Food crumbling?

[Brittney]

I've been noticing lately that someone has been a rather messy eater. I couldn't pinpoint who it was until I stayed up ALL night watching, it's Ande.
I don't know if this is food crumbling or just him being a messy eater.

For those of you who don't know, I rescued Ande. He was living in a dog crate with no food, no chew toys, and living in his own waste. I had to get his teeth filed, but the back ones looked ok. I went back for an x-ray to check for malo, and it was not present.

Is there any way they could have missed it? I'm already looking for a new vet (for different reasons). I'm no longer doing an internship at this one, and I just want someone who specializes in chinchillas and not just exotics.

Ande eats fine. He does whatever Bryson does. He eats when Bryson eats, drinks when Bryson drinks, and so on. He's not drooling, not pawing at his mouth, and no wet eyes.

I really don't know what's going on here. There's always something new with Mr. Ande that comes up. :hair:

 

[Ippo456]

Well sometimes my standard chin would only eat half of a pellet & chuck the rest because he's bored. The only other time I see this happen was when my white chin was sick with GI stasis. The vet guessed that he wasn't able to eat whole pellets, so crushed the pellets himself for easier digestion. As for oral x-rays, I suggest that you bring him to a vet dental specialist. He's had 2 mouth x-rays done (for his teeth): once was just a normal x-ray with the vet holding him, the other he had to be put under general anesthesia for a more accurate x-ray & using a different more accurate machine than the ones generally used for bodies.

Let's wait until some other members reply as my reply isn't conclusive to your situation.

 

[alli713]

Well, I know most of my chins eat half a pellet and throw the other half down. I would think so long as he's eating fine and enough, and his eyes aren't all watery, that he's probably just eating half the pellet

 

[AZChins]

I'd say he's probably just a little bit of a messy eater. I hate it when they waste their pellets! They'll eat a bite and throw the rest down...or chew on it a little and throw it down. Ande just doesn't know what to do about having SOOOO much food available all at once. I just thought he'd give you a little more time before turning into a giant brat!

 

[mishellyshel]

it doesnt look that crumbly. it looks more like he was eating what he could hold and then when it got to small he pitched it.
my chin that has malo was crumbling his pellets and it didnt look like that, it was more dusty and crumbly left in the bowl.

 

[AZChins]

I have a girl that eats half her pellets and shoves them back in the dish...she's done this for 11 years. She doesn't have any tooth problems, she's healthy as a little fuzzy horse. Someone told me once that they do that when they have tooth problems...it scared me so bad that I took her in and had her x-rayed twice. It just turns out that she's one of those little OCD chins that likes to do things exactly the same way all the time! She was one of my first chinchillas, back about 10 years ago I went to the vet for every tiny little thing.

 

[Brittney]

He's just driving me crazy. Ever since I got him, I think something's wrong with him. He likes to sleep sprawled out in his tube, it freaked me out. He was a sneezing fool because he was having a reaction to carefresh, so I ran him to the vet because I thought he had a URI, now he's wasting his food. I think he just likes to fake things. uhg

 

[mishellyshel]

i did the same thing when i first got richie about 4 years ago. i took him to the emergency vet cause he had runny poo..........spent about 150 dollars. who knew they werent supposed to have raisins & peanuts every day! lol
than on the way home i was so worried about him, i wasnt paying attention and hit the car in front of me! Didnt look like much damage at night, 'cept when i got up the next morning & took it to the body shop it was almost $1500 bux!!!

 

[AZChins]

Oh no! Michelle, that is just the worst thing. Emergency vet AND a car accident.....

Brit - they are trying to make you lose your mind. It's a chinnie conspiracy, I swear it is. Mine do that to me all the time.

 

[Directorthiang]

I had a chin with malo several years ago, and he'd pitch his pellets, too, but usually they were mostly whole, not halfway eaten. He'd also shove them into both sides of his mouth and turn the pellet several times in his hands trying to find a comfortable way to eat them, I suppose.

If yours isn't doing all of that, I wouldn't be overly worried. Maybe decrease the amount of pellets available in his bowl and see if that changes his behavior?