Dont know what to do

[Jaspersmommy]

Hello
I have not been on this site for quite some time. I have a 2 year old chin Jasper and have just gotten another a few days ago, he does not have a name yet as I cant decide what one to give him and was never given a name before. Anywas my new one is aprox 2 years old and came from poor living conditions with a very small cage and was just left in it. Since coming to live with me he has started to come up to the door and wants to be petted. The lady i bought him off was a little shady in my opinion and when i asked her if i can take some of the food to mix in with the one that I have she said that she didnt have any and was just feeding them hay, now i know that he cant just live off hay so i been trying to get him to have chinchilla food but he won't touch it and so my question is is thier anything I can give him to help make the food more appealing to him.

Thank you

 

[Cat75]

Do you know or did she say what brand of food she was feeding the chin? What food are you currently try to feed the chin? I'm thinking this lady may have had the food with all the treat in it.

 

[chinchillin2005]

Use herb supplements mixed in his food to increase his appetite. http://www.foreverfeistychinchilla.org/store-dietary.htm Chinchilla Organic Herb & Grain Fusion™ is great. I used some mixed with his pellets when switching to Oxbow. He goes crazy for it, and he loves it. I'm sure your chinchilla will like it, mix a bit in the pellets.

 

[Stackie]

Use herb supplements mixed in his food to increase his appetite.

I never mix anything in to my chinchillas' food. Many will begin ignoring the pellets and sifting through them for the herbs/treats/whatever. I always give any treats or supplements in a separate dish to prevent this.

 

[chinchillin2005]

I never mix anything in to my chinchillas' food. Many will begin ignoring the pellets and sifting through them for the herbs/treats/whatever. I always give any treats or supplements in a separate dish to prevent this.

I was worried about this too because he wasn't on an all pellet diet before (he wouldn't eat pellets no matter how long I left it there) so I mixed a tiny bit (a pinch) into his bowl, and after eating that, he did pick up the oxbow and eat it. I used this about 3 times for him to start eating oxbow and after that, he's on all oxbow.

 

[Lillybabe]

If you just got him I'd just offer the pellets and the hay and give him some time. If he was fed chinchilla junk food or only offered hay he may be wary about trying the new pellets right away. He's also just moved to a new home, etc. It may just be stress. I'd make sure he has plenty of hay offered, pellets and water and give him time. Certainly if he doesn't eat anything you'll have to handfeed but he can survive fine on hay for a few days without an issue. You might even try getting some alfalfa hay or some of the grain mix hays (like oat hay) that have a little more protein in them if he's refusing the pellets. It's possible he's underweight too if he's not been getting a decent diet. I'd give him a day or two before you worry about forcing pellets on him. Likely once he's comfortable with everything he'll eat them on his own. Also, are you sure he isn't eating any at all? It's possible he's picking at a few at a time when you're not looking. Unless you're counting each pellet it's hard to really know.

 

[Chefscott]

I just want to add that it breaks my heart when I hear of animals especially chins that are treated poorly, but it makes me feel better when I hear that there are good people out there who come to the aid of these amazing creatures, I wish I could rescue all of them myself