Breaking pellets into chunks - not powder

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purikura

Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Messages
13
Hello all,
I haven't posted here in a while since I first got my chin. He is now 3.5 years old roughly and in the past 3-5 days has developed a weird new behaviour that I am beginning to worry may be malo.
I feed Science Selective Chinchilla pellets (UK) and suddenly he has started to break them into little chunks. I've been weighing the bowl and he is still eating, but leaving behind lots of little chunks (not powder) roughly .5cm across. I wasn't sure if it was just the pellets so I just gave shredded wheat and he has done the same thing - he breaks it into small pieces and then eats them, leaving some behind. I'm starting to worry this is malo, but he is still eating hay and food, still chewing and is generally happy in himself.
My only other idea is that it might be due to the heat - we've been having 28-30C heat in the UK and our houses don't have A/C. I've been putting a small A/C unit by the cage which helps, but obviously I think he is still uncomfortable. When it's hot, there are a lot more chunks left behind (although it might be a coincidence).
I'm preparing myself to go see the vet but wanted to get some opinions here first.
 
chins cant handle heat. Anything above 22c (73f ~) and they risk over heating and dieing or having other medical issues. If its that heat or above in the chin room, that could be why. Chins must be kept cool at all times.
 
Some chins are just messy eaters, that alone wouldn't worry me too much. Is it a new bag? or the bottom bit of an old bag? Maybe the food is drier or mixed slightly differently, something like that. Being overheated could also cause him to be less interested in eating, as in take a bite then decide he doesn't want that pellet, etc. It could also be something simple as something stuck between his teeth or a sore in his mouth, it might be worth getting it checked at the vet if he isn't eating as much as he was.

I would be much more concerned with the heat, more then a couple hours in temps over 25C even if the chin doesn't die, it is still causing brain damage. Is the ac at least lowering the temp in the room he is in? Also make sure the ac isn't blowing on him or directly on the cage, a draft can make the chin sick.
 
Thanks for replying guys. The area the chin is kept has been 24-25C pretty much constantly, but our mini-heatwave is over and temp is going back down to 20-22C. Honestly I didn't know what to do with the heat - like I said we don't do A/C in houses here (even my car doesn't have A/C!) and he doesn't seem fond of the cold Chinchiller tiles.
Amethyst, I was thinking that too. Originally I was using food from the bottom of an old bag and he wasn't eating it much (he wasn't even crumbling it) so I thought it might have been a bit off so I opened up a new bag I bought last week. Now he's eating but crumbling it up. I have been keeping the new food in the fridge however because of the heat - do you think that could have anything to do with it?
 
You shouldn't keep the food in the fridge, it can alter the taste of the food (absorbing fridge odors). Also it can cause mold growth since a fridge isn't a dry environment, condensation can form on the food. The food should be stored in a cool dry place, away from the sunlight.

Basically what to do in that kind of heat is get a small ac unit and keep your chin in a room with it. I understand that most houses may not have AC there, I live in northern Canada and AC is not common here either, but we still need one for the room the chins are in for when it does get hot a few weeks worth of days a year.
 
There really is no way around it. Chins must be keep cool at all times. Temps from 22.5c - 23.5c or higher can are very bad for them. Even if it doesn't out right kill them, it can do some heavy damage on them. Chins dont sweat either so fans are no good; they have no way to release that heat from there body so they must be kept cool.
 
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