Holmes, a nearly 8-month old chin (sex is unknown - called the pet shop and they admitted they had no clue after they told us he was a boy when we purchased him), has begun to eat more and more quickly.
There is no competition for food, our two chins have a big bowl with plenty of pellets for dinner time, they don't get crowded around it or ever seemed to have a problem with it. They get treats at the same time and amount, so neither of them has to wait. Holmes is the dominant of the two as well.
However Holmes has begun to eat more quickly then ever. He used to hold his pellets, taking decent bites and finish each one about the same time as Watson (our other chin). He now eats 3-4 in the time Watson eats one, and doesn't chew properly either. His dropping are, as you'd expect, getting much larger and rounder. They have the right moisture and consistency, but I feel like this may cause problems.
His hay eating is the same, he is chewing but seems to want to eat as much as possible as quickly as possible. Has anyone else come across this? Should I train this out of him, will it go as he gets older?
Hopefully it doesn't cause any stomach or digestive problems, just checking to see if it's a natural behavior and that he's not doing any harm to himself. He's got a very assertive and fearless personality, and possibly is a girl so until we get them checked properly (and our local vets don't get any chinchillas really) we're unsure of this.
There is no competition for food, our two chins have a big bowl with plenty of pellets for dinner time, they don't get crowded around it or ever seemed to have a problem with it. They get treats at the same time and amount, so neither of them has to wait. Holmes is the dominant of the two as well.
However Holmes has begun to eat more quickly then ever. He used to hold his pellets, taking decent bites and finish each one about the same time as Watson (our other chin). He now eats 3-4 in the time Watson eats one, and doesn't chew properly either. His dropping are, as you'd expect, getting much larger and rounder. They have the right moisture and consistency, but I feel like this may cause problems.
His hay eating is the same, he is chewing but seems to want to eat as much as possible as quickly as possible. Has anyone else come across this? Should I train this out of him, will it go as he gets older?
Hopefully it doesn't cause any stomach or digestive problems, just checking to see if it's a natural behavior and that he's not doing any harm to himself. He's got a very assertive and fearless personality, and possibly is a girl so until we get them checked properly (and our local vets don't get any chinchillas really) we're unsure of this.
