Cheeky Chinchillas - Hand Feeding Chinchillas

Please scroll down to see pictures, video, food ideas and quality of life

Chinchillas soon lose weight and become dehydrated if they do not eat/drink, therefore, if your chinchilla is unable to eat by himself through illness, dental problems or an operation, it is necessary for you to hand feed for a while. You will also have to give him water if he is not drinking

He may have had a tooth/teeth filed, which has made his mouth sore and so he is reluctant to eat, or he may be eating very little through illness or while recovering from an operation. Whatever the reason, it is imperative that you feed your chinchilla by hand, because if chinchillas do not eat for a while, their gut action slows down and can even stop.

If your chinchilla has had teeth filed, for example, he most probably will have been given a pain killer by the vet, so you may find when he gets home, he will start eating straight away. Hopefully, this will continue, but keep an eye on him, because when the pain killer wears off, he may not want to eat

You will probably have been given a liquid feed to administer. This is usually in the form of 'Science Recovery' or 'Critical Care', powders to which you add water. If your chinchlla is not keen to take this, you can make a mixture yourself by grinding up pellets, hay and maybe add some calcium powder, minerals and vitamin supplements. I use a calcium and mineral supplement called 'Nutrobal', which I buy from my vet. I find the easiest way of grinding pellets, is by using a a coffee grinder. Make sure it is ground well and the particles are very small. Remember, this is to be added to water and must be of a consistency that you can syringe into a chinchilla's mouth

You may be lucky and your chinnie will take the food from a spoon, but if not, you will have to use either a small plastic syringe or pipette. It depends on the food you are using as to which you find easier - a pipette is better if the food is a little gritty, but a syringe works well when using a smoother liquid food. Sometimes the syringe clogs and other times it has so much pressure, the food squirts all over. I use either a pipette or 1ml syringe.
Always check, to make sure there are no air bubbles in the syringe, before you start feeding.

If you are using a 1ml syringe, this is only a very small amount, so make sure your chinnie is getting enough food. Obviously, the amount a chinchilla will eat, varies on the state of their health at the time of feeding and also their weight. Hopefully the amount will increase as the chinnie improves.

Just to give you an example ... I have been hand feeding a chinchilla with dental problems for a long time now.
In one day, she can eat as much as 150mls of liquid feed, but on average it is probably more like 125mls a day.
Remember, this is just an example to give you some idea. The quantity will also depend on the size of the chinchilla.

It is best to use some sort of measure to weigh out the ground up food before you add the water. This way, you will know how much your chinchilla is getting each time.
Hand feeding chinchillas can sometimes be a little difficult and often very messy!
It is a good idea to either sit the chinchilla on a towel on your knee or wear an apron.

Some chins will accept the situation and take the food without any problems, but most chinnies struggle to get free and you need a firm hold. Some people wrap their chinchilla in a small towel to keep him still. Persevere, after a while it becomes much easier.

Before you take hold of your chinchilla to feed, prepare everything first ... it makes the whole operation a lot easier. Put everything you need ready on a tray; liquid food made up as directed, fresh water and syringe if he is not drinking, any other medications. It's also a good idea to have some kitchen roll handy for any spillages. Make sure everything is within easy reach, before you sit down with your chinchilla and hopefully it won't be too stressful for either of you

I hope you find this information useful. I know it can be difficult and sometimes frustrating but it does get easier.

Think I'll have my food here today

Thank you

N.B. About anaesthesia ... all anaesthetics carry a risk with small animals.
Your chinchilla may need sedating to carry out an operation or to have some dental work done.
If your chinchilla is having his incisors (front teeth) burred, your vet will be able to do this while he is awake and will not require an anaesthetic. If the vet needs to file the molars (back teeth), then he will have to sedate your chinchilla.
Chinchillas' mouths are very small and it would be impossible to carry out dental work on the back teeth while they are still awake.

There are 2 types of anaesthesia that are generally used: Isoflurane and Sevoflurane. Sevoflurane is a newer anaesthetic and has a less pungent/irritating smell which your pet is less likely to resist breathing in and so it is not as stressful for him. Recovery is also quicker.

Science Selective Chinchilla is a nutritionally complete and balanced diet suitable for all chinnies The 'crunchy' extruded pellets are also ideal for chinnies that have tooth problems and find other pellets hard to eat

What Beaphar say: The Beaphar Care+ range is the first, totally complete, super premium food available for the small pet, offering the highest possible quality and formulation known to man. The high quality proteins and Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids ensures that an animal will have a healthy and long life with out experiencing the diseases caused by nutritional deficiencies. The foods also contain prebiotics and Yucca extracts and the chelated minerals improve absorption and supply to the body.

SCIENCE SELECTIVE CHINCHILLA	Science Selective Chinchilla Protein 16.00%, Oil 3.00%, Fibre 19.00%, Ash 7.00%, Calcium 0.80%, Phosphorous 0.40%, Vitamin A 10000 iu/kg, Vitamin D3 1000 iu/kg, Vitamin E 50mg/kg, Alpha tocopherol acetate, Copper (Cupric sulphate), Omega 3 and 6 NO ADDED SUGAR	Cereals, Alfalfa, Vegetable protein extract, Vegetable plantain 2.5% and Parsley 2.5%, Seeds, Oils and Fats, Salt, Lysine, Dl Methione
BEAPHAR Care PLUS	Beaphar Care+ Protein 20%, Fat 3.3%, Fibre 20.1%, Ash 5.7%, Moisture 9.5%, Calcium 0.79%, Phosphorous 0.57%, Magnesium 0.2%, Sodium 0.2%, Potassium 1.04%, Omega 3 & 6, Vitamin E	Cereals, Derivatives of vegetable origin (cont. Yucca schidigera min 0.2%), Echinacea min. 0.05%, Vegetable protein extracts, Vegetable (Fructo Oligo Saccharide min. 0.0076%), Seeds, Milk and milk derivatives, Minerals, Mannan Oligo Saccharide (from cells of yeast), Algae (Spirulina min 0.00075%)

Typical Analysis Protein ............ 15% Fibre ................ 32% Oil ..................... 2% Calcium ............. 8g/kg Phosphorus ....... 4g/kg

SPILLERS READIGRASS® A pure, additive-free dried feedstuff Does not include any coatings or cereals and has an energy level equivalent to cereals or medium energy compounds Pure dried ryegrass, only the water is taken out Dried immediately after harvest by a unique drying process to retain the colour and feed value Short chop extends eating time, helping to reduce boredom

Quality of Life

When a chinchilla has been ill, has undergone surgery or has had dental issues, he may for a while, need extra special care and if he is unwilling to eat, he will need to be hand fed, as it is vital to keep the gut stimulated. Hand feeding is very often necessary when a chinchilla has had some dentistry work done and he will not eat because his mouth might be sore and he finds it painful. Hopefully, after hand feeding for a few days/weeks, he will pick up and start eating again on his own.

Unfortunately, there are times when we have to let our pets go and hand feeding is not the answer, if the animals are suffering.

When and how do we know if they have some quality of life?
Primarily, you will have discussed this with your vet and hopefully, he or she will have given you some good advice and guidelines. Also, use common sense, as you know your chinchillas’ behaviour patterns as to what is ‘normal.’

If they do not start eating on their own after some time, what do we do?
Do we continue to hand feed?
The answer is definitely yes, if they still have a quality of life.

From my own experience, when a chinchilla can’t or won’t eat on his own, but willingly takes food via a spoon or syringe, is putting on weight and still wants to come out to play, then I would say he still has a quality of life.

However, if after a while, your chinchilla is not willingly taking food, he may well be suffering.
How do we know if they are in suffering or in pain?
If he is losing weight and you are literally forcing food down, he just sits around all the time, doesn’t want to come out and he shows no interest in anything, then his quality of life is poor.

If he has deteriorated so much and you are forcing very small amounts of food into him,
you might be keeping him ‘just alive’. It would probably be kinder to have your pet put to sleep.

This is an awful decision to have to make, but I think we should always remember that we keep our pets alive for their sake and not for ours.

Nenya - A Very Special Chinchilla

Nenya was a beautiful standard grey and very, very intelligent. He is sadly missed.
We had a special bond as I had hand fed him for over 10 months. I have left his pictures, video and information about him on this page, hopefully it will be of help to others who are having similar problems, hand feeding chinchillas with dental issues.

Nenya started with dental problems at the end of 2005. He had a jaw infection and lost a number of teeth. He was given a long course of antibiotics and I started hand feeding as he could not feed himself.

I fed him 4 times a day and he progressed well. He wasn't in pain and he was a mischevious little thing and always up to tricks. Nenya came by name and when I opened his cage and told him his food was ready, he would run down from the 'chin room', jump on the sofa and wait to be fed. Sometimes he played a while and then came back for more. I think he knew the longer it took, the longer he was out of his cage. If he wanted more food, he would either run to the kitchen door or stand on his hind legs and paw me. I always knew chinnies were intelligent but he knew everything I said and could communicate with me. Sometimes he amazed me with his intelligence. I remember on one occasion when the water wasn't coming out of his bottle ...he gently tapped it with his paw so it would flow better.

In February 2006, I bough some 'Science Selective'. This is in pellet form, but has a 'crunchy' texture to encourage your pet to chew. Nenya would not eat this by himself to start with, so I ground it down with my pellets, added calcium powder, vitamin C, hay and fed it to him by pipette as usual. As with any new type of pellet/food, I introduced it gradually into the mixture I was already using.
In April 2006, he actually ate some of the 'Science Selective' pellets on his own ... this was a major step forward and I was so happy for him. Over the next few weeks he ate more and I reduced the amount of hand feeds. However, I always gave him at least one, to make sure he got plenty to eat and also to ensure that he got hay which I would grind up in his liquid feed as he could not eat it himself.

He was doing really well. He had regular check ups and xrays if necessary to make sure all was ok.

At the beginning of August he had to have a tooth filed. Once more he found it difficult to eat, so I started feeding him 3-4 times a day, praying he would start eating on his own again. But, in mid September, he began to salivate really badly and there was obviously something going on in his mouth. I took him to the vet on the 20th. He was sedated and the vet found 3 more loose teeth, which came straight out.

He seemed to have taken badly to the anesthetic this time, he appeared to be in shock and did not want to eat. I hand fed him throughout the day, but he was very quiet and sadly died in the early hours of the next day.

This is a sad story and I am sure some of you reading this, can relate to it. I think what I am trying to say is, persevere with handfeeding. It's not easy and some chins take to it better than others. Nenya had been sedated a number of times which did not help his situation, but don't give up.

Although I had hand fed Nenya several times a day for ten months, he still had a quality of life which you can see from the video above. He was playful, eager to eat and happy.