Feeding

In the wild, a Chipmunk's diet can vary, depending on the time of year and the area in which they live in. In most cases its diet would include nuts, seeds, vegetation, bark, berries, shoots, various insects, grubs, worms and maybe the odd bird's egg. Bearing in mind all these different types of food, your pet Chipmunk must be offered a varied and healthy diet.

Food and drinking bowls must also be considered, I find a good ceramic Rabbit bowl or a Parrot feeding pot (if you want the to hang the food on the side of the cage) are ideal. You must be careful where you place the food, if you have a indoor cage, keep it away from the water bottle as some bottle tend to drip a lot. If you have an outdoor cage, keep it well under cover and away from the outer wire mesh so the rain can't get to it.

A water bottle is an ideal way to supply fresh water, as a bowl of water will collect a lot of droppings, waste food and other items throughout the day. Although the water will stay fresh longer in a bottle than a bowl, you must change the water every day otherwise it will become stagnant. I myself have a water bottle in the enclosure but I also have a small stream which supplies water too. I have a hosepipe running into the stream and I turn the water tap on every day for fifteen minutes thus providing clean water on a daily basis.

A dried food mix for Chipmunks can be obtained from any good pet store, this type of mix will contain the bare essentials a Chipmunk needs to survive throughout the year. It will contain a mixture of cereals such as maize, oats wheat and corn, also some form of biscuit plus sunflower seeds, mixed nuts, dried banana and a number of shelled peanuts. Try not to feed your Chipmunk too many peanuts and sunflower seeds as these contain high amounts of fat.

Other types of food are also required for a Chipmunk to have a healthy diet. These include fresh vegetables, fruit, flowers and insects. Fresh mini corn on the cob is a favorite of my Chipmunks, numerous fresh fruits such as strawberries, blackberries, cherries, apples, pears, grapes, oranges are also a great favorite. Try not to feed them to much citrus fruit and vegetables as these may cause diarrhea and do not feed them plum stones as these contain cyanide and can be dangerous. Fresh flowers from the garden such as roses will be an interesting addition to the diet. Insects such as crickets or locusts will be enjoyed plus a few mealworms would also be appreciated.

Dried fruits such as bananas, apples, pears and numerous tropical fruits are an ideal choice for a Chipmunk diet, even freeze dry fruits from breakfast cereals are enjoyed. I feed my Chipmunks minibix with fruit and nut, they will sit there quite happily and pick out the fruit and nuts, I also give them the dried fruit from my Special-K breakfast. On a regular basis I plant a selection of herbs in the outdoor enclosure, this can be an expensive option because after a week or so they are all devoured. The only herbs that are thriving are the mint and chives, they don't seem to like those ones.

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