rose hips: an occasional favourite (PetMD, Chewy).
• Wood to gnaw: untreated apple, pear, willow or hazel twigs. Burgess suggests washing them and baking on low heat for an hour first.

Fresh fruit is where sources disagree most. VCA and the MSD Veterinary Manual allow a small slice of apple or pear now and then; Wood Green and Burgess say not to feed fruit at all. We would take the careful side: at most a piece of apple the size of your thumbnail once a week, and none at all if your chinchilla has had soft droppings. Our full list of what chinchillas can eat goes through fruit, vegetables and herbs one by one.

What foods are bad for chinchillas?

Anything fatty, sugary or starchy. Chinchillas evolved on sparse, dry mountain plants, and rich food upsets their gut bacteria and adds weight fast. Never feed these:

Supreme allows a single raisin a week as a treat. We wouldn't, because VCA, PetMD and Chewy all say no, and a chinchilla gets nothing from it that a dried rose hip can't give. See can chinchillas eat raisins and can chinchillas eat nuts for the detail.

Water and eating droppings

Hay is dry, so a chinchilla drinks a fair amount. Give fresh water every day from a bottle with a metal spout, and check the bottle twice a day for blockages, as the RSPCA advises. The MSD Veterinary Manual notes some chinchillas never learn to use a bottle, and ones with sore teeth may find it awkward, so a heavy ceramic bowl is a fine back-up. Wood Green suggests two water points, one at each end or on each level.

You may see your chinchilla eat its own droppings. That is normal and healthy: it re-eats soft droppings called caecotrophs to get more goodness from its food, says Burgess. What you should see in the cage is plenty of firm, dry droppings every day. If they get smaller, fewer or stop, ring your vet that day. Our chinchilla health guide explains the warning signs.

Can degus eat chinchilla food?

Plain chinchilla pellets, yes, as long as they contain no molasses, says the RSPCA, which names chinchilla or guinea pig nuggets as a stand-in when degu food is not available. Chinchilla mixes with dried fruit are not suitable, because degus are prone to diabetes and need even less sugar. Hay is the main food for both animals. Our degu diet guide has the full picture.

If you are still deciding whether a chinchilla is right for you, our chinchilla cost guide covers what food and everything else adds up to each month, and the complete chinchilla care guide pulls the whole routine together.