Are hanging hay bags safe?

[Anamaria]

I found a nice fleece hay bag with metal clips. It seems very well made. It has the two small square openings in the front, like most hay bags, and the top is open so you can stuff the hay in. My concern is that maybe he would try to get in the top and get stuck or hurt somehow? I tried to find some information about hay bags and chinchilla safety, but no luck so far. The picture I'm attaching is from the product page. I guess I'm concerned about the open top and wondering if I should try to clip it shut somehow or if it's okay. Thanks in advance.

 

[Amethyst]

I would think it's ok, I know some people do use hay bags. I suppose if the opening is large enough the chin could get in the bag, but unless you regularly leave your chin for days you would see it if he got stuck in it. You could probably add a metal snap button or something to keep it closed if it is a problem. Personally I would think they would be too much of a pain to clean, hay sticks to fleece, so filling a bag with it would require a lot of picking hay off the inside of the bag regularly between refilling to keep it clean.

 

[Anamaria]

It probably is big enough for him to get in; the bag is small, but he is too. He's only unattended when I'm sleeping or at work, but he's getting older, so I worry. I can't really picture him trying to climb in the top, but he's a bit of a daredevil, and he's never had a hay bag before, so it's possible. He's gotten fussy about hay, so if he likes eating out of it, I'm willing to clean it. I just wanted to check that I wasn't putting something super dangerous in there that chins are known to get stuck in. I've been trying to think of a safe way to keep the top closed, but it might be a waste of time as he'll probably turn his nose up at it anyway!

 

[Anamaria]

I thought I'd post an update, just in case anyone has a similarly ridiculous chinchilla. I filled the hay bag and hung it up, and instead of eating out of the perfectly good openings in the front, the furry little acrobat climbed up on one of his corner perches and started eating out of the top of the bag, despite the awkwardness of doing so. I did also see him try the front openings, but apparently that wasn't as much fun. For safety purposes, I am thinking I might install a perch directly above it so he has to use the front openings, so if you are using a hay bag with an open top, that idea might work for you also. For now I'm only hanging it up when I'm there to watch him (it's easy to hang up and take down), leaving just his full hay bowl in case he wants hay when I'm not there to supervise.