food container

Not sure if this should go here or in behavior.

Maci has been peeing in her food dish. Today is like the 4th time I have found her food soaked. I'm assuming it is pee as her food container is at the top of the cage and her water bottle is at the bottom. She poops in it too, but I am less concerned about that than the peeing.

I've already ordered 2 different food containers online and neither suited my needs after I had them delivered. One didn't attach to the metal hanger and she took the dish and flipped it. The other was bigger than I thought.

I moved her bowl location today in the hopes that it wouldn't be as comfortable where I moved it to perch on it and go potty in it!

Any suggestions on how to get her to stop doing this or a good food containers so she can't do it?

Could you use an outside J feeder? Like the ones for rabbits? Not sure what kind of cage you have? I found some awesome ones that the chins can not sit in. They can only take 2-3 pellets at a time. I know Ronda had some for sale at one time. they are a bit spendy, but I bought someone else out and saved a bunch. Was the best investment I ever made, and not as much waste. I don't see them on her website, but ask her. She might have one or two laying around. Here is what they look like...
http://chinchillaparkplace.ca/chins...in_page=product_info&cPath=68&products_id=222

I have a ferret nation cage.

Move the food dish under her water bottle

If I do that she won't be able to drink her water. And occasionally the water bottle drip and it will drip in the food.

I wonder what would happen if you had someone make you a ledge that a food dish could fit inside, and hang a toy from above? Just high enough to discourage her from sitting in it? Sure wouldn't want you cutting a hole in your FN cage for a feeder! Or I wonder if a hanging coconut would work as a food dish? They work for hay!!!!

Twilight Chinchillas said:

I wonder what would happen if you had someone make you a ledge that a food dish could fit inside, and hang a toy from above? Just high enough to discourage her from sitting in it? Sure wouldn't want you cutting a hole in your FN cage for a feeder! Or I wonder if a hanging coconut would work as a food dish? They work for hay!!!!

Click to expand...

Yeah I actually made both my hay holders from coconuts. One I have to coconut halves put together( looks kind of like an open mouth). The other I am using one of the coconuts I got from you. I secured it to the cage with 2 strips of fleece and have the whole running side to side (east/west). She does use them as ledges and last night U saw her sitting on top of the whole coconut one.

The poop I can deal with, put pee means all the food is wasted. And it is just annoying :hair:

So does she actually sit on the coconut and pee on it? I do have some that have 3 holes vs the 2 holes you got from me. Might be easier for her to get pellets out of, but still keeping her out. I could add a piece of chain or wire to the top for you to hang on the very top of her cage, where she can't sit on the top?

No she doesn't pee or poop on the coconut. She actually only pees in her litter pan and now the food dish...and not the food dish every day, but enough for it to be a concern.

Maybe you can try putting her food dish close enough to the ground so she can just sit on the floor and eat instead of sitting on the side of the dish. I did this for Emmy because she also liked to pee on her dish and after moving it lower, I see that she doesn't sit on her bowl anymore and just sits on the ground

It is clamped to the side of the cage right on top of a long shelve. So it is basically sitting on the shelve, but attached to the side so she doesn't knock it over. She does sit on the shelve and eat as I have seen her do it and there is always a lot of poop on the shelve in the morning when I clean her cage up.

Today I moved it off to the side of the shelve, but that may further complicate things.

I can move it again and see if I can get it closer to the bottom. Maybe if I move it next to her litter pan she won't pee in it? I didn't wan to put her food by her pee spot, cause I wouldn't want to eat in my bathroom, but don't know if it will bother her or not.

You can kind of see where the dish is in this pic. If you look at the very top shelve all the way to the right.



and the dish is similar to this http://www.walmart.com/ip/Midwest-P...ner=q5QZHUbCIj8&sourceid=11220112783711906839

Some foods have a high content of ash - and I don't know why but chins are driven to pee in them just like they do a dust bath. I had that problem when I first started and was using Kaytee. There have been a couple of other feeds that have encouraged it but I've used J feeders for the last 10 years so they have to dig it out and push it in a corner to do the dirty deed.

Personally I'd try a coconut with the holes in it. )

Just another suggestion,but what about a coconut hood over the food bowl?Put enough of a hole for her to get the food?Pretty much like the scatterless bird seed containers but the coconut shell could cover the entire bowl to keep urine from getting in it and you could attach it to the cage to keep her from pulling it off.

I didn't see this mentioned yet but could you try a smaller bowl...one she couldn't sit on. You may need to fill to top or refill during day but at least food wouldn't be wasted.

I did try one smaller bowl, but that one was the one where it hung on the cage, but the bowl wasn't attached to the hook. So she just took the bowl out of the holder and dumped all the food. I haven't been able to locate a smaller one that actually clamps totally on the cage so it can't be removed by her.

No pee in her food overnight since I moved the dish, but that really means nothing, because she can go a week without peeing in it and then she will :hair:

Just thought I would update this. I had moved the dish where the blue/brown pillow is above the house. No pee in the dish since then. I clamp it on so it is sitting a little off the top of the house and there is a shelve above it. She would have to weasel in there to pee and so far I guess it hasn't been worth the effort to her!